Estonia, woo! Lovely as can be.
Tallinn is full of amazing and strange contrasts, something for everyone and very little for many. One moment you are surrounded by an amazing Medieval Old Town with 800 year old castles, towers and fortification walls.. and the next you are walking through endless miles of Soviet-era apartment buildings. Yes, strange and amazing contrasts. The Old Town is really exciting because there are so many periods of architecture represented- Russian Tsarist cathedrals next to Medieval town halls!
Getting to Estonia was a long journey; we had to catch a bus (that takes a little over four hours) to Helsinki, then transfer to the 10:00 p.m ferry! We liked the bus a great deal more than the train because we got to enjoy comfortable seats, see the Finnish countryside, and we've realized that we can purchase Robert the 1/2 price student ticket.. !
We arrived at Tallinn's port ('G', see map) at 12:30 and took a cab straight to our Couchsurfing host's apartment ('A'). She lives about 20 minutes from Old Town, in one of the Soviet Apartment buildings. Despite the disregarded appearance of the building, her apartment was really very nice. Upon arriving we were excited to see that she had made us a late (late) dinner and hot tea! We spent hours talking and fell asleep on this lovely couch in the early morning hours-
The next morning we three had breakfast together then traveled by bus to the center of the city and Old Town ('E'). Lilia showed us around the whole downtown and told us a lot of cute stories and folk lore. We went to the Estonian photography museum (which was amazing) ((I got a really interesting book!!)) and went to dozens of little art galleries with work from Estonian artists.
That night we returned to Lilia's apartment and had a pancake dinner. Her boyfriend Mitia arrived from his family's home out of the city, and they made us pancakes with homemade jelly. Robert and I made potato pancakes with fried onions. We sat for hours at the dinner table, trying pancakes and talking. Later that evening they (attempted) to teach us how to use 'devil sticks'! Robert took to it much faster than me.
The next morning we packed our bags and said our goodbyes to Lilia and Mitia. They gave us directions to a park on the other side of the city ('B'), which we followed on foot. It was really interesting to walk that far because we were able to see the different types of housing throughout the city. Once we arrived at the park we had a delicious breakfast, then spent hours walking through the forest. It was so beautiful! There was a castle built in 1863 and some smaller buildings associated with it, as well as stone sculptures of animals and mythical heroes. I loved the trees in the forest, there is so much space between them and they are so tall!
That evening we met our second Couchsurfing hosts, Su and Shaq, in Old Town. We went for coffee at a little underground cafe. At some point during the evening the electricity went out (we aren't sure why) and the servers brought out candles. We stayed for a few hours drinking and talking in the candle light, it was so nice! They are really interesting girls.. Su is studying film and Shaq is studying.... "American Literature and Culture" (hah)! Although she did explain that her degree strangely includes European and American studies. They are both originally from Istanbul, Turkey and are in Tallinn for the semester. They told us enough about Turkey to make me really curious, I wish that we could go! Turkey is not part of the European Union so we would have to apply for Visas, gah. We stayed at their apartment (also from the Soviet-era) and spent too many hours talking about music, film, European cultures, and linguistics!
The next morning Shaq had work and Su had school, so we left early. We went to the grocery store and bought a picnic lunch to take with us to another park. The park ('D') was so far away and it felt like we walked for miles and miles (editor's note: B->D, over 3 miles!). After taking a small walking trails through some lovely woods which were behind a gymnasium we eventually found it, in the most obscure-seeming place possible! The park is vast and amazing, it has original barns and rural housing from the early 1800's and is situated right beside the Baltic Sea.
After exploring the park for a few hours we made the looooonnnnggg walk back to the city (D->E, over 4 miles!). The weather was beautiful and it made the walk a treat. Yesterday was the sunniest, warmest day we've felt in Europe.
To reward ourselves for our calorie expenditure, we had an amazing dinner at a Medieval Italian Restaurant. We shared a fantastic vegetable dish, which included lentils, roasted garlic, barley, pickled carrots, pickled cucumber, rice, ginger, and an excellent mushroom sauce. The plate was so tasty that we decided we should try something else as well, so we got a mushroom soup with a (small) but scrumptious roll of bread and a sort of mushroom cream spread. The meal also came with a complimentary herb liquorish schnapps. The restaurant had a house medieval band (!!)- three girls who each played some esoteric stringed instrument, a variety of flutes, and hand percussion. The music much more elaborate and complex than you'd expect for background meal music (self-arranged traditional melodies with ever-changing time and key signatures!).
That evening we walked around the empty late-night Old Town. We sneaked into an beautiful open church just to take a peak, and then got some badly needed rest in cheap (but nice) hotel ('F', right by the seaport). Its so considerate that many establishments in Europe offer student discounts. In this case, it saved us more than 10 Euros on the already inexpensive hotel room. We probably walked about 10 miles yesterday, and at least half of that the day before. Its a great way to feel like a part of new, unfamiliar place.
and.. now we are home!
Tallinn is full of amazing and strange contrasts, something for everyone and very little for many. One moment you are surrounded by an amazing Medieval Old Town with 800 year old castles, towers and fortification walls.. and the next you are walking through endless miles of Soviet-era apartment buildings. Yes, strange and amazing contrasts. The Old Town is really exciting because there are so many periods of architecture represented- Russian Tsarist cathedrals next to Medieval town halls!
Getting to Estonia was a long journey; we had to catch a bus (that takes a little over four hours) to Helsinki, then transfer to the 10:00 p.m ferry! We liked the bus a great deal more than the train because we got to enjoy comfortable seats, see the Finnish countryside, and we've realized that we can purchase Robert the 1/2 price student ticket.. !
We arrived at Tallinn's port ('G', see map) at 12:30 and took a cab straight to our Couchsurfing host's apartment ('A'). She lives about 20 minutes from Old Town, in one of the Soviet Apartment buildings. Despite the disregarded appearance of the building, her apartment was really very nice. Upon arriving we were excited to see that she had made us a late (late) dinner and hot tea! We spent hours talking and fell asleep on this lovely couch in the early morning hours-
The next morning we three had breakfast together then traveled by bus to the center of the city and Old Town ('E'). Lilia showed us around the whole downtown and told us a lot of cute stories and folk lore. We went to the Estonian photography museum (which was amazing) ((I got a really interesting book!!)) and went to dozens of little art galleries with work from Estonian artists.
That night we returned to Lilia's apartment and had a pancake dinner. Her boyfriend Mitia arrived from his family's home out of the city, and they made us pancakes with homemade jelly. Robert and I made potato pancakes with fried onions. We sat for hours at the dinner table, trying pancakes and talking. Later that evening they (attempted) to teach us how to use 'devil sticks'! Robert took to it much faster than me.
The next morning we packed our bags and said our goodbyes to Lilia and Mitia. They gave us directions to a park on the other side of the city ('B'), which we followed on foot. It was really interesting to walk that far because we were able to see the different types of housing throughout the city. Once we arrived at the park we had a delicious breakfast, then spent hours walking through the forest. It was so beautiful! There was a castle built in 1863 and some smaller buildings associated with it, as well as stone sculptures of animals and mythical heroes. I loved the trees in the forest, there is so much space between them and they are so tall!
That evening we met our second Couchsurfing hosts, Su and Shaq, in Old Town. We went for coffee at a little underground cafe. At some point during the evening the electricity went out (we aren't sure why) and the servers brought out candles. We stayed for a few hours drinking and talking in the candle light, it was so nice! They are really interesting girls.. Su is studying film and Shaq is studying.... "American Literature and Culture" (hah)! Although she did explain that her degree strangely includes European and American studies. They are both originally from Istanbul, Turkey and are in Tallinn for the semester. They told us enough about Turkey to make me really curious, I wish that we could go! Turkey is not part of the European Union so we would have to apply for Visas, gah. We stayed at their apartment (also from the Soviet-era) and spent too many hours talking about music, film, European cultures, and linguistics!
The next morning Shaq had work and Su had school, so we left early. We went to the grocery store and bought a picnic lunch to take with us to another park. The park ('D') was so far away and it felt like we walked for miles and miles (editor's note: B->D, over 3 miles!). After taking a small walking trails through some lovely woods which were behind a gymnasium we eventually found it, in the most obscure-seeming place possible! The park is vast and amazing, it has original barns and rural housing from the early 1800's and is situated right beside the Baltic Sea.
After exploring the park for a few hours we made the looooonnnnggg walk back to the city (D->E, over 4 miles!). The weather was beautiful and it made the walk a treat. Yesterday was the sunniest, warmest day we've felt in Europe.
To reward ourselves for our calorie expenditure, we had an amazing dinner at a Medieval Italian Restaurant. We shared a fantastic vegetable dish, which included lentils, roasted garlic, barley, pickled carrots, pickled cucumber, rice, ginger, and an excellent mushroom sauce. The plate was so tasty that we decided we should try something else as well, so we got a mushroom soup with a (small) but scrumptious roll of bread and a sort of mushroom cream spread. The meal also came with a complimentary herb liquorish schnapps. The restaurant had a house medieval band (!!)- three girls who each played some esoteric stringed instrument, a variety of flutes, and hand percussion. The music much more elaborate and complex than you'd expect for background meal music (self-arranged traditional melodies with ever-changing time and key signatures!).
That evening we walked around the empty late-night Old Town. We sneaked into an beautiful open church just to take a peak, and then got some badly needed rest in cheap (but nice) hotel ('F', right by the seaport). Its so considerate that many establishments in Europe offer student discounts. In this case, it saved us more than 10 Euros on the already inexpensive hotel room. We probably walked about 10 miles yesterday, and at least half of that the day before. Its a great way to feel like a part of new, unfamiliar place.
and.. now we are home!
