Tallinn old town

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We took the night ferry from Helsinki to Tallinn at 9pm, although there was still light - summer in Northern Europe! By the time we arrived it was dark in Tallinn. Lit lamps on cobble stoned streets in the old town gave the place an ancient yet romantic atmosphere.

Walking around Tallinn old town during the day, it is truly as I imagined, colourful and fairyland like with its church spires and onion domes, red roofs, yellow and pink walls, yet fully retaining the old town feel with grey and thick stone and masonry walls and towers.

There’s a free 2 hour old town walking tour at midday outside the tourist info centre. Uni students put together this service, they also have paid bike tours and pub crawls. It was very interesting to learn the stories while walking around the old town. We liked the walking tour so much so that we decided to join their 3 hour paid bike tour outside the old town. That turned out to be a highlight of the day. The Russian tsar’s summer palace is on a huge ground with beautifully planned gardens, ponds, trees and flowers in geometrical patterns. It is now a museum. The Estonian president’s residence is also in this park, certainly a nice place to live. Apart from this park, the residential areas of Tallinn are kind of boring, with plain looking apartment buildings, all of a few storeys high. The seaside is pretty with a long walk/cycleway, and the tall spires of the old town glimming in the distance.

We climbed the tallest church in Europe - St Olav’s church - to take a bird’s eye view of the old town. Very windy up there!

Dinner at Old Hansa’s, a medieval themed restaurant serving Estonian food. We were supposedly dining in a rich merchant’s house. The whole restaurant was lit by candles and candelabras, recreating the scene in the middle ages. Waiters and waitresses were dressed in long robes as in medieval times also. It certainly created a romantic atmosphere. The dining ware used was of brown pottery of very raw appearance, plates and big mugs to serve beer in. The beer we had, a dark honey beer, was delicious.

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