2011 Recap part 1: Tallinn

So, the year has almost run it's course and so many things have been left unmentioned. Bad girl, bad girl...

I try to make up for it and do a little recap on what's been going on since July this year.

Põhuteater

In the end of July I went to Tallinn, Estonia, with Sebastian Nübling production called "Mutter, Väter, Kinder". It was a very nice co-incidence timewise, since I was northbound anyway at that time and hadn't visited Tallinn in many years. And as it happened, it was also lucky on the weather scale. In the morning when leaving Basel the thermometer showed generous +8*C and when landing to Tallinn the same afternoon +29*C. So apparently it was true what people said about the hottest summer in ages in Northern Europe. We in Basel were definitely not so lucky.

Pöhütheater

The Nübling production had two shows in Põhuteater, which was a temporary festival project located on Toompea hill. Põhu in Estonian means "straw" and as it turned out; the theater was really constructed out of straw. Luckily the Big Bad Wolf was nowhere in sights, since the theater was still standing by the time I got there =)

Detail of the wall of the theater, it really is straw.

This was for me the second set of touring performances of the "Mutter, Väter, Kinder". Earlier I was with them In Gessnerallee in Zürich. That time I was trying so really hard to figure out the ropes of this particular show and get it all right, that I didn't honestly have any chance to get to know the other members of the team. In Tallinn the schedule was little bit easier for me and I realized that these are really quite lovely people. The performance is about two families on stage and their relations, which makes it all bit different. People are literally bound to each other and it gives a whole another dimension of openness and warmth to over all interaction, both on and off stage. I'm really looking forward to see if there is any future shows of this piece, now that I finally got to know little bit about these people =)

Mutter, Väter, Kinder

We were staying at the legendary (and notorius?) Hotel Viru. From outside it still looks much the same as always; the weird soviet-style concrete block on the edge of a park. I had never been inside before, and now when I finally got there, I couldn't somehow believe it. It didn't feel like Hotel Viru and it didn't feel like being in Estonia, in any way, anymore. -Mainly because this hotel is nowadays a part of the Finnish Sokos Hotel-chain and you can get bonus points by swinging your green Sokos-bonuscard when paying for your beer. And having breakfast with mere 800 vacationers with their screaming children... it's a jungle and survival of the fittest to score some scrambled eggs. Far out... but the pillows were brilliant and the view over the harbor from 14th floor not that bad. But long gone are the days, and even the memories, of the Soviet espionage and bugged rooms.

Hotel Viru, Tallinn

Food and architecture
Again, as touring often is, I was only few days in Tallinn and the time was mostly filled with loads of work. But I did have same freetime too.

Olde Hansa

One of the things I ABSOLUTELY wanted to do was to go eat at Olde Hansa, which is a very popular medieval restaurant at the heart of the old town, just around the corner from the Rathaus. I've been there many times before and it has never let me down. This time neither. I went there for lunch on one of the afternoons and had the most delicious "No longer a dish of the poor, with smoked meats" - a salad platter with all kinds of smokey thingies, yummy.

No longer a dish of the poor, with smoked meats

All the people at Olde Hansa are very friendly and talkative and the interior is also very charming. I mostly appreciate the the fact that they have managed to hide all the electric light sources somewhere out of sight. Therefore the atmosphere is somewhat genuinely believable medieval.

Olde Hansa interior

Tallinn is a very nice town to go leisurely strolling around. Distances are not so long and there is many characteristic details in architecture. One should also pay a visit to the oldest pharmacy still in business "Raeapoteek", founded in early 15th century and located on the corner of the rathaus square.

All kinds of poisons on display at Raeapoteek.

Old architecture

vs. new architecture

One of the new experiences for me in Tallinn was this place called F-Hoone at Telliskivi 60 A. This is place to go if all the buzz of the downtown starts to get to you. The restaurant and hang-out is located bit outside the common path and can be quite tricky to find, since it's on the inner yard of a factory complex. But it's worth looking up. Atmosphere is somewhat artsy and bohemian and they serve quite tasty meals on shortish list, but food is well prepared and cheap.

F-Hoone

For the last chapter; the language. It's always hilarious to visit Estonia as a Finn. Language is very close to Finnish, but not quite. One can say "same same, but different". So therefore it brings quite often involuntary smile on one's face. It just looks so funny at time. -With all my love to Estonia and Estonians.

All in all, I was happy to have this chance to go to Tallinn with this production. We had good times and the high summer was on it's richest bloom. This gave me lots of good vibrations to go to Finland on SS Superstar with, to face another production that never sailed under such sunny skies. But that's another story, which I'm still not sure if I want to share. We'll see. Later...!

Ps. Tom, if you read this... I bet you didn't think I'd ever manage to write it anymore?! =D