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Published: August 16th 2011
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Thursday, 11th August
Tallinn, Estonia.
My aunts Eva and Kaija, my cousin Marja and I decided that we would go and see the sights in Tallinn for a day.
Tallinn is the capital of Estonia, a mere 80 km from Helsinki across the Gulf of Finland. It still bears some of the signs of the Soviet era, but it is emerging as a vibrant city and a tourist destination because of the old city, where centuries old buildings have been preserved, among which are many tourist shops offering handcrafts, Baltic amber jewellery, restaurants and fashions at prices much better than in Finland. One of the biggest drawcards however are the numerous bottle shops offering huge discounts on alcoholic beverages, which are snapped up and carried across to Finland by eager locals by the suitcase load.
The finnish alcohol market is a monopoly owned by the state, with huge tax markups on all takeaway alcohol. There are 'restaurants' which are more like pubs where many finns spend evenings drinking, but all take-home alcohol is sold in the 'alko' shops.
A return ticket on a large Ocean going ferry costs passengers about 30 Euro. The Ferry takes about two hours to
accomplish the crossing, offering the passengers a comfortable ride, duty free shopping and dining options to pass the time. These are to my eyes, very large oceanliners, carrying hundreds of passengers in addition to the dozens of cars and numerous freight- trucks across to continental Europe. From somewhere deep in the recesses of memory, the tune to the seventies TV show The Love Boat began to play in my head as we stepped onboard. My cousin drily remarked that it would be a challenge to find a true love in the two hours we were on board, although probably many have tried, especially after the boozy pub crawls across Tallin that many go there for.
Arriving at Tallin, we disembarked, and armed with a tourist map, we set off to find the Old Town. The short walk was rewarded by the sight of two stone towers flanking the entrance to the old town. Immediately we were among narrow cobblestone streets, with tall, old stone buildings with intricate architectural details rising on both sides. Shops of Amber were profuse, as were bottleshops, especially in the main thoroughfares. In the smaller lanes, there were fewer people, and more interesting and diverse
boutiques selling various arts and handcrafts. Many of the handcrafted items were ornate, featuring a slavic influence; markedly different in character from the clean lines and scandinavian features of the handcrafts I had seen in Finland. I found some beautiful pieces of amber; earrings and a necklace pendant featuring a petrified tiny insect. (I could start my own jurassic park). The amber is warm in colour and touch and light in weight, the naturally shaped piece bordered with silver.
While we wandered about, we were accosted by numerous older women, selling butterfly brooches and local-design woollen socks, each woman had the same wares, the same prices (Only one euro, one Euro), and smacked of being part of some organised begging ring, probably leaving these poor women no better off.
There were numerous restaurants, many with people outside touting for business, but none more entertainingly than a middle ages inspired outdoor restaurant, with staff in medieval costume, the menu written in a gothic style (in Finnish, English, and Russian), promising a great medieval feast.
We chose to dine at a slightly smaller (and cheaper) version of a medieval outdoor eatery. The wisdom of our choice became questionable when we
realised that the seemingly talented xylophonist who was busking just meters from our table, knew only five tunes, and played them repeatedly, and not always well, like a CD on auto-repeat, until we had finished eating. The food was excellent despite the roadside entertainment.
There was no time for dessert and it was time to head off back to the ferry, our scheduled departure time was 2pm. We stopped only to buy some flowers, a bunch of 12 long stemmed roses costing only 8 euros.
We boarded the ferry with only 10 minutes to spare, as the ferry departed a few minutes early (according to my watch). Had we left it to the last minute, we would have been left behind.
The return trip was spent chatting, and eating a dessert we hadn’t had time to order in town. Disembarking, there was plenty of evidence of the popularity of the bottle shops, some passengers wheeling carts piled with cartons of beer, bottles clinking in wheeled suitcases trundling the off ramps.
Home for my last night in Finland, And what has been an amazing, full, rich and interesting holiday, packed with interesting sights, foods, and the very special people who
are my family. I thank them all for the warm welcomes and the generous hospitality, the love, friendship and opportunities to experience new things which they have offered to me.
I feel very grateful and privileged to have been able to enjoy this experience.
Next stop – My sister’s Place in Holland. New languages, sights and adventures.
Let’s Go!
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