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Published: January 8th 2013
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The ferry ride from Helsinki was smooth and fairly easy going for a 3 hour crossing. We had the chance to grab a couple of drinks while catching up on writing this blog. Once we got close to the dock in Tallinn we seemed to be the last to realise we’d gotten close as the door for exit, yet to be announced, was surrounded by people and their luggage. Walking off the boat into the cool night air was a shock in itself, only to be bettered once we found out which of the four docks we’d come into. Luckily for us it turned out to be the closest to our hotel, so we got our packs on and walked towards the centre of town with some rough directions courtesy of an app on Anna’s phone. We found the sign for the Park Inn hotel strapped to the front of a business unit and after a little hunting about found the entrance through an alleyway out the back. The very friendly reception staff gave us our room info as well as a map of the old town centre along with a recommendation for a restaurant in the centre of town for
dinner. We headed up to our good sized and equipped room, dropped our bags and headed off in search of food and refreshment. We took as direct a route as we could fathom to get to the central square where we found a Christmas market still in full flow, with stalls selling mostly hand crafted fur and knitted clothing or alcoholic drinks, there was even a collection of solemn looking elk penned in at one end of the square. We found the restaurant nestled on the far side of the square so took a look over the menu by the front door. Being on a bit of a budget and having had passing glances at prices on menus leading to the square we found this one to be not only more expensive than those leading up to it but more than the others located round the square. On the hunt for a better deal we took a wander round the walled part of the city to see what else was around. Something we noticed as we walked was that there were almost as many clubs advertising exotic dancers as there were pubs advertising beer. This became more obvious once we
left the confines of the old town walls, which did nothing to help sell the cities medieval theme bars and activities or extensive history. Finding ourselves at the Viru gate of the city we spotted a basement restaurant with a wide local menu so decided to head in. We were greeted by a friendly waiter who sat us by the bar and took us through our choices for drinks offering up the locally produced beer called ‘Saku’ which is refreshing and light lager. We chose to have the boar patties and the chicken with Estonian cheese melted over the top, both with fried potatoes. Being intrigued by each other’s meals we swapped halfway through to sample the other dish, but with both of meals tasting so good we finished each other’s off. Having a small amount of space left we shared a desert listed as strawberry pancake, however when it arrived we were glad we’d only ordered one as there were two sizeable and thick pancakes with a separate bowl of strawberry preserve. With our hunger fulfilled we headed back to the hotel to get some rest, ready to explore more of the old town area the following day.
Our hotel included breakfast with the price of the room, so after a little lay in we headed for the restaurant area to see what was on offer. We were greeted with a buffet styled serving arena filled with a heaving mass of families barging each other to get to any of the food they could find. Having made our way through and out with a plate of breakfast we were then left hunting round to try and find a pair of empty chairs or a clean table to sit at, eventually finding a haven in a corner on a table with two Russian ladies who spoke no English. Not really being ready for the roar of the crowds we ate and left to explore the old town as soon as we could.
We retraced our steps from the previous night back through the Viru gate to the town square, along the way finding street performers and merchants plying their trades as well as a friendly and bustling crowds of shoppers. As we approached the square we took a turn north to head up to the top of the area called ‘Toompea’ which provides views out over most of
the city. Climbing a narrowing snow covered granite staircase that took us out through the city walls, after dodging tour groups stopping to take photo’s we were rewarded with a view of the rear of Alexander Nevisky’s cathedral. Walking round to the front we found fantastic views over the lower areas of the old town walls and a archery class in mid flow. We headed back down into town past the tower called ‘Kiek in do Kök’, a glass memorial, an art gallery and some bird shaped bollards before finding ourselves back inside the old town walls. As we weren’t far from the place we intended on having dinner called ‘Vanaema Jures’ meaning ‘Grandma’s House’ we dropped in to make a reservation for later that evening as booking ahead had been recommended by the guides we’d read. A little further up the street we dropped into a cafe called 'Kompressor' for some of their speciality pancakes. The utilitarian interior gave a unique feel to the place but the pancakes were very large and overflowing with fillings for minimal cost. Having sampled the savory delight our next stop was at the northern most point of the old town walls to see
a tower called ‘Paks Margareta’ or ‘Fat Margrets’. This is an imposing structure attached to a small tower by a portcullis gateway. Still feeling peckish we set out in search of dumplings at ‘Cafe EAT’. This small basement cafe, easily missed from the street, sells a variety of snacks as well as tea, coffee and drinks. However, it was the dumplings we’d come for as they’re sold by weight at a very low cost. Anna had a small bowl of plain meat filled while, with bigger eyes, I had a slightly larger amount of the spinach and meat option. Both our meals came to the staggering total of €2.55. With the day wearing on and us not used to all this walking about we headed back to the hotel for a rest, stopping in at a supermarket to grab a few provisions for the long coach journey the following day. With our dinner reservation for 6-30 we had just enough time for a quick power nap before we returned to grandma’s house for dinner. This basement restaurant has the feel that you’re having dinner in someone’s substantially sized front room. It has simple tables and old family portraits adorn the
walls, while the food is equally as simple, it’s cooked well with minimal fuss and nonsense. We, again, swapped halfway through both starter and main courses, finding the same problem as the first night of finishing each other meal. For desert we had an Estonian desert called ‘Kama’ which, on being served, looked like the left over milk form a bowl of shredded whole-wheat cereal. However, lurking under the surface was a sweet preserve substance that contrasted perfectly with the milky upper. If your ever in Estonia I’d highly recommend giving this one a go. After dinner, and feeling a little guilty I’d had Elk, we headed through the town square to check all the elk were still in the pen and sampled some of the local warm beverage being served called ‘glögg’, an Estonian version of mulled wine. Feeling the warm glow of our beverage we headed back to the hotel to get some sleep before the 6-30am taxi to the coach for St. Petersburg.
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