Tallinn -- so far I'm not impressed

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Ok! So maybe I *AM* knocking Tallinn!


I bought the 48 hour Tallinn Card today. You know the kind, every touristy city puts one out that allows the bearer to use public transport for free and then some sort of discount into gems such as the

The Estonian Fire Fighting Museum
The Museum of Occupations
The Townhall Pharmacy (where I can get a free sample of marzipan)
and let's not forget,

The Mine Museum. (Mine as in kaboom, not like frenchman in box).

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Ok, I kid. There are other museums/sights that I can get into with the card that are more exciting than the ones above... But then again, had I known that half a dozen of them aren't even open yet (shoulder season), I probably wouldn't have bought the darned thing. It cost 300 EEK! (I like writing that, eek! That's the Estonian Kroon) A couple of the key churches with climbable steeples don't open until April (how am I supposed to get those gorgeous photos of the city?)

So let my bad timing be a warning to all of you who are thinking of visiting Tallinn in the future. Don't come between September and March!

End of complaining.

* * *

I had a pretty late start today. I didn't head out until almost noon, and it took me about 10 minutes to buy the stupid bus ticket. The first kiosk didn't sell tickets, the kiosk lady was nice enough to draw a diagram for me of where to go to buy the ticket.

At the neighboring kiosk, of course. So I trudge 15 steps through the ice and snow to the second kiosk, and noticed that it had a plastic clock thingie hanging on the glass with the hands pointed 10 minutes later -- the kiosk lady was off on break. So me and the rest of the glum looking Russians all stood around and waited for her to return.

Why do I think they were Russians? Because all of the older women are plump and wearing fur, and all the men have fur flap hats! 😊

I kinda know how to say "ticket" in Estonian (it sounds like pell-it?) but just in case, I pulled out the cancelled ticket from yesterday. She said back to me (english) Ticket? Yes! Great. So on my way I go.

I rode all the way back to the Old Town and decided to go and get my lunch at McDonalds. Yeah, I'm a stupid American tourist, what of it. I like my filet-o-fish and I'll eat them anywhere.
After that, I went to the Estonian History Museum.

Ok, a note on the entry prices quoted by my Tallinn Card. It's obvious that not all museums are created the same.

On the low end, the Fire fighting museum = 4 EEKs.
On the high end, the Rocca al Mare Tour = 200 EEKs.

The Estonian History Museum only costs 15 EEKs, so you can guess how much fun I had there.
:-/ oops. Did I just knock Estonia again? didn't mean to!

Then after that, I ran back towards the ferry building to fetch my left luggage.

Here is where I will tell you all how brilliant I am. :-p

Yesterday when I was fresh off the boat, I stored my big blue bag in one of the lockers at the ferry building and thus only had to carry the essentials with me (tooth brush/paste, contacts, guide books, money; yeah, I forgot underwear). For 2 euros, I was freed from the rest of my luggage for 24 hours; I didn't have to haul it around last night when I was touring or when I was getting to my accommodations.

So after my tour of the Estonian History Museum today, I went and got my bag, and then I hopped onto the trolly (or was it the tram?) and rode to the bus station where I paid for storage until Saturday. Why the bus station and why Saturday? Because I'll be taking the bus to Poland on Saturday! Yes, only 3 days for Tallinn, I think that's quite enough, don't you.

And then I rode back again to the Old Town and got a pastry thingie at the really pretty pastry shop. I have to say, pastry thingies sure are cheap here. Yesterday I got a blueberry moose (sp) cake thing for 10 EEKS (approx 15 EEKS = 1 USD). That's less than a buck! Back at home, that piece would go for like $2.50 or $3. Yum.

So that's it for the excitement of the day. After that pastry, I thought about swinging by the "town hall pharmacy" to claim my free piece of marzipan, but I couldn't find it. :-/

Maybe tomorrow, can't pass up on a freebie.

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Comments

[Wendy]

Okay, call me stupid
but is Estonia Eastern Europe or Western Russia? Why did you decide to go there if you knew no one there? It's not like Conde Nest touts Estonia as the tourist capital during these winter months!

[judylay]

you're right on both accounts...
Estonia used to be western Russia, before it got split up. Now it's considered Eastern Europe. Or the Baltic states. I decided to come here b/c it's right there across the water from Finland, 3 hour boat ride, why the hell not!

[Giustino]

wrong on both accounts
Estonia was part of the Kingdom of Sweden until 1720. It then became part of the Russian Empire until 1918, when it declared, fought for, and won its independence. It lost its independence when it was occupied by the USSR in 1940 during World War II. It regained its independence when it redclared independence in 1991 as the USSR fell apart. That's the story on this tiny country. Tallinn, for what it's worth, appears in both Eastern Europe and Scandinavian Europe guidebooks.

[Martin]

comment by an estonian
Wendy, Judy Estonia was never Russia. Estonia or parts of it has been a province of Denamrk, Sweden, Germany, Poland-Lithuania and Russia. Being a province is not the same as being a country. If you think it's the same then Judy, if you were in Finland we could say that you were in Sweden..or Russia 'couse Finland has been a province of both of them. So where were you and where are going? If you couldn't find anything interesting in Estonian History Museum then poor you. But I guess for you from the States history is everything more than 100 years old and you just can't understand that Tallinn here has a histor of abt 800 years and in the museum you can see things even older than that. But some people of course are not into history. About Raeapteek (Town Hall Pharmacy, which by the way is the oldest still working Pharmacy in Europe) if you couldn't find it then you most likely didn't find the Town Hall Square. If you are on the square and looking at Town Hall the Pharmacy is just behind you on the other side of the square. Good luck Martin

[judylay]

Geography lesson...
Martin, Giustino, I gave a really abbreviated version of the geography as I knew it, from what I read in the guidebooks. We can have a similar discussion about Taiwan, is it part of China or is it Taiwan and never a part of China. :-/ Estonia was a republic/state/province within Russia, is that correct? That's what I understood anyway. BTW, after I wrote that, I did figure out that that was the town hall, and I also find the pharmacy. I never did get my free marzipan though. I did find interesting things inside the Estonian National Museum, that bit of trivia about if a serf lives in town for a year and a day he's considered a free man; those two spooky exhibits -- one of the funeral pyre and the other of the beheading; the bits of metal tools, baskets, paper money from the different eras... I was paying attention! But what I was trying to say indirectly (by my fairly unkind put down of the museum) was there was such a price difference between the attractions/museums/sights; if the people (Tallinnians?) who set the prices valued their history or the museum (or knew that the tourists would come no matter what the price), then the entry fee would've cost more than 15 EEK. BTW, I also went to the maritime museum. I liked it, but I was the only one there.