Eesti /Tallinn/

Tallinn is definitely a pleasant surprise. One of the many highlights in this trip!
 

Tallinn Old Town

Originally, we (or I) only planned to visit Tallinn because it’s really near to Helsinki (like 2 hours-ish by ferry) and it’s just one of the places people would drop by if you’re in Helsinki. Anyway, it turned out to be a damn nice little town. Love it immensely!

It was, as anticipated by the catamaran operator, a very windy morning! The Viking Line journey didn’t feel that long. “Somebody” insisted we made full use of the free bus to the city centre (I was more for taxi and getting rid of our luggages in the hotel asap). Anyway, so off we go – the 2 of us. We thought it’d be a special shuttle bus that takes us from the pier to the city centre. WRONG! It’s a normal public bus with its terminus at the airport. Now you know where the story’s heading – except that we haven’t quite make it to the airport before we realised the city centre was way behind us! Not a great start to our adventure!

Another snap of the Old Town Wall

Tallinn is basically all about the Old Town, where medieval relics and constructions are conserved. The Old Town is surrounded by city walls and towers. Most of the houses and towers have orange / reddish-brown roofs, so to a certain extent, it makes me think of Florence. One thing I regret not doing in Tallinn was climbing up one of the church towers to overlook the whole city. I just knew the city would make a magnificent spectacle from above.

A classic
orthodox church

The Old Town itself is not very big, but cosy enough. I guess one can walk from one end to another in roughly 20 minutes. You can easily navigate inside all the tiny little walkways. Everything is so close by - shops, cafes, museums, churches all pack neatly next to each other.

Outside the Old Town lies the “city centre”. I put the brackets because (a) we didn’t quite manage to see it properly (but we didn't really want to.. HA!) and (b) it’s nothing impressive really. I remember a few modern-ish arcades (can’t even call them a proper mall) and department stores and that’s it. I wouldn’t imagine anybody coming here looking for a modern capital so I’m not too bothered.
One thing you wouldn’t expect in the midst of all the medieval charms is free WIFI everywhere. Literally, the whole Old Town is wired which proves to be very useful for us tourists.

An Estonian appetiser
with ice-cold vodka

Another thing that doesn’t take long to get used to in the Baltics (especially after Helsinki) is the cheap prices! OMG! This is like heaven. Foodage is so cheap we eat like kings and queens. The first night we decided to opt for Estonian cuisines. We went to a “claimed” Estonian restaurant. But to be honest, I really can’t tell what’s special about it because they serve “normal” western food, like steak, lamb chops etc. Except for the appetiser Gaz ordered, which is sprat (a kinda fish similar to herring) on top of a piece of dark rye break plus, and not the least, a shot of ice-cold vodka. HAHA... But we did sample a seemingly Estonian dessert at dinner, which is made of some oats with yoghurt/cream and is surprisingly tasty!

The best lunch throughout the whole trip (as in throughout the 3 weeks!!), I have to say, was VAPIANO in Tallinn. It is a modern chain restaurant that serves pasta/pizza/salad but all the food is made-to-order right in front of you. So they are extra fresh. We came across the same restaurant in Stockholm, but prices are double!

All in all, I was entirely charmed by this little Baltic town of 400,000 people. Given the chance, I would definitely go back without a shadow of doubt. It was my first sampler of the Baltics which makes the journey all the more memorable. It might not be an ideal place to live I have to admit, but most definitely a perfect holiday getaway from the hustle and bustle of big cities. I loved every second of it. Highly recommended! (Just have to mind the chilly weather! Turns out it was the coldest place we've been to this time - even worse than Scandinavia!!)