"Margus Reinsalu's Diary"

Photo: 1969, XVII Song Festival . Postcard I went together with my godfather uncle Kaarel, in late June 1969, for the first time to Tallinn and the XVII Song Festival. In June 1969, at eight and a half years old, I took my life's first trip to Tallinn, our capital, and back then it was a proud event with a capital letter. Together with uncle Kaarel, we traveled from the countryside by bus through Rakvere to Tallinn, that was an adventure in itself. Uncle had a small apartment in a wooden house on what is now Juhkentali Street , with wooden ceilings, a creaky staircase, and city air. There he lived with his second wife Nadja, whom he brought back from Norilsk, where he had been in forced labor. Nadja was quite quiet and friendly, and her daughter Kapitoolina, a name that sounded to me like some fairy-tale character. She was older than me, but we got along well, and she showed me where the Baltic Trainstation was and even the Kalev chocolate shop at the tram terminus, from where ...