Factory Tour and a Baroque Concert

One of my favorite places in Narva is the Kreenholmi Factory. We have visited twice so far, and each visit has been one of my favorite activities here in Estonia. It is fascinating to see a sort of time capsule into what life looked like just a couple of decades ago. I love that the factory has remained largely unchanged, as it allows us to imagine what life might have been like. Growing up in the US, there were many factories around me. However, many of them had been out of business for years and it wasn’t allowed to visit them. Learning about factories in school often involved only talking about the Industrial Revolution during the late 19th century. It could be difficult to truly understand what working in a factory would be like when the only exposure to industrialization we got was from more than 100 years ago. I love that in Narva, the factory is very accessible for tours both inside and outside. We have been on both the outdoor and indoor tour, and both were extremely cool. The tour this week focused on the inside of the factory, so we were able to explore some of the offices, work rooms, bathrooms, and kitchens within the factory. I loved that some of the machines were preserved! Overall, the factory was an incredible experience and I hope to visit again someday.

This week, there was a Baroque concert at the college. I personally love classical music, so I was extremely excited to attend a classical (and free!) concert. There were several truly Baroque instruments, such as a harpsichord, wooden flutes, and instruments I didn’t even recognize. It was so cool to hear instruments that I had never listened to before. The concert focused on selections from Monteverdi’s operas and a piece composed by Isabella Leonarda for a convent. The soprano who performed was a beautiful singer and I enjoyed the concert! I have included a brief explanation of Monteverdi’s opera from the concert below.