Thursday, July 26, 2007

Tallinn -- Towers and Truffles








Tallinn's compact and charming old town still has parts of the ancient city walls, complete with red-roofed fortress towers. Here I am climbing to the top of Kiek en de Kok (Peek in the Kitchen), so named because the soldiers could see into the kitchens of the houses below. It's the tower on the right in the first photo.

Tallinn has become quite the tourist destination and, as a result, the old town is full of souvenir shops and expensive restaurants. But you can still take long walks enjoying the architecture and have tea and truffles in the chocolate shops and cafes. It turns out Estonia is known for its chocolate. This is my kind of country!



Some Estonian History







If you read the posting on Latvian history, this will sound familiar. Tallinn's fortress towers were no match for the crusading Teutonic Knights and the Livonian Order, who forcibly Christianized the Estonians. German traders settled Tallinn and it became a port city in the Hanseatic League in the 13th-15th centuries. As a result, the nobility and commercial people were primarily ethnic Germans and the Estonians remained peasants. Estonian lands passed from the Danes to the Swedes to the Russians over the centuries. While Estonia was part of the Russian empire, Peter the Great built a summer palace in Tallinn.
Estonia too gained independence with the collapse of the Russian empire in World War I. But that independence was lost 20 years later when the Soviet Union occupied Estonia just prior to World War II. The Nazis occupied Estonia from 1941-1944, when the Soviets returned and stayed for the next 45 years. Estonia's Green Movement was one of the first independent organizations to form under Gorbachev's reforms of perestroika and glasnost and laid the foundation for the popular fronts that became the Baltic independence movements.
The Estonian language is closely related to Finnish --not at all like Lithuanian and Latvian or the Slavic languages such as Russian.

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Riga - A Bustling Port City







Riga, on the Daugava River, was part of the Hanseatic League in the 13th - 15th centuries. The Haseatic League was a German trading network of ports on the Baltic Sea. As a result, Latvia's nobility and commercial classes were made up of ethnic Germans until World War I. Riga is still a major port city on the Baltic Sea and has that bustling, commerical, big city feel to it. But there is also an old town full of great architecture and a lovely city park along a small river in the center of town.

Art Nouveau in Riga













Riga's architectural claim to fame is the Art Nouveau buildings built at the turn of the 20th century. Art Nouveau buildings feature extravagant decorative features -- especially faces. I spent several hours just walking around the city looking at the buildings.


A Little Latvian History



For most of their history, Latvians were peasants in other people's empires -- the Poles, the Swedes and the Russians all ruled Latvia over the centuries. However, after a national awakening in the late 1800s and the collapse of the Russian empire in World War I, Latvia became an independent state. The Freedom Monument was erected in 1935 to honor the Latvian nation and surprisingly stayed up during Soviet rule. The Occupation Museum tells the story of Latvia's occupation by the Soviets then the Nazis then the Soviets from 1940-1990. It is housed in the former Latvian Riflemen's building. The Latvian Riflemen were an elite ethnic unit in the Russian imperial army and sided with the Bolsheviks in 1917. They were highly praised by the Soviets, although Stalin had the remaining members killed during the purges in the 1930s. Despite this somewhat controversial history, the monument remains in Riga in recongition of the important historical role that they played.

Riga Churches







There are also a lot of churches in Riga -- but these are Lutheran churches. Because of the strong German influence, Latvia became Lutheran during the Reformation. The church with the black dome is appropriately called the Dome Church. It houses one of Europe's largest organs. I attended an organ concert my first evening in Riga and it was beautiful to listen to.



Monday, July 16, 2007

Trakai - The Castle on the Lake
















Trakai was one of the ancient capitals of the medieval Lithuanian empire. The castle stands on an island in a lake about 1/2 hour drive from Vilnius. The boats can be rented for a row out on the lake. And here I am in Lithuania!

Most Surprising Sight in Vilnius




The monument was erected by a radio station. Appropriately enough, I discovered it on my way to the US Embassy.


Churches Everywhere































The Lithuanians are proud to be the last pagan people in Europe. However, once they converted to Christianity, Catholicism became an important part of their culture and national identity. Catholic churches are everywhere. Because Lithuania was part of the Russian empire for 150 years, there are also a lot of Russian Orthodox churches (green-domed church). Most churches were closed and neglected during the Soviet period. Since independence, the main churches in Vilnius have been restored and re-opened. When Napolean's army marched through Vilnius on its way to Moscow in the War of 1812, Napolean said that St. Anne's Church (the red brick one) was so beautiful that he wanted to take it back to Paris in the palm of his hand. St. Anne's is over 500 years old and built with 33 kinds of brick.

More Tragic History


Lithuania had a thriving Jewish community for 400 years. Vilnius was known as the "Jerusalem of the North" because several important Jewish religious, cultural and intellectual movements began here. During the Nazi occupation in World War II over 90% of Lithuanian Jews were killed. The Vilna Gaon Jewish Museum in Vilnius tells the history of the Jews in Lithuania and their destruction in a powerful exhibit called Shoah (Catastrophe). There is also a room called the Gallery of the Righteous filled with photographs and lists of names honoring those who risked their own lives to rescue Jews during the Nazi occupation. They are powerful and moving exhibitions and testaments both to the evil that human beings commit and to our incredible ability to do good. The photograph is of a synagogue that has been restored and re-opened since independence.

Lost in Translation


Since I am mangling the Lithuanian language on a daily basis, I can't make fun of the mangled English that I have encountered. However, when traveling in a different country, be careful with words that seem similar to English words. They don't always mean the same thing. For example, in Lithuania "snoras" is a bank not a place for nap!

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Lithuanian History

I arrived in Lithuania on a holiday weekend. July 6 is Statehood Day -- not to be confused with the two Independence Days. July 6 celebrates Lithuania's medieval empire. February 16 recognizes Lithuania's independence from the Russian empire in 1918. And March 11 celebrates independence from the Soviet Union. As the Lithuanians say of their history, "it's a bit complicated." But that is what makes it so interesting to study.

Yesterday I visited the Museum of Genocide Victims, which is located in the former KGB headquarters. The museum's exhibits chronicle the death and deportations that resulted from the Soviet occupation of Lithuania starting in 1940 (just before World War II). It's a moving story, made all the more grim by being in the actual cells where prisoners were held. The exhibit ends, however, with the Lithuanian national movement in the late 1980s that contributed to the end of the Soviet Union. Now Lithuania is part of the European Union -- quite a change in 16 years.

Vilnius Architecture













Vilnius is known for its Baroque architecture. Now that the buildings in Old Town and the center of the city have been restored and freshly painted, it's a pleasure just to stroll through town and look at the beautiful buildings. These are a few examples.










Success!!


I am sitting in Double Coffee - Vilnius' version of Starbucks -- using their free wi-fi and my laptop to post to the blog. I definitely feel like a 21st century traveler! Now on to the good stuff...

Sunday, July 1, 2007

Amanda's Itinerary


Dear Friends,

Welcome to the Blog for my trip to the Baltics. I'll be spending three weeks in three countries.

Vilnius, Lithuania - July 7-18

Riga, Latvia - July 18-22

Tallinn, Estonia - July 22-27

I'll let you know when I post reports and photos.

Amanda