Basking in the Baltics

Kadriorg Palace

On one of our recent jaunts about town, we discovered the Kadriorg Palace. In 1710, at the conclusion of the Great Northern War, Estonia was taken away from the Swedish Empire and ended up in the hands of the Russian empire. Peter the Great, to honor his wife, Catherine I, bought a Dutch manor near the coast in Tallinn. It was decided later to build a larger palace on the grounds and construction was started. Peter and Catherine visited often, but when Peter died in 1725, it was still unfinished. Catherine never visited again. The house today is the result of an extensive renovation ordered by Nicolas I in 1827. The name Kadriorg translates to "Catherine's Valley". The grounds are extensive and you will recognize that much care and money went into this place. Next door is the home of Eduard Vilde, an Estonian author of some renown. It's a museum now.

Kadriorg Palace

Catherine, I guess

Old iron gate - really old

Swans were normally kept here

Kadriorg gardens

Kitchen of Eduard Vilde

Home of Eduard Vilde

25th Anniversary of the restoration of Estonia's Independence

On August 20th, Estonia celebrated the 25th year of the restoration of it's independence that was established in 1991, when the Soviet Union fell apart. Although it was an occupied land until then, all Estonians considered Estonia as an separate country whose independence had been circumvented for a season. It's like the 4th of July for Americans. It's a national holiday and there was much to see and hear as there were important presentations, both political and cultural. We wandered into Old Town to see what we could see and ended up at Freedom Square where all the singing and dancing was going on. What a treat that was. This was a national, televised event and we were still able to get up real close to the performers. Below are scenes of the event with different costumed performers. When the choir sang Ärkamise Aeg (an Estonian Hymn, translates to : "A time of awakening"), everyone in the crowd started singing as well. It was a real special feeling there to see how proud these people are of their homeland.