Back from Tallinn. Which means that I must, with regret, finally retire my passport; I cannot now avoid the need to renew it. It’s done pretty well for itself, having now only one blank page, 13 visas (1 Chinese, 1 Saudi, 1 Tanzania, 2 Kenyan and 8 Russian) and 34 pairs of entry/exit stamps. Including proof here, for example, that I did indeed enter New Zealand on 17/2/13. There’s a lot of memories in this now-tatty little book.
I picked my Tallinn hotel, the Hotel Viru, basically at random, so it was interesting to discover its history today. It was the first ‘Western’-style hotel built in the city in the early 1970s when the Soviet Union decided that it would try to attract tourist hard currency. The hotel has 23 floors, but the elevators only go up to 22: the top floor officially did not exist, because it was in a room up there that the KGB installed a surveillance station that, it is believed, relayed information from spies in Finland direct to the 1st Directorate of the KGB back in Moscow. One night in May 1991, just before Estonia achieved independence, they cleared out literally overnight, and now the hotel conducts guided tours of the top floor which, they say, they have left exactly as it was found after their departure. You can see more pictures on my Facebook page if interested.
As well as this room there was a surveillance network throughout the whole hotel, which was also used by Communist party luminaries and celebrities as well as tourists. The two pieces of equipment shown here reflect this. The black apparatus is a camera attached to a tube which could be poked through holes in ceilings to photograph guests in the room below. The pink object on the left, which I found particularly sinister, is a purse that would be left lying around as if it had been dropped by a guest. Hotel employees were supposed to return these straight to lost property; if they opened it, checking for money, it would explode dye into their face. They would then be called into see the local KGB and told that if they did not co-operate with them they would be sent to a labour camp for theft. Nice people.
Of course, these days no government ever spies on its people like this or engages in any underhand surveillance tactics at all.
Toompea is the district of Tallinn’s old town elevated up on a hill. Two birds with one stone — the ‘autumn leaves’ shot and also a pleasant district of the pleasant city I currently reside in. In fact this is right next door to the Estonian parliament. Why don’t they feel the need to block it off with fences and roadblocks like they do in London or Washington? I dunno, perhaps because their government aren’t a bunch of assholes? Just a thought.
The ECIL (European Conference on Information Literacy) taking place in Tallinn at the moment is the same gig that got me to Croatia this time last year, and yes, some things just stay the same, like the folk dancing we endured last night; and tea breaks remain the same wherever one is.
Estonia becomes the 24th country to feature on this blog [*] and it makes an impressive debut. Tallinn is one of Europe’s smaller capitals, with a population of about 450,000. The well-lit church is St. Olav’s cathedral, which when it was built in the 16th century, may have been the tallest building in the world. This shot was taken from my hotel room — I’ve had worse views.
[*] seeing as you mentioned it, the countries have been, in order of first appearance: UK, Finland, Russia, Norway, Netherlands. Denmark, USA, Egypt/Sudan, Kenya, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, the United Arab Emirates, Germany, Turkey, Lebanon, Sweden, Italy, Vatican City, Croatia, France, Tanzania and now Estonia.
Sometimes the shots just have that extra little thing about them that you didn’t even realise was there when you took it. I’ve travelled today, to a place that I’ve not been to before and which you’ll see over the next few days, rest assured, but this shot was taken en route. These clouds are not natural, they are being pumped out of some power station or other, maybe in France or northern Germany, I’m not completely sure. I loved the way they flattened out at the top in some cold layer. But it was only when I uploaded this one that I spotted the plane…
Oh, it’s always very nice to go to Leeds and win, although we (Brighton) seem to be making a habit of it… a 2-1 victory makes it six wins in our last seven games against Yorkshire’s ‘finest’. Tim and Jamie on the left constitute the other half (with Joe & I) of the Calderdale Seagulls… being based in the local area this is the one we want to win the most. I seem unable to take decent action shots of any football match, probably because I get too involved, but this picture encapsulates my day just fine.
Work trip down south today. Change trains at Leeds. Leeds probably ranks third on the list of ‘Drew’s most frequently-visited railway stations’ (after Hebden Bridge and Manchester Victoria, but ahead of Preston and King’s Cross). This section of it seems to have turned a shocking pink colour in the last few weeks for no immediately obvious reason.
This piece of equipment isn’t quite as fearsome as it looks, because in fact there are three of them lined up along row O of the stalls of the Palace Theatre, Manchester, filming the performance we came tonight to see. The ten rows behind them all had to be reseated, which is proof, I guess, that the BBC can stomp in and do what they like….
Of course the houses aren’t really in the treetops. Or are they? This is Hebden Bridge…
Being 42 