h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I arrived in Tallinn from the ferry, and caught a bus heading for the old town. Unfortunately I overshot, then got off too early on the way back, so I walked miles looking for a hostel, and ended up staying in this really dodgy looking place near the old town. They were going to put me in a dorm with 2 guys, but I ended up paying 33 Euros (about $60 Oz) for a 2 bed room to myself.

It's not my favourite way to get acquainted with a new town - lugging my pack round it for hours... Actually, it says a lot about Tallinn that I recovered from the resulting foul mood and really really liked it.

The next morning I did a sightseeing tour (included with the 'Tallinn Card' I bought which gets me free public transport and museum entry and stuff like that). Among other things, we went to the Song Festival grounds, where Estonia has a big choir and folk music festival every 5 years. It was also the site of a 4 night vigil attended by ~300,000 people (1/3 of the population) protesting the Soviet occupation in 1990, which was a major step towards their independence. We also did a walking tour of the old town, which went past the 'Tall Hermann Tower' flying the Estonian flag (which is blue, black and white - for the sky, the history, and the hope of the people, respectively). We also saw the Russian orthodox and lutheran cathedrals, and the 600 year old town hall. I climbed the tower of the town hall, and the Oleviste church - insanely steep spiral stairs, but amazing views from the top The old town is very well preserved here, partly because the soviet pilots avoided bombing near the orthodox cathedral during WW2...

In the evening I scouted out the path to the bus station, thru suburbs full of hideous decaying soviet apartment blocks, and aging timber houses. The guide in the morning said they have a law so that people who lost property to the Soviets in 1940 can claim it back, which causes lots of legal problems, and rather discourages major renovations, altho there were some going on...

The next morning I went to the history museum, and to the museum of occupation, which was truly amazing and I wish I'd had more time there. It had a number of exhibits, but the main feature was a series of documentaries covering the different periods - the 'Red Year' 1940-41 when the Soviets invaded after the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, the Nazi occupation 1941-44, which was welcomed by many Estonians - evidently the notion of 'better the devil you know doesn't hold when the devil is Stalin... Then thru different phases unde the soviets - during and after Stalin, thru the 80s to glasnost and perestroika, and eventual, hard-won independence in 1991.

It is an amazing and very moving story.

yay for independence movements!
and yay for you for writing some more - i'd begun to think you'd disappeared.
not much news here - very excited about moving, and OZRI - oh, and ryan's going to visit bec and james and i'm jealous cos i can't go.

don't be so down on your chances of getting GIS-work in the uk. There's lots of crappy digitizing jobs with disgustingly high turnover, so all you need to do is sign up with the right temp agency...
maybe working in a pub would be better

anyway, i've gotta go cook dinner. if you're lucky i'll write more later


and cheers from the aussie cheer squad