Happy Birthday From The Big Cave in Kentucky- 7 Ways That Mammoth Cave Humbled Me.

A place that takes on shapes and forms of another world and my imagination went in many directions.

Collecting U.N.E.S.C.O. World Heritage Sites In Tallinn-Toompea, Estonia

On my bucket list I aim to get to as many U.N.E.S.C.O. World Heritage Sites as possible, visiting Tallinn-Toompea was a bonus!

One thing that I loved about this city is the layering of many centuries from the old to the new. The view is a colorful combination of the upper and lower town, with church spires and colorful rooflines and shapes, this sight is literally worth a visit. I arrived by ship from Helsinki, and the view was truly amazing.

Old Town portion of Tallinn and Toompea in the upper portion made the World Heritage List for the preserved medieval Hanseatic Old Town. In the 13^th century Crusading Knights of The Teutonic Order built a castle. It became a major European trading route for the wealthy Hanseatic League.

*Teutonic  (Teutons) *Germanic Peoples

*Hanseatic Leaugue-a commercial and defensive group of merchants  and their market towns. It dominated Baltic maritime trade. 13-17 century

I arrived by ship from Helsinki-checkout this view. I learned that between 1470-1625, Tallinn had the tallest building in the world. I got to see that from afar!

Blurry But…

First views

First Impressions! Old and New

Layers of beauty!

Old Town takes up just 0.7% of the total area of Tallinn.   You are easily able to walk the sites,  Here is my path

Meg posing

Walking into Old Town and Toompea was like walking into a story book-8+ centuries in the making.

Old Town Architecture

Style!

Old Town Hall

Awesome details

The narrow and winding streets are fun to wander

long narrow streets with a view around every corner

The city has fun names for streets and buildings.

Pikk Jalg-The long leg connects the lower town and Toompea

Luhike Jalg-the short leg

According to legend, these three houses called “Three Sister’s”  actually belonged to three sisters.

The “Three sisters’

The defensive structures of the Old Town were probably my favorite sights.

Another reason I love this town is  a tower called “Saint Margaret Tower”  and ordered built by The Danish Queen Mother Margrethe Sambiria. there is also a tower called Stout Margaret. Myself, being a Margaret, I totally posed. As an aside, this tower houses the Estonian Maritime Museum.

Fat/Stout Margaret with Margaret “Meg” posing

This area had gorgeous June gardens, so many photo ops.  As usual, I just had my point and shoot.

great buildings and towers

Grounds

The upper town of Toompea was the administrative center. It sits high on a limestone hill with a castle, cathedral.  The area of Toompea became included in this World Heritage Site.

There is a castle with fortress walls

Looking over the wall

I met “Tall Herman”

The Tall Herman sits next to The Estonian Parliment.  The day that I visited I saw a lot of cool license plates with guarded cars.

Toompea Castle, the former building of the provincial government

The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral is worth a peek.

The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral

The “newest” of the churches in this area, it is an Orthodox Church built in 1900. Decorated with lots of gilding and mosaics.

Super fun sights are at every turn, fun shops. I rarely buy things on trips but I I actually bought green amber earrings and a necklace.  super unique and interesting.

Super interesting sights

A uniquely blended city, the capital of Estonia, located on the Gulf of Finland. In 2011, along with the city of Turku Finland, Tallinn was awarded the distinction of “European Culture Capital.” It is in the top ten digital cities in the world, a global city. A big city with a long history and a medley of old and new. There is an amazing amount of things to do and see in this area.   Trip Advisor lists “266 things to do and see in Tallinn.” There was so much that I did not get to see on my visit.   I would go back in a heartbeat.

MEGastars 5 of 5 *****

MEGatips

1.  Try to stay for a few days.  I think this area is worthy of a minimum of two days. I had one.
2. A few things that I did not get to see were The Tallinn Botanical Gardens.  I collect them like heritage sights, Rocca Al Mare, an open air museum with really awesome wooden buildings. Nomme, a town built in the forest. Ruins of Prita Conventand most of all The Song Festival Grounds, where in 1988, hundreds and thousands of people gathered to sing for Estonian Independance.  (I walked by but had to leave.)
3. Arrive by ship and walk.