# Riga-Kemeri national park-Jurmala-Tallinn



## ocia87 (May 8, 2009)

jazzXVII said:


> The slides for transporting bicycles are almost everywhere in Riga, never seen in Italy.
> View attachment 1916178


Strange that you have never seen them in Italy. They are not uncommon, at least in the north.


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## jazzXVII (Aug 28, 2010)

Business center

In the Kesklinn district, Tallinn has a modern business center, skyscrapers are contiguous to each other. It is the first thing I noticed in the city, even before the medieval towers.
I'm not good at photographing skyscrapers, and to be honest, I didn't expect to find them in front of me.
It is a very harmonious whole, you can see that there is a serious master plan, such as very similar materials, shapes and colors.


























































































































































Obviously there are also buildings that are lower than skyscrapers but which have nothing to envy in terms of modernity





































For example, this is a post office:









This is the most famous hotel in Tallinn, Hotell Viru, one of the symbols of the city, the place where the KGB spied on Western customers, between legend and reality.


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## jazzXVII (Aug 28, 2010)

Kadriorg

Pedestrian crossings:


















I think Tallinn is among the cities with the most road signs in the world ..... in some places the crowding of road signs is impressive ..













































If you love traffic signs, here you will have bread for your teeth ... for example this:









Even the prohibition signs in the parks; some never seen here:









These photos are all in Kadriorg, where you can admire some of the oldest houses. Some are also beautiful, but not as spectacular as those in Pirita.









































































I photographed this building because it is rare to see balconies north of the Alps like this ...











When it rains, it really rains, all photos taken from the tram:


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## jazzXVII (Aug 28, 2010)

Promenades, harbors and adjacent buildings
























































An athletics track on the sea !




















































































































































Rocca al Mare is not the only Italian toponym in Tallinn, overlooking the D terminal of the port there is also the Nautica shopping center.

















It houses the best RIMI hypermarket in Tallinn.


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## jazzXVII (Aug 28, 2010)

Põhja-Tallinn

It is one of the eight administrative districts. It is the northernmost, a sort of promontory in the Bay of Tallinn and borders, to the south-east, with that of Kesklinn to the south, with that of Kristiine and to the south-west with that of Haabersti. Estonians are about 42%, while in this district there is a high concentration of Russian inhabitants, about 48% of the total. It is the district where the Tallinn railway station, Pelguranna beach and the old Finno-Ugric wooden houses of Kalamaja are located. In the past the whole area of "Põhja-Tallinn" was called in common jargon "Kopli" while now it is called only the upper-western district, today the most popular district of the Põhja-Tallinn district which like the whole district is the subject of an urban redevelopment and a profound change.


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## jazzXVII (Aug 28, 2010)

Ironman Tallinn

On Saturday (and Sunday) I stumbled upon a Triathlon event, Ironman Tallinn, with several traffic closures, detours and bus limitations. There were thousands of participants, regardless of the rain. This forced me to walk many more kilometers, in bad weather and an umbrella. The closed area stretched from the vicinity of the port to almost the Haabersti district. I visited Põhja-Tallinn, one of the poorest and most alternative areas among those by the sea.


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## jazzXVII (Aug 28, 2010)

Public transport

Trams and buses network is modern and efficient, all the stops have timetables, some also indicate the waiting time.













































Trams can have two, three or four wagons, and are from the Spanish CAF company, while the buses are from the Italian company Solaris.














































Pigeons also travel by tram:



















From 9 August there is the obligation to wear a mask, but even after days many European tourists and Russian women were without one.



























Viru keskus is not only one of the busiest shopping centers:

















but in the basement -1 it includes one of the main bus terminus, a solution also adopted in Helsinki for suburban buses:













































From Riga to Tallinn it is preferable to go by bus, they take less time, the trains are not direct and you need to make at least one change.
This is the extra-urban bus terminal:









I have never taken any railways, however there are and of a good standard, at least as rolling stock. The central station is small and consists of only six tracks.









This stop is interesting, located both close to the airport and between two major shopping centers in the city, T1 Mall of Estonia and Ulemiste.


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## jazzXVII (Aug 28, 2010)

Lasnamäe

T1 Mall of Tallinn and Ulemiste are both part of the Lasnamäe district, as is the small airport. Lasnamäe is also the district where I stayed for nine days, with a majority of Russian inhabitants. Now some pictures of the area in which I stayed.


















































Ulemiste should be the largest shopping center, over 220 stores of this as well as other shopping centers I don't have almost any photos inside, they can't be done.

















on the opposite side of the railway is T1 Mall of Tallinn, whose anchor shop is Selver. On the top floor of this mall is the entrance to a SkyPark.

















It was actually Sunday, it was raining, and the mall was deserted, I secretly took these photos:




































And this is the airport:


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## jazzXVII (Aug 28, 2010)

Pirita

In my opinion it is the best area of the city. It runs from the north of Kadriorg to Vimsi, which is a separate municipality outside the city. It requires at least two to three days to be explored calmly, it is a rather large area with many places of tourist interest. Piria is an affluent neighborhood, with villas surrounded by large green spaces. Unfortunately, I only explored the houses from the bus on the last day before leaving, so I didn't take pictures, but I photographed the rest of the area. It includes the best beach in the city embellished by a beautiful pine forest on the sea of at least three km, the park of the song festival, the Maaramae palace (Estonian history museum), the monument to the victims of communism, the mouth of the Pirita river with the port tourist, where the Moscow Olympics regattas took place in 1980. Going up the hill, in the woods there are the Metsakalmistu cemetery, the beautiful botanical gardens and the TV tower.

Going south from Vimsi to Pirita this is the coast:


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## jazzXVII (Aug 28, 2010)

The next morning I start from the port of Pirita:




































I move away from the coast and go to the cemetery,
I will have to do at least 2 km in the woods









































































a fabulous forest......


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## jazzXVII (Aug 28, 2010)

Cemetery is obviously in the wood, I took a lot of photos, more details in my Italian thread on foreign cemeteries.
Metsakalmistu is the most famous cemetery in Tallinn, but not the largest (it is Pärnamäe Cemetery in Pirita), or the most beautiful (in my opinion it is Ruhumae cemetery)


















Cemetery is not as big as the one in Riga, but it is very neat and well kept, the graves are mostly without photos and Scandinavian-inspired, very minimalist.

There is a church in the cemetery.




































Some Russian tombs with photos of the dead remind me a lot of the Italian ones:


















A collective grave:


















Let's move on to something more cheerful, the botanical gardens, admission is paid, but it's really worth it.










A beautiful vegetation with rare trees and shrubs, perfectly maintained postcard green lawns, a very beautiful rose garden, excellent greenhouses (unfortunately they were closed), one of the most beautiful botanical gardens in Europe like Hamburg or Berlin, and the largest of those in Stockholm and Helsinki.
































































This plant is toxic to humans.



































An exhibition sponsored by the U.S. embassy in Estonia.


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## jazzXVII (Aug 28, 2010)

Nõmme
It is the southernmost district of Tallinn and is bordered to the north by the districts of Haabersti, Mustamäe and Kristiine and to the north-east by that of Kesklinn. It is heavily wooded and scarcely visited by foreign tourists.








Coop(.se?) has a good presence here.



























The crooked trees I've never seen before.








































































trampoline jump, no more need to go in Norway !


















A residential neighborhood near the woods.


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## jazzXVII (Aug 28, 2010)

This is Paaskula Bog, a beautiful forest area in the Nomme district. I get off the bus in Hilu.
















There are beautiful houses in the woods








































































there is the walkway, so it should be a swampy area:
















































The area becomes more and more marshy, let's go back.
















































An hour later I am still in Nomme in the southern part, getting off the bus








Another beautiful residential area in the woods. But what catches my attention is another cemetery that guide don't mention. I realize that this cemetery is more beautiful than the Metsakalmistu, the graves are even more cared for, there is fantastic vegetation, I start taking many photos, refer to my Italian thread on foreign cemeteries for more info.

Not only do I see many Russian tombs, but some also have a Turkish symbol: they are Tatar tombs. Indeed:



































These are Orthodox tombs:



























The landscape is exceptional, I would spend hours taking pictures.


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## jazzXVII (Aug 28, 2010)

Some murals and floral decorations:











































































Jazz


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## jazzXVII (Aug 28, 2010)

Pirita

Estonian history museum (Maariamae Palace), song festival area and the monument to the victims of communism.


















































































One of the most beautiful musical spaces in Europe, used for outdoor summer concerts.


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## jazzXVII (Aug 28, 2010)

I am strictly non-partisan, but it is impossible to ignore this which is one of the most impressive monuments to the victims of communism in Eastern Europe. It consists of two large concrete stalks on which the names of all the fallen are written.








































About twenty panels, in Estonian, Russian and English, trace the history of the victims, from 1940 to 1991







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There are maps of the Soviet states.








































more than 20 tombstones trace the figures from the year 884 to 1991:








The site is impressive and dominates the area, it is sea view and with a great natural vegetation.


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## jazzXVII (Aug 28, 2010)

Haabersti is the westernmost of the eight districts. The best known district is that of Rocca al Mare, which houses the open-air ethnographic museum and a well-known shopping center.


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## jazzXVII (Aug 28, 2010)

Saku Suurhall is the largest indoor facility in the city, used for basketball, ice hockey and concerts.









beautiful and modern shopping center with the largest hypermarket in Tallinn, Prisma.


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## jazzXVII (Aug 28, 2010)

Kristiine is one of the eight administrative districts (Estonian: linnaosa).
I have not visited this district a little, I have seen above all the shopping center of the same name.
The construction is typical of the nations of eastern Europe, high and economic apartment blocks.



































Kristiine mall is one of the best in Tallinn, quite large.
Mustamae is the only district I haven't visited.


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## jazzXVII (Aug 28, 2010)

I visited Vimsi, a small town bordering the Pirita area in Tallinn. A rather short visit.








The vegetation is beautiful. Businesses are one in front of the other. Typically residential construction, it must be nice to live here.











































































this green water pond is beautiful.


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## jazzXVII (Aug 28, 2010)

ocia87 said:


> Strange that you have never seen them in Italy. They are not uncommon, at least in the north.


Consider that I have never been to Italian cities with a strong cycling culture, which should be, as far as I know, Bolzano, Trento, Ferrara and Pesaro. Car use is widespread in Milan, Turin and Bologna. Milan is the only city with an excellent metro network in Italy, in Turin there is a good tram network, in Bologna there are mainly buses. Maybe there are other cities in Emilia and Veneto, but in general we are far from the cycling levels of other nations.
I live in Rome and here it is a disaster.


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## ocia87 (May 8, 2009)

jazzXVII said:


> Consider that I have never been to Italian cities with a strong cycling culture, which should be, as far as I know, Bolzano, Trento, Ferrara and Pesaro. Car use is widespread in Milan, Turin and Bologna. Milan is the only city with an excellent metro network in Italy, in Turin there is a good tram network, in Bologna there are mainly buses. Maybe there are other cities in Emilia and Veneto, but in general we are far from the cycling levels of other nations.
> I live in Rome and here it is a disaster.


I see a lot of them in Milan too, it's the city where I live.


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## jazzXVII (Aug 28, 2010)

The last day before returning I took more photos on Pelguranna beach, which administratively is part of the Pohja-Tallinn district.

Tallinn is full of playgrounds, especially football, basketball and athletics.


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## jazzXVII (Aug 28, 2010)

I took about 1,500 photos in Tallinn, and here are some more images.













































A surviving Armenian church amidst the skyscrapers:


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## jazzXVII (Aug 28, 2010)

many shots at the Japanese garden in Kadriorg:


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## jazzXVII (Aug 28, 2010)

strange photo in the botanic garden....


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## jazzXVII (Aug 28, 2010)

Tallinn in the evening.
I hardly photographed in the evening, except for a few shots, mostly advertising installations and skyscrapers.












































































































Eesti Kunstimuseuum.
I have to go there, there are paintings like these:


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## vittorio tauber (Jul 30, 2008)

What a huge and accurate report, Jazz. As usual. Thanks a lot, it's nice to see again places I've been over 10 years ago to.


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## jazzXVII (Aug 28, 2010)

Thanks, Vittorio.
More from Liiva cemetery in Tallinn, where I took a hundred photos in an hour, the landscape is exceptional:












































































































A ban in estonian language:


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## Geborgenheit (Sep 9, 2005)

jazzXVII said:


> Here in the train station I had my first meeting with the Belaši, whose filling can be of many different types: meat, fish, cheese, sausage etc.
> They sell them everywhere in Riga, also near the train station is the central market, one of the largest in Europe, with its five indoor pavilions, originally designed as aircraft hangars. Every morning my meal was at the central market, no more need to go to the supermarkets.


Beļaši are not sold everywhere in Riga, this is definitely a very rare non-Latvian food sold only near Central Station and Central Market. In fact, I associate this food with 1980's-1990's and I am surprised it even exists now.


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## jazzXVII (Aug 28, 2010)

It is interesting to note that in Estonia where the Russians are no less than in Riga (Lasnamäe is the Tallinn district where I stayed for nine days, with a majority of Russian inhabitant) belasi are almost impossible to find, I have only seen one for sale, however next year I will return to Riga both to the station and to the central market.


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## Geborgenheit (Sep 9, 2005)

jazzXVII said:


> It is interesting to note that in Estonia where the Russians are no less than in Riga (Lasnamäe is the Tallinn district where I stayed for nine days, with a majority of Russian inhabitant)


If you want to see more Russian culture, go to Daugavpils, it is very Russian and you can go there by train. 
Speaking about food, another Russian speciality you can find here: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solyanka_(gastronomia)


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