Tallinn, Estonia

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We've arrived Tallinn at 2:00pm from Riga, 400km East of Latvia, and we can tell the big difference betweens the two : Tallinn has the similar size of Riga but the city is so much busier, touristy, expensive, and commercial as in anywhere else in Western Europe, it was quite hard to believe my eyes that I was stepping on the old Soviet Republic.

The tram rides from the Central Bus Station to the Old Town, costs almost EEK 20 (US$2) each and ten minutes later, we got off just outside the UNESCO Heritage Old Town of Tallinn.



Our first day in Tallinn was a beautifully hot sunny day. We started at the Viru Gates, the two picturesque towers as one of the most famous landmarks of the old city wall. Once past them, we were dismayed to see a McDonald's restaurant, but in the old Town of Tallinn, somehow it didn't seem right to see this.

It was very hot in June and my backpack was too heavy, I felt my body almost sores every part, so the first thing to do was finding a place to settle - But everywhere in the town was full, and not cheap. As we were trying to find some better deals, a guy just came and said "Hey if you wish to get a room, I can do that for you. The owner of one of the Bicycle shop, I guess he is French, came and showed us the room. Our room was almost ready when he showed us, exept the dirty bathroom, athough the smells of the used bicycle and the toilet bowl, it makes me feel like sleeping in the garage.

The Old town of Tallinn has also been named as The City of Outdoor Musuem - Almost every steps you walked, you have something to see. The old town filled with all tourists, cafe, McDonalds, which rarely seen in Latvia, but frankly speaking Tallinn has set up and pretty well managed and organized for tourists.

On all my experiences in most of the place, FREE WIFI has not been as common and widespread as it has been in Estonia. You are connected with FREE WIFI almost every corner in the city, this is also why Estonia has always been few stepped ahead of Latvia and Lithueania, and this is also one reason why Tallinn has named the best European City in 2009. However, finding a nice and not too expensive restaurant and cafe in Old Town is a great challenge, otherwise you have to follow the locals.

The next morning we woke up at 8 and took the local bus to Paldiski, it was the largest submarine base of USSR before the independence. We got off in the middle of no where and we walked for 20 minutes, we still couldn't find the centre of the town.

Paldiski is a real depressing town, finding a proper restaurant or cafe was even harder than you finding a guy who is selling whiskey to you in Iran, and most building are perhaps crumbling, or unfinished, written "WELCOME TO HELL" just outside the entrance, this is one of the best way to witness how life was under the Soviet - but I loved it so much.

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