Rose pudding and skating show in TallinnPart 1
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The flight from Denmark to Tallinn is just an hour and a half. It took 10 minutes by taxi to get to the apartment from Tallinn airport so in less than 2 1/2 hours I was on my traditional walking experience now in the old town of Tallinn. Again I arrived before Susanna and had plenty of time to discover the old part of Tallinn. What a beautiful city. |
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I took many photos of this that could be a photographer’s paradise if you like old houses. I loved the doors to the houses (No Figure Skating is not my only favourite photo object)
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I actually travel to these shows as much for the entertainment as to explore a new city.. Luckily the old part is not very big so I could actually find what I needed, a fish restaurant. I was very hungry, so the fish soup really filled its purpose.
Spring /summer had come with all the ingredients. I have no man and it feels a bit lonely to sit in the café surrounded by couples in love so I allowed myself to have, besides the coffee, a piece of chocolate cake as comfort and company …Nice chocolate melted in my mouth. Well Susanna was arriving in the evening so I went back to the hotel.
Susanna: The flight went well and the transfer was waiting to take me to the apartment we had rented. It turned out to have three rooms all with wallpaper ala wedding cake. In fact I did like the wallpaper very much. This was the 7th time in Tallinn for me (one of the times I stayed for two weeks) so I had already seen much of the city center and the old town. Tallinn is such a charming city and everything is cheap, and there is a lot to buy: handicrafts, hand made glass, knitted wool and linen socks, gloves, cardigans and so on. When Emjo got to the apartment she already had two full shopping bags with her! And I did warn her! So save money for your trip, you don't want to be in Tallinn without money. |
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Emjo: A friend of mine had visited Tallinn the
week before and had recommended a Medieval restaurant .It turned
out to be both a gastronomic and visual success (so was the Italian
restaurant we went to the day after).
We had to wait for a while to get a table and was offered the local
liquor for our patience by the headwaiter dressed in medieval clothes
like the rest of the staff. The rose pudding we had for dessert
was really delicious. Could that beat the Figure skating show? I
(Emjo) asked the waiter for the ingredients and she was all smiles
when she answered, “If I tell you I will have to kill you!”
Oh and I also wanted to know about the beer but ok I have to guess
then…
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Susanna: Of course we also, like everybody else it seemed, wanted to go to some special restaurants. Tables were booked but we managed to get a table at Old Hansa, a very cozy restaurant. Even if it might be touristy, it´s nice and has excellent food. There are candles and chandeliers with candles; electrical light is rare. |
All the waiters are dressed in medieval clothes. The beer was tasty, (and I don't even like beer) flavored with herbs. We also booked a table for the next day at my favorite restaurant, Controvento.
Show day
Before going to the show we had breakfast in the old town and again I (Emjo) think I compensated a little for that spring feeling by buying gifts for my whole family, including myself.
Susanna: The Saku arena is situated outside the town centre but it’s easy to reach with a trolley bus, which runs often. The arena is perfect size, small enough to feel cozy and not any bad seats really. When we got to the arena we tried to find our seats. Yes, tried since we had seats in row three and that row did not exist. Only row four and up. There had obviously been a mistake made and all of us having seats in row one to three were transferred to new seats. The girl doing this was very polite all the time though she must have been very stressed since the show was about to begin, but she got us very good new seats. EMJO: So no complaints there. I really liked the arena. It is not big so it is very cozy. The contact with the skaters is so much better in small arenas. Since I concentrated on taking photos I will leave the main review to Susanna…I think …
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Susanna: The theme for the show was Italian carnival, and in the opening number all skaters wore colorful capes and Italian masks. All except Alexei, who entered with foot work into the circle formed by the others, and then Elena S entered in a sparkling dress and did a layback spiral. The first to skate were the Estonian pair Diana Rennik/Aleksei Saks. They skated a more competitive kind of program, containing more of the pair elements than lifts ands death spiral. Andres Reklys was next and he had interesting choreography. He skated to his sp in this show. I like him, he's a good entertainer. |
Acrobats Tishler/Mytnik used Concerto de Aranjuez. They were amazing with their lifts and tricks. Even if they didn't skate so much I really liked them. They were good additions to the show.
Federica Faiella and Massimo Scali skated to a soft, more elegant piece. Nothing to do with skating, but Federica has amazing eyes.
EMJO: I have not been much of a dance fan before
but have to admit that there are dance teams I like very much. What
a surprise to see them on this tour.
The Italians, they are so interesting to watch. Their moves are
often eye-catching and lens catching too, as I would say. They have
great expression and nontraditional character of their moves, which
I just want more of. He is very flexible; she lifts him for example.
I like their energy and they both stand out equally .
Susanna: Elena Sokolova skated to a Russian folk routine. She is so charming and her smile must make everyone happy, at least it makes me happy. She looked like she was in even better shape than at Euros.
EMJO: Elena Sokolova. She is one of the few female skaters I think who is able to get a very good contact with the audience right away .It doesn’t matter what kind of music she skates to. She has IT! Domnina/Shabalin skated to a soft, more elegant piece. Petrova/Tikhonov Dance me to the end of love. They got a big audience response for their high skating skills program. Their lifts were absolutely top class . |
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Susanna: Drobiazko/Vanagas skated to Phantom of the Opera. They do tell a story with their program and very elegant skating. EMJO: The Lithuanians, ok they made me like dance after seeing them in ESOI in Antwerp for 2 years. They are experts in telling a story, this time Phantom. Susanna: Alexei’s Winter started off emotionally and the crowd was on. I guess I don't need to say this, but it's such a greatly choreographed program. |
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Elena/Anton were wonderful as always. They keep the high standard in their programs year after year. This year a step sequence was in the program, which I thought was very nice.
EMJO: Anton & Elena, I could watch them for hours … You can too! Watch theirs 'You are so beautiful" here!*
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Susanna: Navka/Kostomarov’s Carmen was skated with passion and attitude. The audience really liked them. There were some pyrotechnic effects too right in front of our noses.
Intermission
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