The Passenger ⋆ Page 153 of 317 ⋆ Memories and hints of a travelling IT professional.

June 30, 2019July 10, 2019

Aleksander Nevski katedraal

When you’re on the Toompea (cathedral hill) of Tallinn, Estonia it’s not the castle standing there or the Pikk Hermann tower that is catching your views – it is the beautiful Aleksander Nevski katedraal with its six black onion domes. It is a Russian-orthodox church that was built between 1894 and 1900 CE. The location was well-chosen and during the first independence of Estonia it was planned to remove the church as it was and is a strong symbol of Russian influence.

June 30, 2019July 10, 2019

Toompea loss

The Toompea is a natural hill at the city centre of Tallinn, Estonia and as it is an easy to defend place it was used for hundreds of years as a stronghold. It is even named in ancient Estonia mythology and is said to be created by the giant Linda. In the year 1219 Danish forces conquered this place and according to a Danish legend the Danish flag – the Dannebrog – fell from the sky during an important phase of the battle and motivated the Danish crusaders.

June 30, 2019July 8, 2019

852 victims

When preparing for the trip to Tallinn, Estonia the English name for the country somehow had a strange sound for me. But I couldn’t remember why. That changed only when I was standing in front of the memorial ‘Katkenud liin‘ (broken line) – it remembers the victims of a ferry disaster in 1994. The ferry boat ESTONIA sank on its way from Tallinn, Estonia to Stockholm, Sweden and 852 persons lost their lifes.

June 30, 2019July 7, 2019

Public transport

Travelling by public transport through Tallinn, Estonia is easy and fun. The transport system uses tramways, bussess and trolley busses – like in a lottery you sometimes get a brand new one or a historic vehicle. Locals typically use smartcards they can charge up and validate them when entering the vehicle at any door. You can also buy tickets by using the ‘pilet.ee‘ smartphone app (‘pilet‘ means ticket).

June 30, 2019July 10, 2019

Lennart Meri Tallinna Lennujaam (TLL)

The lennujaam (airport) of Tallinn, Estonia is a fantastic small airport. The people there are relaxed and quite, the terminal building is short, the shops are nice and the waiting areas creative and really inviting. It is only a short way to the tram stop (line 4 stops here and brings you to the city center) and when standing outside the airport you’re still standing directly at the airfield and can watch plains.

June 27, 2019July 7, 2019

Café Nordpol

It’s a simple but good coffee bar and restaurant close to the central campus of the university of Kassel, Germany. Located at the Gottschalkstraße just 100 meters afar from the main lecture buildings this place is often crowded with students. They offer seats inside but also have a medium size outdoor terrace where you can sit next to the quiet street.

June 23, 2019June 25, 2019

Landesmuseum

The Landesmuseum Hannover is a special museum located between the Sprengel-Museum and the Neues Rathaus of Hannover, Germany. It calls itself ‘WeltenMuseum‘ because it shows different separate worlds: nature, mankind and art. The building in renaissance revival architecture style was built in 1902.

June 23, 2019September 8, 2023

Sprengel-Museum

Directly next to the Maschsee at Hannover, Germany you can find one of the most important museums of modern art in Germany. It focusses on German expressionism and modern art of French artists. The starting point was the collection of Margit and Bernhard Sprengel – chocolate factory owners from Hannover-Vinnhorst.

June 23, 2019February 25, 2024

Großer Garten

The Großer Garten (great garden) is the centerpiece of the Herrenhäuser Gärten and the most important tourist highlight of Hannover, Germany. It is a vast French formal garden that is seen as one of the most significant of its kind. The garden has a rectangular shape and is 905 meters long and 555 meters wide. It dates back to the 17th century CE.

June 23, 2019October 12, 2019

Berggarten

In 1666 the House of Welf was in need of a place to grow vegetables and created the Berggarten on a sand dune from the last glacial period (therefore the name ‘mountain garden‘). Later greenhouses were built to grow rice, tobacco and morus plants. Since the year 1750 it is solely a botanical garden and one of the oldest in Germany. It also contains a mausoleum for members of the House of Welf.