Depeche Mode: The Archives

The Exciter Tour - Tour Blog

Tallinn, Estonia
author: Nichelle
date posted: Monday, August 27, 2001

Yeah, we have arrived safely into beautiful Tallinn, Estonia. Our flight was okay - I got upgraded because I was traveling with Martin, so that was nice. We both had trouble sleeping the majority of the flight from LAX to London, yet when we arrived into London Heathrow, we had a few hours before our flight to Tallinn, so we all got hotel rooms at the airport and tried to get a few hours of sleep before being forced back into the confines of a commercial plane.

After about 3-4 hours of sleep, Martin and I met Darrell, Ed and David, as well as our entire DM crew at Estonian Air. Yes, the airline was really called Estonian Air. Martin seemed to get a kick out of that for quite a while!

After a 3 hour flight, we made it into Tallinn. In order for Martin and I not to feel too jet lagged and out of it, we decided to hang out for a bit at the hotel bar with the crew to stay up until at least midnight. We did that and then crashed pretty easily. Everyone kept telling me that I would wake up a few times in the early morning, but for some reason, I slept the entire night through until my alarm call at 9:30 AM. That made me VERY happy.

Today Martin, Darrell and I walked around Tallinn in the morning and hit up a few record shops. Then, at 1:00 PM, David did a mini press conference for all of the media in Estonia. The turn out was nice and I was told we had ALL of the largest TVs there, but then again, it is Estonia - not very big!

Martin, Darrell and I again went out after the press conference which was not the smartest thing because we were then followed around town our entire walk. One woman was filming us while another few were snapping away. We knew we had enough when a nearby car parked near us and starting blasting "Somebody." It was quite amusing at the time, but a bit freaky!

Then at 3:30 PM today, David and Martin went down to the middle of Tallinn and met the mayor at a beautiful church from the 16th century. They were given the honor of getting the keys to the city - one of the first bands EVER in Tallinn to do so. The mayor was a very friendly man and greeted us as we got out of the car. Then, he told us the story of the church and how he was hoping to make Estonia the capitol of the entertainment world. Something, he said, that they have been working very hard on. He then told David and Martin that he wanted them to ring the bells at the top of the bell tower in this church. As we began our way up the stairs, he kept saying that we were almost there and that it was only 50 meters.

Let me tell you, it was MUCH more than that and we all had to stop a few times before FINALLY getting to the top. All of us, including about 15 photographers climbed up this narrow stairway made of cobblestones, many falling apart.

As we got towards the top, he then asked Martin and David to come out to the balcony and look at the amazing view. The view indeed was amazing, but the fact that the ledge on the balcony was sloped, and that the railing holding you in had a few screws loose did not make any of us feel the most comfortable. Martin would not go out very far on that ledge and kept a hand inside the entire time. Needless to say, he felt a bit nervous up there.

Then we went back inside and Martin and Dave each rang a bell, a very memorable experience for the both of them.

Each of them felt very honored to be given the keys to the city and to have been able to see this beautiful church and ring the sacred bells. It was truly a day that cannot be repeated.

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