We started our day in Tallinn yesterday by reaching out to fellow students in our study abroad program who had arrived in town the night before to find out where they were so we could link up. We learned from Kate Simi that she and a few other students were in the main public square of Oldtown, Tallinn at a cafe, so I grabbed my map and plotted out a route for us to get there. Logistics proceeded to slow us down however, as we encountered some difficulty in acquiring a locker where we could lock up our backpacks. Finally we managed to get our bags secured in the locker room of the hotel directly across the street from the ferry terminal, which was the hotel where our fellow students had stayed. This was all not before we had managed to have multiple close calls of crazy Tallinn drivers nearly hiting us with their cars as we crossed various streets.
We found Kate and also two other fellow students Paul and Nicky in the cafe (though not before having a terrifying experience of nearly being ran flat over by a speeding van in the tiny Oldtown streets), where I ordered a hot chocolate and Nick ordered a really delicious honey beer. After catching up with our fellow's travel stories, all of us excepted Nicky decided to go out in search of some local museums. We were headed towards one when Nick realized that we were passing by an interesting looking one right there in Oldtown, so we stopped in and discovered a really fascinating exhibit on the Viking history in Estonia and the Baltic, especially in the Tallinn region.
The museum was located inside the «Fat Margarite» tower at the northern edge of Oldtown, where it used to serve as an artillery tower back in the age of cannons. The museum also had a great exhibit on the age of sail in the region, as the Baltic peoples have always been presitigious sailors and fishermen. Paul and Kate sped through the museum and decided they were going to take off in search of a bar to hang out in, but Nick, Patrick and myself took our time, and really felt like we learned a great deal from the experience.
But our museum tickets included tickets to another, somewhat more famous museum a couple kilometers away on the waterfront, so we decided we'd go right on and find that one. Several more close calls with crazy Tallinn drivers later, and we were at the «Seaplane» museum, which was very impressive. We started by exploring various naval technology, particularly modern age naval weaponry like 100mm+ size naval guns, and then explored the entire Soviet submarine contained inside the museum. We saved the best for last- you guessed it, another gigantic Viking exhibit. Did I mention that we like Vikings? The great thing about this particular museum was that throughout its exhibits it was very hands on, which also provides a different persective and understanding, even if you're covering the same information.
We hustled our way back to the Seaport Hotel where we had stored our bags and were to meet up with the entire school group. I should mention that asides from the drivers, we really enjoyed the feel and look of Tallinn, for it's incredible mix of being an ancient midieval city and also a hub of cyber technology. The city provides some remarkably beautiful vistas, and the people we interacted with were friendly. Indeed, it's been very interesting to us how each of these cities has had a unique feel, and how we've enjoyed different things about all of them: Oslo, Stockholm, and Tallinn.
We got to the hotel where we met up with our program's advisor, Dr. Allen Greb, whom I'm quite pleased to have as a mentor and friend in my academic career at San Diego State University. We also met Margot who is our local program coordinator here in Estonia, and a very cool person. The rest of our fellow students were there (except for one who arrived the next morning due to a cancelled flight) waiting for us, but then it turned out we actually had to wait on vans to arrive to take us to a bus station, so I bought a delicious pizza and a locally brewed dark beer, which Patrick, Nick, and I shared. We managed to scarf it down just as the vans arrived, and then we were whisked away to a bus station somewhere on the edge of town.
From there we loaded ourselves onto a luxurious tour bus which would convey us to our next major destination: Tartu! Tartu is an ancient city in eastern Estonia, and the home of Tartu University, which is our main educational partner and host for our study abroad experience. Nick was ridiculously excited by the fancy bathroom aboard, and even more so by the complimentary espresso machine that was located across from our seats. We got ourselves settled in for the 3 hour ride, with Nick watching «Edge of Tomorrow» on his in seat entertainment system, Patrick watching «Warcraft», and myself writing journal entries.
Finally we arrived in Tartu, at the hotel we'll be staying at for several days, but most excitingly, finally saw snow for the first time on our trip! Tartu was in the middle of receiving just the lightest dusting as we arrived, but we were excited nonetheless, having expected to encounter quite a bit more from the get-go. After getting arranged in the rooms (Nick and I have a room together, Patrick is down the hall with a guy named Kyle) we went downstairs to the cafeteria where we had dinner and celebretory drinks to the calls of «Terviseks!» which is the Estonian word for cheers. We got to know some of our fellow students a little better, as well as getting to know Margot better, and finally turned in for bed. Everyone was really optimistic about the start of the program, and we were instructed to be in the hotel lobby no later than 0845h to walk to the university and start classes! I've got to run now, but an entry about today's experiences later tonight hopefully!