Thriving beautiful diverse Tallinn

Just a quick entry about Tallinn where we had the delight to stay for 2 days. 

It didn't start of too well...the ferry towards Tallinn was horror. After our warm encounter with Jenni, we left late in the evening to get the boat. The itenary changed 3 times, pushing the time even further backwards. Still wondering why we should board at 00:35 when the boat arrives 09:30 (it's only a 2 hour trip!!), we realised that we were staying on the boat in the harbour!!! But thats actually not bad, just a bit weird.
Our issue was more about getting on the boat :-) On all other ferries (also Tallink), the boat just opened 10 minutes before departure and we were told to wait. So instead of hanging around the terminal this time for 1,5 hours, we walked into a cafe 5 minutes away. When we came back to the ship, we were lucky to be allowed on the boat at all!! Apparently we were 10 minutes late (we didnt agree the time, or at least misunderstood!!) and they made a whole fuss out of it. We were lucky to be allowed to pick up the breakfast-compensation-bag of 4,80 euro, which contained an apple, juice a mini pastry and some yoghurt. So with the plastic bag off to our cabin, it looked like someone had slept in it. As we just had the whole fuss about our being "late" , we decided not to say anything and just take one of the other beds that looked ok. After 5 minutes we wondered what the smell was.... Either the sheets had been stored wet, or someone had too much fun with the alcohol and spreading the result on the sheets... :(!!! Gross...as we fixed that one the smell didnt vanish and realized the smell was also on the ground so we washing the floor twice with soap and towels...... we didnt want to think about it anymore and just sleep (mars slippers still smell "puky"!!. Next time, we will consider whether the 94!!! euro was worth it.....No wonder we felt lonesome.

The next day made everything better. A nice breakfast at deck and we were there, in the middle of beautiful Tallinn. Our hotel (more hostel like) around the corner had a bit of harbour-ambience, but the receptioniste was really friendly. Uncertain about the English, but helpful! A good strategic location since we took the ferry to St. Petersburg last night! Our first hostel of the trip, increasing the daily spend quite much compared to the other countries!!

The first thing you notice when you walk around town (especially harbour) is alcoholparadiseS. It is literally everywhere. But the locals seem to have a hate-love relationship with it. The 'pant-machines' were hidden so no one can see how much you drank last night :) and no one wanted to show me where the machine is, or only with their heads held low. Prices are crazy; half a liter vodka or liquor for less than 3-4 euro. " Normal"  food prices by the way were returning to German prices (or even lower)! Amazing seven years ago it was much cheaper as far as I remember...

Now as I don't think anyone is interested in an only ...then we did this....then this.... kind of blog, here's a summary of the things we did and think you should do if you consider visiting this place:

- go up to one of the higher places (our case Olav's church) and take your perfect picture of the old town
- walk around the old city wall and feel like centuries back in time 
- eat at Drakon on the Market, try out pies for 1 euro and moose-soup for 1 euro.
- stroll around the old town and take 1000 pictures of the really pitoresque streets
- take a tram or bus in direction Pirita Beach and enjoy the sea or sunset or even the beach
- play frisbee in Kadriog park while you laugh about the stupid tourists taking just another picture of the palace with the flowers first on the right, then on the left, then in the middle.
- take tram 1 up north (only a few stations!!) and feel like being in the "other" Tallinn (Kalamaja for example), which is more like the former Sovjet Union.
- visit Balti Jaam market, with old Russian people selling everything - contrasting the flashy city and representing the poorer in this country 
- freak out in the Pantarei (old prison) museum
- take advantage of ubiquitiously available alcohol and buy a cider or a beer and enjoy it as the sun sets orange, silent under the horizon (ONE is enough ;) ) 

As you see, we had 1 day of doing the 'tourist' things and one where we went a little bit further out of the city. The Estonians have the Euro since 2011, and you can see that they are a fast growing (in terms of wealth, design, etc) country. The surface is beautiful. But once you are outside what most people (read tourists) see, you feel that life is sometimes still harsh. The people are not in fancy clothes, they have hard lines in their face, many people drunk at each time of the day and the buildings in the second row look like they are about to crumble into pieces. It made us think about how comfortable life can be in western countries, even though it is not achieved within a few years like in East Germany or Eastern Europe (like here in Estonia).

Estonia appears as a mixture of optimism, alcohol, progress, a living present past and german-sowjet ambience with a true estonian heart.....yet one of the most beautiful cities(-centres) in Northern Europe!

In summary a very enjoyable place worth a visit.... go for it!! :)