Blue Grass Dance
 |
| Texas Honky Tonk and Cantina in Tallinn sharing a Margarita |
After
just two weeks Tallinn has become almost as familiar as our own home
in Japan. You could do a whirlwind tour in a day or two since
Tallinn's Old Town area, which is the main tourist attraction, is
quite small. We prefer to spend a little more time than that,
however, and get to know the town and what it has to offer a little
more intimately. Many of the small concerts we attended, for example,
were mostly attended by locals. Most short-term visitors were
probably not even aware of them.
We
also tend to avoid transportation for places that are more easily
accessible on foot and reserve public transport for places that are
more distant from the center. That can turn out to be a good idea or
a fool's errand, both of which, I have to admit, we did.
 |
| once a prison, now a museum GRIM |
The
fool's errand: One day we decided to take a walk outside the
walls of the Old Town to an area on the coast where you could take a
boat ride on a sailing ship. The walk on a particularly hot and humid
day turned into a 6 or 7-km hike that left me, thankfully, not
limping, but stumbling a bit. Since I'm road testing me bum leg on
this trip I was both exhausted by the walk in the heat, but happy
that my hip did not interfere—both legs were feeling the strain.
Normal!
 |
| sign in front of the tugboat is the sailboat landing |
There
was no sailboat at the time we arrived at the port, but I happened to
catch some kind of dance rehearsal nearby that I shot a bit of video
on. I'm not quite sure what it was all about, maybe some Viking
throwback or something. Anyway, here's a little sample above.
The
good idea: Another day we decided to venture farther out from the
city center on a public route bus, much as we had done some days
earlier to visit the Pirita Convent. After some confusion as to
where the bus stop was located we found it and had to wait almost an
hour for the next bus. There seemed to be a lot of people waiting for
buses, but none came. Finally, our bus arrived and every body there
waiting got on it. We were barely able to squeeze onto this
overcrowded bus with no air conditioning—only a few inadequate
vents open in the roof.
 |
| thatched roof and old stone walls harmonize very well |
 |
| the village well |
We
were headed for an open air museum where they display buildings and
the way of life in 19th Century rural Estonia. The park is
pretty and well kept and easily and pleasantly walkable. As we were
walking along a path I heard music that sounded like lively dance
music so we decided to follow the sound until we reached the spot
where the music was coming from. There was a small group of costumed
professional dancers performing what looked a folk dance and sounded
like Blue Grass or a Quadrille, or square dance. They were performing
for a large crowd of locals dining in what looked like an outdoor
barbecue cafeteria style. It was by reservation only and already
closed to further guests. But, no matter, we weren't hungry anyway,
but I did get another little video of the dancers linked above.
 |
| spinning wheels |
And, of course, a few odd photos here and there.
 |
| even a little red schoolhouse |
No comments:
Post a Comment