Across the Baltic Sea

Don't think I've ever been away so soon into the holidays before, and not sure I'll do it again in my old age (someone force me to take a rest day please and thank you very much!?) - I am SO TIRED. But our Baltic adventure sure was an excellent way to kick-start the Summer.

The last night of term was celebrated with a trip down memory lane in Hoxton at the George & Vulture and the legendary 'Bonnie's', so the arrival of a taxi at 4:30am on the Saturday morning was a struggle.

Barbie soundtrack loaded by our incredibly friendly taxi driver made for a journet as pleasant as could be and we were soon at Stansted, on board, and touched down in Tallinn 3 hours later all before the hangovers had really had a chance to materialise.

Fully embraced the Medieval side of Tallinn from the get-go, and were soon enjoying tankards of local beer to wash down some wholesome and hearty food - I had a chicken broth which was just what was needed given the delicate state we were all in.

After lunch at Peppersack, we headed back to base - our apartment was right on the central square, which was ideal - to freshen up and decide on a POA.

Clair had found a short walking tour of the Old Town in her guidebook, so she led the way and we followed! Highlights included (not the cobbles. Why do we always end up in places with cobbles?) a couple of exciting viewpoints across rooves and towers and out to sea, and a visit to the Orthodox Cathedral where afternoon prayers were in full swing and we were treated to much drama and vocal splendour.

Our evening meal was at Olde Hansa and it was an experience from the moment we stepped inside: we had no idea whether or not we were being led to a table, which floor we were supposed to be on, what we were supposed to be eating, how Sarah was supposed to wash her hands, or indeed how Stuart landed himself with the title 'My Lord'. The live music was fun, but we were glad to use our 'magical plastic' and be on our way.

Sunday arrived, and after a hearty breakfast of bits purchased at local supermarket Rimi (snigger), we found ourselves feeling considerably more human that the day before, now a distant memory.

Not exactly beach weather, we decided anyway to head out of the city in search of the coast. Throughout our stay, we were struck by the higgledy-piggledy nature of the architecture. Out by Pirita Beach, we were met with houses resembling those usually inhabited by Sims alongside warehouse buildings. Pristine green lawns with robotic mowers offset by concrete carparks behind high metal fences.

The coast path from the beach offered fantastic views back towards the city, although we didn't stick to it for as long as we may have liked on account of the stench of seabird..

Took a detour by the Maarjamäe memorial in memory of those killed during the Communist regime. It was there that the ominous cloud we'd watched approaching from across the sea decided to burst.

The torrential rain that ensued made for rather a dramatic viewing of a collection of Communist statues removed from the city and displayed at Maarjamäe Castle. We stopped a while in the hopes of the rain easing off, then went to find some lunch and shelter when it didn't.

Our last stop of the day was the park at Kadriorg where we fan-girled over red squirrels in the Japanese Garden and enjoyed a stroll through the baroque palace gardens accompanied by the dulcet tones of teens singing at what we can only assume were rehearsals for their summer ball. 

Back at the apartment, it was time for a nap for me. Awoke again just in time to join the others for food and more beers at Old Estonia in the square. Still drooling at the thought of the dumplings we shared there, and my blood sausages and sauerkraut.

On Monday, we went full Baltic mode, and hopped on a ferry to Helsinki for the day. A return ticket cost us less than €40 each, so it seemed rude not to!

We could walk to the port terminal from our apartment, and as soon as we had scanned our tickets and joined the throng waiting to get on board, we were up to the sun deck and settled in (with eyes on the horizon) for the journey which was only around 2 hours and would have us docked in Finland well before lunchtime.

It was a windy journey, and we definitely found ourselves wishing we'd taken an extra layer (blanket, fluffy dog) or four, especially on the night-time return.

Once we arrived into Helsinki, we went for a short wander to get our bearings and in search of food - we were hungry after our early start and all that sea air exposure. Walked along the Esplanadi then re-traced our steps to the food market on the waterfront as we discovered that the Finns only seem to brunch at the weekends.

Were rather pleased with our two mixed plates to share between the four of us; one reindeer meat and the other fish.

Suitably fuelled, we headed off on a walk that I'd found in a leaflet from the Tourist Information centre. Claiming to be around 2km, we thought it would be the ideal way to see Helsinki's 'best bits'. Well, I think we saw them, but it certainly felt like we covered a lot more ground than 2km (sorry, Clair)!

Highlights of this walk included beers in an old prison where a waitress kindly wrapped my shivering self in a blanket and also beers on a boat where we all ended up wrapped in blankets to shelter from wind and rain at this point. Also had a moment to swoon at the fleet of mighty Icebreaker ships designed to cut through Baltic ice in the winter.

Turned out that Finnish food is even more expensive than Estonian food, so we made our way to the student area and found a Ramen bar which was warm, inviting and (most importantly) tasty and set us up perfectly for the return to Tallinn.

Walking back, we wondered if we'd been entered into some kind of Hunger Games-esque event. Transpires that traffic lights in Tallinn are turned off at night, so there was a certain element of peril on our way back into the city as we threw ourselves in front of container lorries and hoped for the best.

Made it in one piece (just) to our final day where we finally got a little lie-in before 'the breakfast where everyone finishes up all the bits of everything'.

Managed to fix the dishwasher just in time to load it, and had myself one last swing (yes there was a swing in our apartment. No, not that kind of swing. We tested it. The angle was all wrong). Luckily it was ok to leave lur bags at checkout, so we were hands-free for one more day of exploring.

Leaving Stuart and Clair to philosophise in the church, Sarah and I climbed the many steps of St Olaf's tower for another magnificent view over the city. The viewing platform was so narrow that we found ourselves - more often than we would have liked - entrusting our lives to an ancient tin roof as others tried to pass by.

Made it back to the bottom with jelly-legs and a sense of relief at having narrowly missed a hoard of German tourists from one of the visiting cruise ships. At this point, the rain returned as we walked to the Creative City near Tallinn's main train station.

Here we were pleased to find lots of covered food stalls so decided again to create a bit of a tasting platter of dishes to share which included more dumplings, some pastries, buns, and bubble teas.

Still raining when we left, found shelter and more beer (and cocktails) in an old rail carriage at Peatus then went back into the Creative City to browse antiques while we waited for a dry spell.. which never came.

Powered through and returned once more to Peppersack for our final meal (I went for rabbit meatballs this time) and to collect our cases from the apartment nearby ready for the airport.

By the time we were prepared to leave, the rain was fairly Biblical as it ran in rivers along the roads and pavement. We were soaked by the time we reached the airport. A small silver lining of our delayed flight meant ample time to dry off in the 'pubi' (lol) while we waited.

We certainly fell in love with Tallinn and it is absolutely somewhere I fully intend to return one winter for snowy scenes and Christmas markets. Until next time!