DAYS 23-24 Tallinn Estonia

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Yesterday, Kieran flew into Helsinki & joined us for dinner, he plans to shadow our tour for the next 9 days by arranging his own transport & accommodation.

Sunday we left Scandinavia behind & boarded a morning ferry for a 3 hr trip to Tallinn, capital of Estonia. On arrival we checked into the Tallink Express Hotel for a 2 night stay before an orientation walk around the World Heritage listed city.

It’s immediately obvious to see why the city is now considered the best preserved medieval city in Northern Europe with the surrounding skyline dominated by Gothic spired churches, grand merchant houses, barns and warehouses along winding cobblestone streets. The major sites were the largely intact 13th-century old town buildings, walls & observation towers, the town hall & spire & the Toompea Castle, where Parliament sits. The orthodox Alexander Nevsky Cathedral is a much more recent building. Regardless of the time of day the streets are alive with the bustle of people mostly from huge cruise ships.

Next day Kieran joined us for a morning bike ride, initially down beside the harbour & then through a pine forest path out to an old Russian TV antenna tower. We took a lift to a glass-floored viewing platform on the 21st level & some 360 degree views around the town.

Food has been a big part of the tour so far with our leader offering authentic local or unusual options. Last night we went to an 800 year old building with a medieval ambience while tonight we a going to the hip new entertainment area outside the old city where a culture around graffiti art is thriving.



Seeing the vibrant streets of Tallinn now, it's difficult to fathom how it has been so well preserved given that Soviet occupation only ended in 1991.

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Photos

Old city wall watch tower
With town hall spire in background

Toompea Castle Tower
Part of 13 century castle with the parliament building in pink.

Town Hall
13 century with beautiful embellishments & spire.

Ancient Toombstones
14 Century tombstones from the ruins of St Catherine of Alexandria relaid on the wall of the restored church.