Tallinn is a fantastic harbor city full of history. The majority of her visitors rush to see Old Town. But the vitality of the city lies about Old Town like a ring. The new modern rising Estonia is gleaming metal and glass. In a way it is quite fitting that the old road which leads to historic Parnu going south out of the city goes past “modernist” estates, which were built during Estonia’s freedom in the 1930’s. They are masterpieces of the clean aesthetics of the right angle and how it may hold the circle, square and rectangle. They are among the finest I’ve ever seen in the Baltics.
Tallinn’s main open market is near the bus station on Tartu Mtn, an easy walk or tram ride from Old Town. It is quite fun to go through. Not being overly large it is very accessible without being exhausting. The most interesting products for us usually come from individuals who sell on the outskirt or boundary of the market proper. There the selection of goods is most easily carried away when it becomes overwhelming, when the vendors yell or the market police come.
We had come to Tallinn for the Medieval Day’s Celebration that happens in Old Town’s Square. We spent hours talking with our artisans and meeting new ones. My folly was buying a leather bracelet from a 60 year old woman who had made 20 pieces in the whole of a year and whom we could probably never contact again. I walked away with the red and blue fox leather bracelet and thought how if I put it out in the store I’d have wonderful customers asking for bigger or smaller, green, purple, or yellow fox bracelets and being very disappointed when we gently said, no, the foxes are limited. The older woman’s works, made during the long dark nights of winter, were based on her dreams and the animals that would come to speak to her in them.
Ingrida bought a number of traditionally dressed Estonian dolls from a grandmother and granddaughter. When she asked if we could order more the young granddaughter, translating, told us that Grandmother, who was a traditional costume master, had made them to take her mind off Grandfather’s sickness. With Grandfather’s death, Grandmother was now sending each and every the little doll out into the world. When they had all found homes Grandmother would quit the market for she would make no more.
Tallinn’s main open market is near the bus station on Tartu Mtn, an easy walk or tram ride from Old Town. It is quite fun to go through. Not being overly large it is very accessible without being exhausting. The most interesting products for us usually come from individuals who sell on the outskirt or boundary of the market proper. There the selection of goods is most easily carried away when it becomes overwhelming, when the vendors yell or the market police come.
We had come to Tallinn for the Medieval Day’s Celebration that happens in Old Town’s Square. We spent hours talking with our artisans and meeting new ones. My folly was buying a leather bracelet from a 60 year old woman who had made 20 pieces in the whole of a year and whom we could probably never contact again. I walked away with the red and blue fox leather bracelet and thought how if I put it out in the store I’d have wonderful customers asking for bigger or smaller, green, purple, or yellow fox bracelets and being very disappointed when we gently said, no, the foxes are limited. The older woman’s works, made during the long dark nights of winter, were based on her dreams and the animals that would come to speak to her in them.
Ingrida bought a number of traditionally dressed Estonian dolls from a grandmother and granddaughter. When she asked if we could order more the young granddaughter, translating, told us that Grandmother, who was a traditional costume master, had made them to take her mind off Grandfather’s sickness. With Grandfather’s death, Grandmother was now sending each and every the little doll out into the world. When they had all found homes Grandmother would quit the market for she would make no more.
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