By Dennis
After 3 days in Tallinn and sightseeing and adjusting to jet lag, we finally got down to the task of starting our journey. Estonia, with a population of 1.3 million is a small country, but it’s capital, Tallinn, is a popular cruise ship port and when 5 ships disgorge their passengers the streets of the medieval old town are crammed with passengers. Reminds me of Victoria in the summer.
Tallinn has a good cycling infrastructure with many shared pedestrian/cyclist paths and where there are no cycling paths it is perfectly legal to ride on the sidewalks. This policy and “cyclist friendly drivers” make it a pleasure to ride around the city, something we took advantage of with a ride out west of the city along the Baltic seashore to Parita Beach. On the way we came unexpectedly across a colossal black granite memorial in memory of the 200,000 Estonians who were murdered or died while imprisoned under the Soviet Communist regime. One in five Estonians died under the Soviet Union’s terror policy until Estonia gained its independence in 1991.
On a brighter note, here are some pictures of Tallin…
While tourists see only a peaceful scene today, locals strolling this street are reminded of dark times under Moscow’s rule. The KGB used the tower at St. Olav’s Church to block Finnish TV signals. And the ministry of police (nearby at Pikk 59) was, before 1991, the sinister local headquarters of the KGB. “Creative interrogation methods” were used here. Locals well knew that “from here started the road of suffering,” as Tallinn’s troublemakers were sent to Siberian gulags. The ministry building was called “the tallest building in town” (because “when you’re in the basement, you can already see Siberia”). Notice the bricked-up windows at foot level.
Our ride to Paldiski was a short one at 56km, travelling on a cycle path for most of the way, over flat terrain, and in the sunshine! Paldiski is a one horse town on the Baltic sea coast with a mostly Russian population of 3700 living in quintessential soviet bloc style housing . We are staying at the “Paldiski Pubi” – a family run pub, the only pub and the only hotel in town. We are the only guests.
Tallinn to Istanbul by Bike 
Fabulous! Great blend of irony, info, adventure and its associated pitfalls. I like the spreadsheet outline of your trip – putting it out there but of course now you’re committed. Nice clean look too. Looking forward to more.
Steve Allen
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A nice read … and great pics!!! Glad you sound like you are beginning to enjoy yourselves! Just got home from doing the loop. Now to wash the dust off my bike. Look forward to your next post. Perhaps you will mention your food/beer stops? D
On Sun, Aug 11, 2019 at 11:43 AM Tallinn to Istanbul by Bike wrote:
> idratherbesailingnow posted: ” By Dennis After 3 days in Tallinn and > sightseeing and adjusting to jet lag, we finally got down to the task of > starting our journey. Estonia, with a population of 1.3 million is a small > country, but it’s capital, Tallinn, is a popular cruise ship por” >
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Great start to blog guys! Stay safe!
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