Estonia – Tallinn is a Great Old Town City (2008)

Here`s the questions I`ve had a lot recently, “Where is Estonia as I`ve never heard of it?”.  Estonia is a newer country that none of us studied in school as the country formed independence from the USSR on August 20, 1991.  Funny as I thought about that date as I was in Siberia, USSR mid August 1991.  We were there as the government was being overthrown and trying to get out fast.  Little did I know when the outcome were some new Baltic countries and 17 years later I would be exploring them.  Just a little side note there.

I`m starting in Tallinn, Estonia which is about an hour and a half south of Finland.  So a quick ferry over on Sunday, and I arrived.  From the moment I got off the boat, I loved it.  The city was surrounded by a medieval wall and all the fun occurs within the walls.

I also was lucky as the day I arrived, a city wide festival was just starting and all the town people were out to celebrate the beginning of summer and there were locals dressed up in medieval attire, musicians and entertainment all over.  It made for an enjoyable two days to explore the city.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I got to my hostel, I was recognized again.  A guy from Brazil said I was at his last hostel and he remembered me, and then I ran into Robert again (as he recognized me in Helsinki from the Stockholm ferry).  Kinda funny I ran into them again but I guess a lot of travelers start to go in the same circles in this part of the world.

I spent Sunday walking all over the city and stopped for one of the best lunches in a long time.    Let me describe.  This was a local hangout known for enormous, stuffed pancakes that would leave you full for the rest of the day and they were reasonable.  Estonia has normal prices (and sometimes even cheap) – depending on where you go.  This was a nice treat after visiting some very expensive cities.  Anyways, I love pancakes and knew I had to try this.  I got one with chicken, mushrooms and blue cheese (just like Finland, they love mushrooms and blue cheese in everything).  I shared my table with two locals and they had lots of questions for me about New York, so it was fun to be the one sharing information for a change and not always asking the questions.  The pancake was so yummy and filling, I had to go for a long walk to wake myself up.  Even that didn`t work, and I thought I was entitled to take a nap as I didn`t sleep much the night before.

Back at the hostel, I met up with Robert again as he came in that night and met another guy from the Netherlands (Daniel).  The three of us decided to go out for some beers at 10:30 at night (but it felt like the day as it was so light).  I kid you not, there was no one out in the main part of town.  This is the capital of Estonia, the beginning of this huge festival and all the pubs were empty.  So strange.  Then Daniel (who was here on business and comes to Tallinn a lot) said locals may not come out till after 11.  So we find our way to “Beer House” which reminded me of a German beer garden.  Live music, long wooden tables (that could stand a lot of abuse from drunken people) and large 1 liter steins of beer.  The beer is brewed on site and we knew we were set…that is until they tell us 30 minutes later they are closing.  Closing at 11:30 at night – crazy we thought.  So we finished up and decided to try to find a club or something.  That we did.  We found a bar that had a lot of people in it and a live jazz singer.  We thought she was a little cheesy (or as Simon would say on American Idol – a little karaoke).  To make things worse, the bar was filming the singer and then projecting it onto other large screen TV`s in the other rooms so everyone could watch her.  We just kept drinking and having a great time.  It was an interesting discussion between Daniel (who works for international labor unions all over Europe), Robert who was 22 and just graduated college and me – doing whatever I am for the next year.  We finally left at 3am when the place closed.  Closing 2 bars down in a night – not too bad!

 

Monday was a lot more of housekeeping tasks as I call it.  I needed to figure out plans for Russia so I had a place to stay, knew how I would get there as it`s a long distance and finding train/bus information is not easy.  I also had a few other errands to run.  When you are traveling, it`s not all fun and games, there is daily life things I have to take care of so that was good to do.

In the afternoon, I wanted to climb the tallest tower in town.  This was a very steep tower with 266 spiral stairs.  I tend to count on the way up as it makes it easier to keep going when you are out of breath.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the top, the climb was worth it as the views of the city were fantastic.  You could see the entire wall around the city, out to the harbor and the main city outside the wall.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great view and some exercise to get the heart going again.  I had to laugh at these people.  When you get to the top, there is an arrow telling you what direction to go.  Why…because it`s so narrow you really can`t pass.  So as I`m rounding the last side of the walkway, I hear some people going the wrong way and they are speaking Spanish.  Finally I can use my other language.  Every time I speak to Swedes, Fins or Estonia`s, I  want to speak in their language, but only Spanish phrases come to mind.  Finally, I was able to talk to someone in Spanish and when I asked where they live, they said Washington DC, but they are from Spain and we continued to chat in English.  At least I`m trying to use my other language.

I ended my time in Tallinn at a Chinese restaurant.  I have been craving Chinese food (and vegetables) and this place looked good and had vegetables dishes (which is rare in Estonia). Everything else is meat and potato (and a potato is considered the vegetable here).  So I have a lovely dinner and get the pleasure of overhearing 3 American men complain about everything and get rude about it.  It`s people like this that give the “Ugly American Traveler” the bad name.  The waitress spoke some English, but it was clear to me she got the basics and that was it.  These men were upset as they wanted things more spicy and she didn`t understand, but brought them more chili but that was still not good enough.  Then their conversation was loud, rude and obnoxious.  At the end of their meal, they heard me talk to the waitress in English and asked where I was from.  Then they felt bad and said “so you could understand our conversation all night”.  I said yes and then they wanted to talk to me and explain and blame the waitress for getting it wrong, which I had to say that I think her English is limited.  All in all, they were good guys and were actually helpful for me with some of my Russia planning and gave me the phone number of someone in Moscow in case I get into any problems and one guy gave me his number as he used to live in Moscow and knows a lot of people in case I need anything.  Good to have in my book just in case.

Final stop of the night, “Hell Hunt”.  This is the fist pub in Estonia and was established in 1993.  Doesn`t seem that old, but after recently gaining independence, it took that long to get a pub and I had to go to try to local beer they brew.  I got the dark beer as the waitress said it`s the best, but I disagree…it was ok, but I drank it anyways and it was beer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So now I`m heading south 2.5  hours to Parnu.  This is a beach resort town halfway between Tallinn and Riga, Latvia (where I go a few days later).  I am ready for a little time on the beach and R&R.