Arctic Circle Tour - Tallinn, Estonia

Estonian
YES/NO Jah/Ei
HELLO/GOODBYE Tere/Onne
PLEASE/THANK-YOU Palun/Aitah
CHEERS Tervitused
CURRENCY Euro

We decided that as we were so close to Estonia it would be negligent for us to not spend a day in the capital city Tallinn. Estonia, and the other Baltic States Latvia and Lithuania were part of the former Soviet Union.

After finding our way to the ferry terminal we boarded the Megastar to Tallin. There are a number of wharves in Helsinki and Tallinn is a very popular destination with several different lines operating moving over 10 million passengers a year. It is 83 km/2 hour trip each way. We were amazed at the number of duty free shops on board (and in Estonia) and realised we were on a floating duty free booze boat. Many people had large empty suitcases or trolleys that they were loading up with alcohol. Very bizarre – obviously the Finnish government is aware of this!

The trip across was very relaxing, if not a bit bizarre with the intense shopping happening around us. We were able to see the coast line and islands off Helsinki and on arrival we saw the church spires of Tallinn’s old town. One cheeky boatie hitched a ride in the wake at the back of the ferry all the way across the Gulf of Finland in the Baltic Sea.

Whilst the Old Town really only signifies a part of Tallinn we were limited to one day trip. Tallinn has done remarkable well since the Soviets left. They are now part of the Eurozone and are doing really

well in IT – this is where Skype started; tourism – 4.3 million per year as well as other industries. The population is about 449,000. Another interesting fact I discovered was that Estonians have the biggest collection of folk songs in the world (133,000) and the Estonian Song Festival is the largest choral even in the world with 30,000 singers. Not sure if we’d visit for that event.

It was an easy walk to the old town. We walked through the walls into another century. The old town has never been pillaged or razed apart from a little Soviet bombing at the end of WWII so most 13th century buildings are still intact and original.

We had lunch at a tourist restaurant – hard to avoid (even an Australian Steakhouse) – they were all touristy. OK with elk and boar on the menu but not keen on bear. Pickles are big here (yum) and

while the Estonians don’t claim to have invented marzipan they are very proud of their historical association with it.

Two yummy dishes caught our eyes – MULGIPUDER PEEKONI JA HAPUKURGIGA (potato and barley porridge with bacon and gherkins – Greg would love this porridge) and the braised moose with potato puree but in the end we chose something else.

Beverages produced include vodka, of course, and beers. John tried a pale lager – Vunk, which he said was very flavoursome. I had a wine as I knew I wouldn’t be able to afford it over the next few weeks. We also bought a liqueur called Vana Tallinn Heritage – it is 40% and tasted like cinnamon and vanilla – quite delicious in small amounts.

The old town was very charming with many churches, the main one being St Olaf which, in the day, had the tallest spire in the world. Lots of the old buildings had lifting beams outside upper windows to lift items up to the second or third floors. The original walls surrounded the old town and we easily saw everything, although my (sore) feet are not a fan of cobblestone streets.

We saw the funniest busker ever on the main street in the old town. It is very difficult to explain how a goat bleating is funny but it was. Check out youtube “Goat Busker Tallinn” although it was funnier in real-life.

After another big day out we meandered back to the ferry, taxied back to our hotel and prepared for the start of our tour.

Next: Arctic Circle Tour – Helsinki, Finland 21 August