Towers and Spires

Wednesday, August 12, 2026

Today we are visiting the third Baltic state, Estonia. Estonia, with a population around 1,363,000, is a developed country with an advanced economy and a highly educated population. (Did you know that Skype was developed in Estonia?) Estonia’s capital is Tallinn (rhymes with Stalin), with a population of roughly 450,000. The written history of Tallin can be traced back to 1219.

Estonian is the official language, but English seems to be widely spoken. Estonian is part of the Finno-Ugric language family, and is therefore not an Indo-European language, like the Romance, Germanic, Slavic, and Baltic languages.

We visited Tallinn several years ago and took a tour, so we decided not to take one this time. We followed Rick Steves’ plan for a walk through the Old Town.

Our walk started at Fat Margaret.

Can you find the Fat Margaret?

Fat Margaret is the name of the tower that guarded the entry gate to the Old Town during the Hanseatic era, and perhaps earlier. There is a small cafe on the roof, and you can enjoy the view. There is also supposed to be a geocache up there, but I was unable to find it. 

View from the top of Fat Margaret. The Gothic tower on the right is the imposing
spire of St. Olav’s Church.

View from the top of Fat Margaret. Sapphire Princess is on the right.

Inside the tower you will find a very well-curated museum. We weren’t planning to visit the museum, but we were drawn in by the nautical theme of the exhibits. The first level had a display reminiscent of the fabulous Vasa Museum in Stockholm. An ancient cargo vessel had been discovered and carefully excavated. Many artifacts were found with the boat and were remarkably well preserved.

The boat was a type called a “cog” and was used by traders to transport goods in the Baltic region.The boat was shipwrecked in a location that was under water at the time, but is now on dry land. The wreck was discovered in Tallinn in 2015 during construction work, and was named “Peeter’s Cog.”

It was carefully excavated and preserved, and now is on display in the museum. Scientists used dendrology to date the wreck. Dendrology is the study of tree rings in the wood. They found that the trees used to make the wood for Peeter’s Cog were cut down afetr 1296 in an area that is now part of Poland.

Models of the wreck and an intact cog

Other levels of the museum had displays of sailing ships from later periods, early steamboats, and motorized vessels. The models were very detailed and fun to look at.

Below is a model of the passenger ferry MS Estonia, operated by EstLine. In September 1994, this ship sank in the Baltic Sea, en route from Talinn to Stockholm, during a severe storm. Of the 989 people on board, 852 died - making it the deadliest peacetime shipwreck in European waters. As a result of this disaster, new international safety regulations were adopted.

MS Estonia

After an hour or more at Fat Margaret, we strolled along Pikk Street, a medieval market street. We passed old warehouses with cranes on the gables, and guild halls such as the Brotherhood of the Blackheads and the Great Guild Hall.

Typical warehouses with cranes on the gables

In medieval times, German nobles dominated the Estonian economy. The leading German nobles were part of the Great Guild. Single German men belonged to the Brotherhood of the Black Heads.

The Great Guild Hall

The Brotherhood of the Black Heads

Town Hall Square (Raekoja Plats) and Tallinn Town Hall (Raekoda).
St. Nicholas Church on the right, in background

Riga doesn’t have a monopoly on Art Nouveau

We found a shop that sold beautiful buttons made from various local woods

Just look at these colorful fabrics from different regions of Estonia!

We had lunch at a place on the Town Hall Square called Kaerajaan, which describes its food as “modern Estonian cuisine.” The food was outstanding. I had a goat cheese salad that was perfect in every respect, from the dressing to the cheese. Ken loved his duck breast salad. I was also fascinated by the clever little homemade napkin rings they had. They were made from a traditional Estonian folk fabric. I am going to try to make some when I get home.

Duck Breast Salad

Goat Cheese Salad

We didn’t have time to visit the upper part of Old Town or any new parts of Tallinn, but we really enjoyed this clean, charming, pleasantly quirky Old Town. It was fun and relaxing to explore the lovely shops and interesting nooks and crannies without being on someone else’s schedule. 

On the way back to the ship we encountered St. Catherine’s Passage with five curious medieval stone arches.

I really liked Tallinn. The shops were inviting and sold interesting locally-produced crafts at reasonable prices. The architecture is varied and lends so much character to the Old Town. The Old Town is bustling, but not overcrowded. There is so much history in the old walls, the defensive towers, and the soaring church spires.

The other noteworthy experience today was the European Eclipse. We were not in the zone of totality, but we were in the zone of about 90%. The eclipse here occurred just before sunset, which means the sun was very low on the horizon, which means you don’t get a sore neck from watching the eclipse. 

In case you are wondering, yes, we did have some of those cheesy cardboard eclipse glasses, and they did meet the proper safety standards of some institute. I ordered them from Amazon earlier this summer. We received several warnings from Princess about the danger of looking at the eclipse without eclipse glasses and a multi-page letter came to our room about eclipse safety. Te letter also explained how to photograph the eclipse. You needed special lenses for your camera, which we did not have, so we didn’t even try. Princess also arranged to live-stream a special broadcast from NASA on the ship’s TV system, so we watched part of the eclipse in our stateroom. The NASA program was very well done. As sunset approached, we went up to one of the top decks to see the eclipse at its maximum point, along with the sunset. It was very cool, but it was over so quickly. 

The Perseid meteor shower was going to be visible in the middle of the night, so we did not try to see that also.It was a long day.

Today’s fabric is packing fabric. In the Middle Ages, goods were wrapped in coarse, durable material to protect them during shipment. Typical fibers used in this region would have been flax, wool, or goat hair. 

I encountered an exhibit in the Fat Margaret museum which included a length of packing material found with the wreck of Peeter’s Cog, described above. I believe the primary fiber in this piece is goat hair. The fabric is estimated to be around 700 years old. Amazing!

It Is All About Memory

Tuesday, August 11, 2026

"For in the end, it is all about memory, its sources and its magnitude, and, of course, its consequences." - Elie Wiesel, winner of Nobel Peace Prize 

Our tour today was called “Riga’s Jewish Heritage.” Our excellent guide was Edgars. Riga is the capital of Latvia. The population of Riga is around 589,000. The population of Latvia is around 1.83 million. Riga is an ancient trading city. It became a member of the Hanseatic League in 1282.

To begin our tour, our bus drove us up and down several streets in the center of Riga so that we could see some of Riga’s magnificent Art Nouveau buildings. There are over 800 Art Nouveau buildings in Riga - one of the largest collections of Art Nouveau buildings in the world - and it gives the city a very elegant look.

Art Nouveau is an international style of art and architecture that was popular during the 1890’s and the first decade of the 1900’s. Art Nouveau is characterized by sinuous curves, nature themes, the innovative use of iron, glass and ceramics, and merging fine art with functional craftmanship.

Here are four examples of outstanding Art Nouveau buildings we saw in Riga.

Well-preserved Art Deco buildings, from the 1910’s through the 1930’s, could also be seen. Geometric shapes, symmetry, and vertical lines are characteristics of the Art Deco style.

Riga is also known for its large number of wooden buildings from the 19th century that still exist in the older parts of the city.

Warning: The following is disturbing and may be hard to read, but please don’t skip it. When we don’t want to know, or don’t want to think about it, we enable the perpetrators. (And you don’t want to miss today’s fabric.)

Riga has had a Jewish community since the 15th century. In 1935, there were 44,000 Jews living in Riga. In 1940, The Red Army of the Soviet Union entered Riga and arrested Jewish religious and political leaders. The Nazis followed with worse attacks on the Jews.

Our first stop where we got off the bus was at the ruins of the Great Choral Synagogue. It was built in 1868 and was the biggest and most beautiful synagogue in Riga. It was the center of Jewish life in Riga until World War II. At the beginning of the war, German soldiers forced 300 Jews into the basement of the synagogue and then threw grenades into the windows. The building burned down and there were no survivors.

Near the ruins of the Great Choral Synagogue stands the Monument to Zanis Lipke and all the Saviors of Jews. This monument features a collapsing wall, representing the Jewish people, and supports holding up the wall, bearing the names of Latvian non-Jews who risked everything to help save Jews from Nazi atrocities.

In October of 1941, the Nazis rounded up all the Jews of Riga and forced them into a small area which became a ghetto. The Jews were only allowed to bring a few possessions. The Nazis quickly stole the rest of their property. Conditions in the ghetto were dire: food was scarce, each person was allowed no more than 4 to 6 square meters of space, there was forced labor, and there were beatings and executions for minor infractions of the harsh rules.

On November 30 and December 8, 1941, the Nazis carried out the massacre of the 26,000 remaining Jews of Riga with extreme cruelty. In the cold winter weather, the Jews were forced to march from the ghetto to Rumbula Forest, on the outskirts of Riga. There, in huge pits dug by Russian prisoners of war, the Jews would be buried. The Nazis had developed a system to maximize “efficiency” and minimize the cost of bullets and the amount of work involved in their project of mass murder.

Groups of Jews were made to strip and enter each pit. They were made to lie face down on the bottom. Then they were shot in the head, one by one. The next group was required to lie down on top of the bodies of the group that had just been killed. Then they were killed. This process was repeated until 26,000 Jews were killed and the huge pits were full.

But this time there were a few survivors who managed to play dead or hide. They stayed in the woods, overnight, in freezing weather. This is how we know the details of the massacre.

Although this massacre was second in scope only to Babi Yar, I had not heard of Rumbula, despite the many books I have read about the Holocaust.

Today, there is a memorial in the forest where the outlines of six grim pits tell the story.

The entrance to the memorial area

A concrete edge marks the location of one of the mass graves

This tour, and especially the visit to Rumbula Forest, was a sobering experience, but it is important to go to sites like this and let the world know that people care what happened and that the events of those dark days will be remembered, along with the victims and the heroes.

 Our final stop was in Old Town, where Edgars led us on a short walking tour which included the Peitav Synagogue. It is the only active synagogue in Riga. The building survived the Holocaust because of its location. It was too close to a church and other historic buildings for the Nazis to burn it down. 

The synagogue is known for its architecture, as well as its history. It is Art Nouveau and Egyptian Revival. I find this a surprising style for an Orthodox synagogue, but it was a lovely venue.

Edgars told us there are presently about 11,000 Jews living in Latvia. I suspect that many of them (or their parents) emigrated from Russia and Ukraine in the post-war or post-Soviet period. 

The Old Town was large and interesting, with many beautiful buildings, shops, and restaurants. It was lively, but not too crowded. Charming, charming, charming.

This tour was excellent. It was moving and I learned so much about Latvia, about Latvian Jews, and about the historic connections between all the countries on the Baltic. I did not find it too unbearable to hear and see the difficult parts, although one woman in our tour group wept most of the time we were in Rumbula Forest. I thought Edgars handled it all very well.

Today’s fabric is riveted denim. Jacob Davis (born Jacob Youphes in 1831) was a Jewish tailor from Riga who invented riveted denim jeans in 1871. The rivets kept pockets and seams from ripping when miners and laborers wore denim clothing for heavy work. Davis later partnered with Levi Strauss, and the rest is history.

Photo from denimhunters.com

All About Amber

Monday, August 10, 2026

To be honest, I am not that interested in amber, but that’s all they want to talk about here in Lithuania. Maybe we just took the wrong tour, or maybe it’s what they are most proud of. (They do have a lot of other things to be proud of.) I always thought amber was kind of ugly, and I find it hard to appreciate the dead insects sometimes encapsulated in pieces of amber. Now that I have seen all sorts of special Lithuanian amber, my opinion has been reinforced. It is not for me. Photos will appear farther along in this post.

Lithuania is a modern, affluent country with an advanced economy and a population that ranks high on measures of happiness. In 1990, Lithuania was the first Soviet republic to leave the USSR.

We arrived in the port of Klaipeda, the third largest city in Lithuania, where we met our guide, Saulé. She was friendly and professional. (Her name means “Sun.”) 

As we approached the port, some charming old homes could be seen on one side of the canal. On the other side of the canal, facing the beautiful homes, there were only industrial buildings.

At the dock, local musicians played for us.

Saulé told us that Lithuania is “flat and green.” It is 1/3 forest. It is the largest of the three Baltic countries, and its capital is Vilnius. The population is around 3 million. The main language is Lithuanian, which classified as a Baltic language. It is believed to be the oldest Indo-European language, meaning that it is closest to the original Proto-Indo-European language and has changed the least. This provides valuable data for linguists.

Despite strong economic performance, Lithuania has problems. Emigration, especially between 2004 and 2016, has contributed to a shortage in the labor market, The birthrate here is very low and is expected to cause economic problems as today’s children become adults. A very generous maternity leave policy does not seem to have stanched the decline in the birthrate. Mothers can choose between one year at 100% of salary, two years at 60% for the first year and 40% for the second year, or three years with no salary payment. In all three cases, they are guaranteed that their job will be kept for them.

Our bus drove to a place called Palanga, to see an Amber Museum and a Botanical Park. Palanga is a popular summer resort or vacation area.  We saw a restored palace, once owned by a noble family. The family fled to Canada during World War II and they lost the palace. It is now the location of the Amber Museum, where 28,000 pieces of amber form the museum’s collection.

The palace grounds are now a botanical park. Robot lawnmowers keep the grounds perfectly manicured.

The former palace, now the Amber Museum

In the botanical park

Before World War II, about half the population of Palanga was Jewish. They worked as jewelers in the amber business, and provided services to the summer vacationers. When the Nazis came, they rounded up all the Jews and took the men to a site outside of town where they were forced to dig a pit. The men were then shot into the pit. The women and children were locked up in the synagogue for a month and then executed. 

Sorry for such an unpleasant story, but it must not be forgotten. Our guide did not talk about this. I found out about it in the Wikipedia entry on Palanga when I was doing research for this blog post.

Amber from the Baltic Sea

Raw amber

Amber with inclusions, displayed behind a magnifying glass

 

A member of the museum staff gave us a short talk on amber.Amber is the fossilized resin (or sap) of a pine tree. Sometimes insects or plant material are trapped in a pocket of resin and preserved for millenia. Apparently there is a lot of counterfeit amber for sale, so we were told several times to buy amber only in certain places. We didn’t buy any, so we are safe from amber fraud. 

Tools used for polishing amber

To tell real amber from plastic, check its weight and temperature. Real amber should feel light and warm. Real amber will float in high salinity water, like seawater. Plastic amber will melt, real amber will burn and turn into tar. The last method, of course, will ruin your amber. However you can try testing it with a hot needle to see if it smells like pine instead of chemicals.

The Baltic is not salty enough for amber to float, but a lot of amber washes up after storms and people find it on the beach. Amber is also mined commercially in Russia, but I don’t really know the details of how or where.

After the amber museum, we walked to the pedestrianized main street of Palanga. It had a lot of shops and restaurants, and we were given about 30 minutes of free time here. Unfortunately, it was still quite early and most businesses were not yet open.

Bicycle art?

Steam punk bicycle?

The main street where everything was closed

After our free time in Palanga was up, our bus took us back to Klaipeda to see visit the Old Town and an amber shop where we told it was safe to buy. I imagine the tour company either owned the shop or got a kickback from it. Conveniently, our walking tour ended at the shop and there was someone there waiting to demonstrate amber polishing for us.

A lot of the old town was destroyed during the war. Part of it was restored, but its character wasn’t. The new Old Town is laid out in a small straight-line grid pattern between the river and the market square.

Some highlights of the Old Town:

In front of the theater stands a statue of Ännchen von Tharau. A famous poet saw her on the day she married his best friend and immediately fell in love with her and wrote a famous poem about her. The poem was later set to music and became a popular song that everyone in Lithuania knows. Ännchen has her back to the theater because when the Germans invaded Lithuania in 1939, Hitler came and made speech from the balcony outside of the theater, saying he was annexing Klaipeda.

This is a magic mouse that will make your wish come true

This is a magic cat with a mustache like a British gentleman. He will also make your wish come true.

Saulé recommended the “pink soup” at a nearby restaurant. It was served cold, with sour cream, hard-boiled egg, scallions, and fried potatoes. It was a lot like borscht, and very refreshing on a warm day.

Pink soup

Potato pancakes with a chicken and mushroom sauce. A lot like latkes, but not as crispy.

The restaurant - we ate outside

Today’s fabric is a traditional Lithuanian pattern from the Vilnius area. This type of design was generally woven into the fabric. It would have been used to embellish a regional costume. Most traditional fabric in Lithuania was linen, which was generally produced locally. This photo came from Pinterest, via Google.