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Baltics trip
Day 14 - 29th May - Tallinn, Estonia (Part 4)
It must be uncomfortable for people of both genders (albeit for different reasons) to ride bicycles on cobblestoned roads.
"The Legend of Dannebrog" (The Danish Flag)
Imperial Eagle on glass vessel (Humpen), 1599 (I didn't know the Empire's influence reached so far North)
Medieval seal-stamps and seals
Monk scribe
Executioner's sword. Presumably this is the oldest one from Tallinn, with a mid-16th-century Solingen blade in a 15th-century hilt.
Execution mockup (Johann von Uexxkyll). People get excited before executions but going to the extent of having a display is ridiculous. They must (still) hate the nobility.
"Medieval manor houses did not differ considerably from the peasants' dwellings" - This smacked of self-delusion.
Medieval town seals
Christmas Mass, fragment. 1450-1500
They also had a recording:
It sounded like every other medieval mass.
Armour
The Blackheads were unmarried merchants. Hah.
Light Plate Armour from Innsbruck. Notice the "INRI". Hurr hurr.
Russian Riders
Runic Calendars, 17th c.
Various aristocratic crap
Bone anatomical models
Glass with State Seal of Sweden, Prayer- and hymnbook
Tiles showing deference to Swedish sovereigns
The Estonians really like the Swedes, with their even being a phrase, "good old Swedish times"
Canteen and dedication ribbon used by Peter I
Military stuff, 18th c.
Swedish and Russian infantry uniforms: identical but for colour
Tobacco dish from Hamburg
Candle-snuffer, powder-sprinkler for wigs
Iron, Brazier
Catherine the Great
Runic stone, replica (of a Swedish one - HAH)
All in all, this was an excellent museum, and I wouldn't have minded seeing the rest of the collection, if not for the lack of time (material from after Catherine the Great was housed in another location; luckily I wasn't that interested in that period and had seen much material from then anyway)
Stage for party to celebrate Slovenia's entry into the EU
We had dinner at a student bar/cafe: Kompressor. We had Smoked trout, Bacon and smoked cheese pancakes. They were good but had little filling, but were nonetheless filling. We also had Solanka which had a lot of canned of tuna (but wasn't bad). In all, we got what we paid for - we saw why this was a student place.
Ads for adult shit: "Joy for a sore eye are offered by beautiful dancing girls and full striptease... 100 % safety guaranteed... 100% secure"
YC asked a war veteran a question we'd been wanting to ask: who was worse, the Soviets or the Nazis? The vet related a tale of his neighbor: the father was conscripted by the Germans and the son was conscripted by the Soviets, so for the wife which occupier was better? This was one of those profound-sounding but in reality really meaningless and cock answers.
In Estonia there's no sale of alcohol from kiosks and convenience stores from 8pm-8am. Hah.
Carbonated water was cheaper than still, and flavoured water (lemon, some red berry) was the cheapest of all. Wth. I was put in the mind of Pompeii's Ass mounting a Lion: "The world outside down"
I've no idea what this is (the website is in Estonian or Russian). Maybe a USB-powered fridge and washing machine.
I saw this girl in the waiting area wearing a wreath. Intrigued, I asked her what it was about, and she said she went into the woods with her friend and her friend made it for her:
She kindly consented to let me take photos.
We took an overnight bus to Vilnius in Lithuania, where we had started our adventure. The driver didn't turn on the aircon for the upper level of the bus - luckily I told him, or we'd all have suffocated.
Quotes:
How come no one respects smokers' rights? [Me: The same reason why no one respects the rights of perverts to molest other people.]