Saturday 8 September – Palaces, promenades and panoramic views.

We ventured out of the Old Town today by way of the No.1 tram to the beautiful area of Kadriorg, just 3km out of town.  The name comes from the Estonian for “Catherine’s Valley”.  It was here that the Russian Tsar Peter I (Peter the Great) and his wife Catherine established an estate, built a palace as their base in their western empire and eventually opened up the grounds – some seventy acres – as a park available for use and recreation by the Estonian people.  We visited the palace, again very grand in the Baroque style but with none of the ostentatious opulence of St Petersburg, then walked through the beautiful palace gardens.  Then on to Peter the Great’s House, the relatively humble dwelling where he stayed while the palace was being built.

We then stopped for lunch at the adjacent Kumu Art Museum, which is currently featuring an exhibition by Michel Sittow, unarguably the most famous Estonian artist, from Renaissance times.  We then continued our stroll to the Japanese Garden, a recent (2011) but relaxing addition.  Then to the sea-front and the Russalka Memorial, a 16 metre bronze sculpture erected in 1902 to commemorate the sinking of a Russian naval vessel of that name en route to Finland in 1893.  The sculpture is of an angel pointing an Orthodox cross in the assumed direction of the shipwreck.

We then promenaded along the seafront, as no doubt countless others have done over the centuries, pausing for some of us to wet our feet in the Baltic Sea.  Our stroll continued to the obelisk erected in 1960 to commemorate the Soviet troops killed in 1918 - hardly a popular edifice, as the war was against Estonia and all of the Estonian monuments to their dead were destroyed shortly after the Soviet takeover. We then walked along a moving memorial avenue that told the story, in graphic detail, of the Soviet persecution of the Estonian people from 1940 until their independence in 1991.

We then walked the short distance to the Maarjamae Palace, whose history belies its grand name – it was built in 1874 as a hotel-style retreat for the rich and famous.  It is now a fascinating museum of recent Estonian history and has several statues from the Soviet era on display outside.

We then caught the bus a few kilometres to see Tallinn’s telecom tower, 314 metres high and offering, obviously, 360^o views across to the city and surrounds.  We also saw some of the foolhardy daredevils who actually pay to dangle their legs over the side of the tower. The best we could do was a walk on the outside of the tower, protected by secure wire netting.

Our last visit today was to the Tallinn Botanical Gardens, a lovely, relaxing way to complete our day.  We especially liked the rose garden and the Australian garden with a healthy-looking Wollemi Pine.  Elizabeth took the opportunity to do her best Groucho Marx impersonation. Then a bus back to the Old Town and a stroll to our apartment, passing through the tail-end of the annual Tallinn marathon.

On arrival back at our apartment, John learned of the death of John Mooney.  John was a close friend and one of the great characters of policing in New South Wales.  He will be missed.  A sad ending to an otherwise wonderful day.