Tag: Toompea
Tallinn: Rock up to Estonia’s Cool Capital
Tallinn is making up for lost time. After being bandied about by the USSR and Nazi Germany before finally gaining independence in 1991, the Estonian capital today is like a freshman at university, relishing a taste of freedom, revved up on Red Bull and ready to party.
A DJ spins tunes at Must Puudel (Black Poodle), a retro bar in Tallinn’s Old Town. Tragically, Cliff Richards’ “Devil Woman” was not on the playlist.
Yet wherever you go, there’s history, smacking you on the back of the head like that last ill-advised shot of Jagermeister at one of the city’s late-night dance halls, all juxtaposed against a kind of frenetic, youthful joy and capitalist ambition. If you want to experience a society teetering at a cultural and temporal crossroads, this is the time to visit Tallinn. (more…)