37. Tallinn

As was the case in Kaunas and Vilnius, the Riga intercity bus station was well serviced with cafes, supermarket, tourist office and comfortable seating areas. 

I had a nice breakfast of coffee and Latvian pastries. The LuxExpress coach had the same excellent facilities as on the Vilnius-Riga trip. 

The coach from Riga to Tallinn took approximately four and a half hours. Having checked the route online beforehand I saw that it was largely along the coast of the Baltic Sea, so I made sure to book a seat on the left hand side of the coach. The cost was only €14.

For the first hour however, all you could see out the window were thick extensive pine forests.

Farms were smaller in both Latvia and Estonia than in Lithuania, and the land seemed a lot poorer. 

The standard of the road was not up to the Lithuanian roads. Here it was mostly a single carriageway, this continued all the way to Tallinn.

I noticed some really dangerous driving, not by our driver but by others overtaking dangerously. One of these was a FlixBus coach which was definitely breaking the speed limit, and narrowly avoided colliding with us, causing our driver to swerve. There was also a lot of tailgating, as the level of traffic made it difficult to overtake.

I wondered what the road accident statistics were for Latvia/ Estonia and double-checked that my seat belt was fastened!

Janno and Marian's apartment is located right in the heart of the Telliskivi Creative City Quarter, and less than 100m from a tram stop. 

Tallinn Old Town was only a 10-15 min walk, and as I had visited the old town 20 years ago, I was happier to be in Telliskivi for this trip, as I figured than an Old Town would not have changed that much in two decades!

The Telliskivi quarter and the Balti Jaama Market area are considered to be the trendiest in Tallinn. 

Janno and Marian's newly refurbished apartment was in a 100 year old building (1924) with thick stone walls and big windows, which brought a lot of light in. It had amazing reviews on HomeExchange for its decor and location. I definitely felt it was the best property I stayed in on this trip. 

It was situated just a two-minute walk from the centre of Telliskivi Creative City itself, which is known for its colourful buildings, many restaurants and hip bars.

The afternoon was warm and sunny so I went for a stroll around the Telliskivi area. 

It was full of historic wooden houses. 

Nearby was the Balti Jaam Farmers market with a street food hall. This was my first port of call late on Saturday afternoon.

It was absolutely huge inside. I read on an information sign that there were 300 small retail kiosks and shops on three different levels. 

There was a large fish, fruit, veg and meat hall along with a diverse street food area with almost 20 different eateries. 

There were antiques, vintage clothing, jewellery, coffee shops, juice bars, craft beer halls, handcrafts, pottery, artists studios ...

... art galleries ...

... second hand clothing, antiquarian books, military memorabilia, secondhand books ...

... and lots and lots of bric-a-brac and junk!

I decided to stay in Balti Jaam for dinner as one of the outlets upstairs was a craft beer brewery, and they had a range of interesting IPAs, priced around €5 for a pint, so definitely more expensive than the other two Baltic states. 

Their food menu was short and very pricy, close to Irish prices, and Dublin ones at that.  I ordered a homemade vegan burger and 'Baltic fries" to go with my pint of IPA. I have to admit though that the food was of very good quality and full of flavour.  

It had got dark by the time I had finished my food, and as I walked back along the heart of Telliskivi towards the apartment, it was lit up for the evening. 

The food trucks were all open for business, but very few people were out and about for a Saturday evening. 

I spotted an Azerbaijani outlet that looked interesting and felt it could be a handy local option for Sunday night. 

I  spent a lazy Sunday morning, with breakfast in the apartment, bought from the local supermarket Rimi, just 150m away. The weather was quite showery, so I downloaded a few of the Sunday papers to my iPad and waited for the skies to clear.

Around midday, I made my way along Telliskivi again, heading for the Old Town. I decided to walk as it was only 15 minutes away. Eventually the main city gate Viru came into view. 

Sunday must be a big day for buying fresh flowers in Tallinn, as there were lots of flower sellers doing a brisk trade outside Viru. 

Tallin's Old Town was just as beautiful as I had remembered from 2004. Here is just a sample of the many photos I took of the cobbled streets in the historic centre. 

After the late morning stroll, it was time for lunch. As I researched lunch options nearby, I saw that there was an Estonian branch of my trusted Latvian restaurant Lido just a four-minute walk away, in a shopping centre. 

The setting was modern and there was no sign of the traditional dress on the servers that they wore in Riga. 

The range of foods was also different, and I felt that the prices, while still cheap, were maybe 20% higher.

I chose a chicken kebab, Estonian fried potatoes, beetroot salad, onion coleslaw, picked cucumber and dill sour cream, washed down with an Estonian A. Le Coq lager, the most popular beer in the country. The upstairs window seat gave a great view of the city streets below.

Fortified with the hearty lunch, I decided to climb the hill towards the Orthodox Cathedral and the Parliament Building, and also to see the view over the city.

On my way I passed this monument to the Estonian War of Independence and the Cross of Freedom, eerily similar to Irish High Crosses.

Support for Ukraine was on very public display all over the city. Here are two huge Estonian and Ukrainian flags side by side on Freedom Square. 

Here is a protest display outside the Russian Embassy, similar to the one in Riga. 

I also passed the medieval Kiek in de Kök Tower built in 1483.

At the top of the hill is the beautiful Orthodox Cathedral. The interior was very ornate but photos were not allowed inside.  

Here, directly opposite the Cathedral, is the Estonian Parliament Building. It is housed in Toompea Castle, the seat of power in Estonia for 800 years. 

This is the quaint central Post Office, across the square. 

The views from the top of the hill were well worth the climb. 

There is a major contrast between the Old Town and the modern city outside the historic centre, where there has been a huge number of modern developments since our visit in the early 2000s. 

Thirsty work this walking, so as luck would have it, this Irish pub happened to be on my route back down the hill. The only one I entered on my three week trip. 

I decided to get the tram back to the apartment. The TPilet app refused to work on my phone, so Google Maps was able to give me all the information I needed. I could simply pay for my trip with any bank card or my phone. 

Interestingly the only people to pay for public transport in Tallinn are tourists, Estonian nationals (now also Ukrainians) just need to show ID. 

Dinner was in the Azerbaijani Street Food place in Telliskivi Creative City that I had already spotted. It was cold inside the converted shipping container, maybe just a little above the outside temperature of 8⁰. 

I ordered an Azerbaijani Shashlik Turkey Kebab, with salad and spicy wedges, served with a hot adjani sauce and sour cream.  Really delicious, the food was so hot (temperature wise) that I burnt the roof of my mouth!

So that ended my trip to Tallinn, a vibrant modern city, with a beautiful Old Town at its  centre  It is highly dependent on tourism, and short weekend city breaks at that, because by 5pm on Sunday afternoon the Old Town was like a ghost town. 

Appearances can be deceptive, and the Bolt driver who brought me to the airport on Monday morning was telling me that while it may look like a wealthy city to an outsider, he and everybody he knows in Tallinn has to work two jobs to pay the bills.  Huge numbers work in Helsinki and get the ferry back each weekend.