Well we are in Tallinn after our first full day here. I would like to take the opportunity to talk about that Black Balsam we bought from Riga first – it was horrible. A bitter, bitter liqueur (literally). Tallinn have their own too, which I would like to try at some point.
The day began with a mixed mood. The breakfast at the hotel was very good, as was the weather that we could see from our window (which made a change as our last hotel didn’t have one!) Our hotel room by the way, is amazing. It’s massive, with a HUGE sized bed and it cost £18 a night AND included breakfast. The don.
However, we are both a bit disappointed that it looks like we will be unable to go to Helsinki for the day – it’s too expensive for us to justify a few hours out on our budget. Next time eh, I have my whole life to visit the rest of Europe after all, on various city breaks I’m sure.
Anyway, we had a rough plan about our day – after we got a decent map from the tourist centre from the shopping centre – a day in old town proper, a day hopefully away from Tallinn (weather dependent) and a day exploring the castle complex in the old town. World cup matches included into the plan, which starts tomorrow. We’ve planned to see as much in the morning/afternoon so we’re back for the first game at 5pm and have snacks and drinks bought from the supermarket in our hotel room for tomorrow!
In the morning we stopped off in the town square, watched a bit of live music (there is a festival on in the city centre at the moment) where we saw an orchestra, a very good one too. We then explored a few churches before stopping for a sandwich and a cappuccino in the old town. The funniest part of the morning was when we visited a church, which cost money to go in – we didn’t have a small enough note to get in (it was only 15 crowns – 75p for both of us) we had 100! The guy wouldn’t change it, but just as we were leaving a woman said there was a free concert starting at the front of the church and was free. So we went around the church with our concert ticket, and left before they even started!
After lunch we went up the spires of St Olavs church, the tallest building in the world – in the 13th century! It was a long way up to be fair, and the views were great. We also went to one of the watch towers along the city wall which housed an exhibition which included medieval armour which you could try on – very fun. We walked around a bit more, seeing many old buildings and churches before sitting in the square for a bit more entertainment from the festival.
Tallinn is beautiful – the weather was fantastic today. The city is well preserved, with a lot of the city wall still intact, some of which renovated but most of it preserved. It feels medieval, it’s beautiful. On the coast as well, which just adds to it all! It’s easily my favourite of the Baltic capitals, I’ve made up my mind already! Sitting in the square watching all types of music was great too. Wandering around the cobbled streets and following the wall around the city was fantastic. It is as beautiful and ‘magical’ as Prague (minus the gothic-ness and the size of it) but without as many tourists).
We really hope the weather is good tomorrow or Saturday so we can pay a visit to one of Tallinn’s supposedly beautiful beaches, as well as seeing the castle on the other day! The problem is the weather on this holiday hasn’t exactly been predictable so far, with it being incorrectly forecast on many days! Forecast showers tomorrow, maybe it will be wrong? Here’s hoping!
Pictures
Lils looking fearsome at the medieval armour exhibition in Epping Tower
Me in armour at the medieval armour exhibition at Epping Tower
City wall
Laura on top of St Olavs
Sea view from the top of St Olav's Church
City wall from the top of St Olav's Church
Town hall/castle fortifications (from right to left) from the top of St Olav's Church
St Olav's Church
Laura Outside the House of the Brotherhood of Blackheads
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