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Published: June 11th 2013
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Many of the guide books give Tallinn taxis a bad wrap. They are rip-offs, and sneaky with it. Not all but many depending on the company one chooses. CS and PP don't use taxis much anywhere but we have to report the one we got from the ferry terminal to our hotel, Radisson Blu Olympia, from the queue and therefore a random selection, was swift, direct, efficient and cheap.
The hotel is bigger than some we have had on the trip - 28 floors. We were on ten, which we discovered in the mornings was a bad place to be. The lifts could not cope with the traffic and we were unable to cram ourselves into several downward travelling cars. Just as well we have no trouble with ten flights of stairs!
This little 'toy town' is a charmer. Once we got settled we were off to the old town, about 1k walk through lovely parks. We headed for Viru Gate and street past the National Gallery and Concert Hall which has a cute car park barrier gate you will see.
Viru was as frenetic as we had expected mid afternoon on
a beautiful sunny day. CS said to one lovely local at some stage how it must be a bit off putting to finally get the chance to enjoy good weather after a long cold winter only to be inundated with tourists. In typical Tallinn fashion, we discovered, she smiled and said they do not mind. Given that their economy is largely based on service industries heavily weighted with hospitality we guess it comes with the territory. We soon learned that steep bits (moving up the hill towards the Houses of Parliament) and more remote parts of old town reduced the tourist crushes significantly. We strolled a good deal of this area which is still walled around a substantial part of its periphery. The main 'sites' are easy to find and we have pictured some of them. The whole of old town is a UNESCO declared heritage site and it is beautifully maintained.
We spotted a lovely restaurant, somewhat enigmatically called "Gastropub" and decided to make a booking for later. We were offered a cosy little table in a window nook up-stairs overlooking the Square and far enough away to hear the live music without it blasting - perfect, and
Alexander Nevsky Cathedral
Only Orthodox Church in the old town so it proved. Our waiter was very intent on doing everything correctly and the service was indeed impeccable. This young woman reminded CS and PP of Kinsey in NCIS LA, for those of you who know the show no more need be said. She declared at the end, before the tip, that she had enjoyed serving us, how nice! The food was wonderful - oh that foie gras!
Wind and dry conditions had rendered that mop that CS calls hair even more startling so it was time for a chop. Booked an early morning cut in the hotel beauty salon and arrived on the dot of 8.30. Two hours later during which CS was in the tenderest of care (she swears the capable young woman cut each strand of hair separately) and ready for a whopper bill - 20 Euros, thank you!
The next day we thought to explore old town from a different route, around to the east of the town via the Freedom Square - so named because of Estonia's efforts in 1918-20 to gain its independence from Russia, an objective shortly realised but not sustained until 1991. From there we climbed
the hill up to Harjumagi park, passed 'Kiek in de Kok' (which is not a joke - and PP did not think so either, it means, 'look into the kitchen' rather than what it sounds like).
We diverted into the 'Danish King's Garden' which proved a treat. This is where the Danes lingered after defeating Estonia and before selling off their interests some short time later (they were a bit prone to that, doing the same with their one and only African colony too). The significance for CS is that this is supposedly where the Danish flag (the oldest flag still in existence, by the way) came down from the heavens and inspired the Danes to victory. CS's dad, Svend, had many times told her the story of the finding of Dannebrog (as the flag is named) but he never visited here in his lifetime, so it was a splendid opportunity to toast that fine man on this spot - he would have enjoyed the whimsy. PS the Danes could have stayed long enough to teach the Estonians how to serve cheese.
Climbing further we followed the loop above, taking in the views at
all the look-out vantage points and admiring the buildings and cobbled streets on the way. A full day's walking inspired us to find a venue for vitals close to 'home'. There was a paucity of options near-by and even the Rotermann area, which we walked through on the way back, while enticing, seemed a restaurant too far. So we settled on the hotel restaurant (which we usually shun on some principle CS has forgotten) and sadly this proved our only mistake.
Served by a person as far from our Kinsey look-alike as one can imagine, this woman was more like a cross between Mrs Attila (if there was one) and Cruella de Ville. She had eyelashes that would bump you in a crowded lift, and behaviour commensurate with a commandant. Yes, rude! Ho hum - not so bad if the food had been worth it but CS chose two dishes that were both disappointing. PP had better luck with his venison. But wait, tomorrow brings delights to swoon for.
Thursday 6 June and we were on for adventure a bit further afield. CS had learned that the Kalamaja area north west of the town
(Tallinn actually only has a small 'down-town' area which they jest about locally of consisting of precisely 6 high rise buildings - we counted eight) was the old 'Russian district' containing interesting architecture and developing 'trendification'. A quick walk right through the middle of old town and we were at the major train station and onto Kopli street. We enjoyed the walk, and the old wooden houses are lovely, but we saw little of the art-ification we were expecting and judging from the predominance of pedestrians being mums pushing prams we figured this is now the district for young families. Past the main sea-terminal area and back into the old town for refreshment and back in due course to the hotel. We had debated dining options and were attracted to a restaurant in Swissotel in our area. We decided to pass by and make a booking. On the 30th floor it was reputed to have a terrific view over the town. Some decisions are just made in heaven! Our evening at Horisont was genuinely memorable for all time. Ella will remember years ago she and CS and PP found a little place in Madrid called Art Divino that we thought
then, and still, was the most divine combination of superb food, location and attention to detail. Sadly we know it no longer exists. If one goes to Horizont for that view it will not disappoint but it is so much more. Here is a rival for our Spanish nostalgia. The food, service and ambience could not be faulted. The little surprises in the form of exotic butters with a selection of home made breads, the melt in the mouth cup of mushroom soup, the berry sorbet and the chocolates were wonderful but the selected dishes of oxtail ravioli and veal (plus dessert) for PP and confit duck and lamb for CS were beyond expectation. Delivered at exactly the right pace and taken with the driest of dry Chablis at a most reasonable price this was heaven indeed. If in Tallinn don't miss it!
Friday and we were primed for our Lux bus trip to Riga. We had booked the lounge chairs (not much more than the standard fare and very reasonable anyway for a 4 hour journey) and discovered they were very comfortable. Single seats across from each other, plenty of room, WiFi (intermittent) a TV console
(which jiggled so much while we were underway that one got giddy just looking at it) free coffee and tea (which we didn't bother about) and a great view of the countryside. The hours flashed by and suddenly we were in Riga.
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