“The sky broke like an egg into full sunset and the water caught fire.”
—Pamela Hansford Johnson
“What do you think about Tallinn?” my friend Kim says to me on the phone.
It’s 2008, we’re 22 and about to move to London, and doing our best to plan the first weeks of our coming Euro-adventure while based in different cities for the summer.
If I’m honest, I’d never heard of Tallinn. I’d barely heard of Estonia (I think?)…at least, it certainly wasn’t on the usual list of places my friends had hit while studying abroad. So with Kim still on the phone, I do what I do best: I google it.
All it takes is an image of a few Russian onion domes and I’m sold.
When we finally arrive for our first taste of Eastern Europe, Kim, our friend Emily and I delight in the crumbling walls of Old Town Tallinn, a UNESCO World Heritage site that dates as far back as the 13th century. We dip our toes in the Baltic, dance in the gardens of Kadriorg Palace, and have an unfortunate incident involving a rowboat (let’s just say we never make it out of the marina).
But throughout our first day in Tallinn, we can never quite shake off the heavy cloud cover hanging over the city. A billowing blanket of grey never seems to fold itself away.
Not until that evening, when we emerge from dinner and find that not only has the sun broke, but it has set the city on fire. Suddenly, we’re chasing the sun, re-tracing our steps through the old town, taking photos of the same scenes we’d captured hours earlier—only this time, it’s like someone said, “Let there be light.”
Years later, it’s these few moments as sun-chasers and shadow dancers I still remember the most:
Tallinn, Estonia, before and after:
The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, before and after:
Old town Tallinn, before and after:
Wow, such stunning photos (all of them, including the cloudy ones)! I always say that sunshine is my instant photography improver. Hopefully my little course next weekend will help me improve a little on my cloudy weather photography.
I really related to your rowing boat experience! It is harder than it seems to row a boat, isn’t it?
I have heard of Tallinn, through blogs, and definitely intend to get there in the next five years or so. (I have a long bucket list)
Thank you, Emm! Your course sounds very cool–whereabouts are you taking that? I look forward to hearing some of the tips you pick up 🙂 And yes–I had no idea how difficult it was to row a boat. I had such a romantic image in my mind of us gently floating down an Estonian stream…but it appears it requires a bit more man-power than us girls could muster! Despite all of that, you should defintely still go to Tallinn. We enjoyed the glimpse into a post-Soviet nation, as well as the rich medieval heritage that’s still seen everywhere.
The course is with The Photo School and it will be near Leadenhall Market. I’m hoping to do my practical at the bombed church of St Dunstan’s in the East.
Very cool 🙂 I can’t wait to hear how it goes–and see the photos from your practical as well…the church sounds interesting!
You’re very brave to go on an adventure like that. But looks like it was worth it – love those medieval turrets. I’d love to be able to whisk the sun into all my photographs like that. Makes such a difference.
Thanks, Sonja! I definitely wish I could call on the sun like that every time a city is buried in a blanket of grey, but I guess that’s part of the magic of unexpected sunsets 🙂
Beautiful pictures of a beautiful city. I’ve heard of Tallinn since it’s one of the ports of a Baltic cruise I’ve been wanting to do. I haven’t seen many pictures and these picture just reinforces my desire to do one. Love the contrast on the pictures. We’ve chased the sun and taken the same pictures over again too. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks very much, Mary–I’m glad you enjoyed the photos! Your cruise sounds like a fantastic option–where are some of the other places it stops at? Tallinn is my only taste of the Baltic so far, but I would love to go back and explore the region more.
We spent a day in Tallinn on a cruise and loved it – my younger daughter, who was 6 at the time, was convinced that Rapunzel lived in one of those towers!
I love that, Lisa! I also wouldn’t have been surprised to see an extra-long blond braid suddenly descend from a tower…they definitely had that magical, fairy-tale look to them 🙂