The trip
Narva is the name of a city estonia. Is, also, the river from the early Middle Ages has delineated the border between Russia and Estonia accessible in the Gulf of Finland. Two castles, on either side, emerge as stone sentinels wary.
Since May 2004, the northeastern borders of the European Union settle in this land where two castles, Ivangorod Russian and Estonian Hermann, monitor each other to a bank and one of Narva. Travelling from the capital, Tallin, Narva is to go on the Baltic 215 kilometers of the recent history of Europe, here is written with the bombing of the Great War, with allied efforts to contain the advance of Nazi troops in the Second World, with the half a century of Soviet domination still unhealed and the echoes of the wild race of the Cold War nuclear.
The traveler, as, heads to the Virumaa region, border with the Russian giant, where the natives of the neighboring country exceed 90 percent of the population, in an effort to peer into the troubled past that, inevitably, has shaped the personality of Estonians, prohijados now by the European Union. The road runs between occasional wetlands and large tracts of coniferous forest. No wonder, almost half of the Estonian territory is wooded. A postcard idyllic reality does not hide anything bucolic. During Soviet rule, large chemical companies found here their particular Eldorado: oil shale, a blackboard camouflaged in the limestone of the energy obtained by burning. Still, Estonia with this natural resource covers nearly 90% of its energy needs. The other side of the coin is the severe environmental damage caused by the extraction of shale, alleviated in part by European funds.
Sillimäe: "Eldorado" Soviet uranium
But if there is a city that perfectly illustrates the excesses of the former USSR in Estonian territory that is Sillimäe. Located on the banks of the Firth of Sötke, in the nineteenth century was a city of the bourgeoisie holiday of St. Petersburg, greatly appreciated the fresh sea breeze (that gave the city its name) and relaxed atmosphere. The composer Tchaikovsky was one of those who could not resist her charms. But the two great wars erased at a stroke the days of wine and roses. In World War II, divisions of the Red Army and the Waffen SS fought campaign Narva and the area was an important enclave chessboard of contention.
Since the early 30, Sillimäe industrial city emerged as erasing his past for the benefit of the tourist resort town of Narva. The subsequent Soviet occupation certified that mutation. The finding of uranium, needed to feed the nuclear race, turned it into a major industrial center from 1946, when Stalin promoted the construction of the first factory producing nuclear fuel. Became Sillimäe, the overnight, in a closed city where military secrecy wrap around like a hydra uncontrolled sick obsession. There are serious suspicions, even, that the first Soviet atomic bomb was made with uranium Sillimäe. A sad reason to put a dent in libraries.
Walking along the coast to this mammoth radioactive burial is an unsettling experience
The traveler today runs the old nuclear plants, a maze of miles of pipes that rise above the heads of visitors, do with the feeling of a ghost town dehulled by silence. Only seagulls dare to flutter between the concrete landscape of moles. After independence, Estonians had to build next to a large cemetery Baltic nuclear to impound water with traces of uranium. Walking along the coast to this mammoth radioactive burial is an unsettling experience. Although thoroughly sealed to prevent radioactive emissions, the traveler breathes prevention, as if left over half the air that enters the lungs.
Lenin was a Russian mira
The nuclear nightmare fades as you get to Narva. There, from the sturdy walls of the castle of Hermann, built by the Danes in the thirteenth century, provides for a wonderful view of the river Narva and Ivangorod fortress medieval, built in the fifteenth century in the Russian bank. Centuries of suspicion and mistrust contemplate the walls of both enclaves in eastern Europe backroom Community.
Here, in a castle courtyard of Hermann, a statue of Lenin bleached by the droppings of gulls, who have no qualms about the father relieved of the Russian Revolution, seems a joke of history. Previously located in a central square of the city, Estonians (or perhaps one should say the Russians, here represent 94% population) the monument have not found better accommodation than this corner of its territory, bearing of an object as though useless in the storeroom with no intention of ever recover. Lenin, wearing a long coat unbuttoned, extends his left arm facing Russia paternalistic, as pleading urgent evacuation. During the Soviet occupation, same arm pointing to the Baltic republics, the metaphor of a dream of prosperity ended in nightmare.
The aftermath of a half-century of domination are difficult to erase. Estonians, here and in many places in the region, are a minority and their revenge is to impose their language as mandatory for citizenship. The recalcitrant opposition of many Russians makes the number of "gray passports" (stateless) is considerable. But younger people are betting on the inevitable coexistence. "You have to get along with the Russians because after all, neighbors can not be changed ", as we hear more than one displaying an undeniable pragmatism.
Psdta. VaP. wants to thank the generous support of the City of Narva to illustrate this report.
The road
You can fly to Copenhagen, Helsinki or Stockholm and from there catch a flight to Tallinn Estonian Air (www.estonian-air.ee). Since the latter two capitals can also be reached by ferry across the Gulf of Finland. Once in Tallinn, it is best to hire a car and travel to Narva road (only the hours).
A nap
It preferimos dormir en Narva, the Hotel Inger, Located ten minutes walk from the castle of Hermann, is a possibility (from 65 euros the double room). If instead we choose to stay overnight in Tallinn, the traveler opts for Radisson Sas (Swallowed Puistee, 3), a hotel opened eight years ago from which are within walking distance of the old town. Interestingly rent a bike (ask at reception) and pedaling around town. If you want something cheaper, do not hesitate: el Old House (New, 22) your hotel.
A table set
Drop by the Möökkala (King,4 ) is a good choice, if you're not allergic to fish, to savor the swordfish that names the restaurant and you can fish in the waters of the Baltic. For carnivores recalcitrant: Kuldse Notsu Korts (Dunkri, 8), offering tasty traditional Estonian food recipes. The dishes are the verivorst (like our sausage) and pork knuckle with sauerkraut (Cervical agria). Good liquor to finish the job.
Highly Recommended
The view from the fortress of Ivangorod from the walls of his neighbor Hermann Castle, and Narva, transports visitors to the Middle Ages. More: www.narva.ee.
En Tallin, tour the old walled medieval old town, who has earned the nickname of "Baltic Prague", is a unique experience, As enjoy views of the city from the Toompea Hill, a citadel that now houses the seat of the Parliament of Estonia.
For those wishing to trace the vestiges of Soviet occupation is a must of former headquarters of the KGB (in the corner of Pikk and Pagari). A plaque recalls that began in that building "the way of suffering" of many Estonians.
