Today we sailed for 2.30 hours from Helsinki to Tallinn in Estonia via the fast ferry. It was most amusing to watch as the majority of passengers were drinking champagne, beer, spirits and raki at 9 am! Apparently the thing to do is to get on the ferry and start drinking and eating! There was even musical entertainment like you would find in nightclubs except this was early morning!
After settling in to our apartment we quickly set out to orientate ourselves with the city. Our first impressions were that Tallinn is a charming old city a bit like Prague and it is so easy walk to all the major sites. Tallinn is famous for the 10th century medieval architecture in the Old Town as well as the magnificently preserved city walls and towers. It was built by German Crusaders in the late Middle Ages and represents one of the best preserved Hanseatic town centres in the world. Today it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site
When we are a foreign city visiting all the sites we call it "a tourist workout day" That is certainly what Tallinn was for us as over the next three days as we visited the impressive pink Parliament buildings, the Toompea area for all things old including the Castle and the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral with 11 bells an imposing deep yellow exterior.
The streets reflected the German, Scandinavian and Russian periods of Tallinn's history as they were cobbled, narrow and very crooked with brightly coloured houses and merchant trader stores scattered everywhere. One of the most facinating buildings was the Old Pharmacy on one corner of the main square.
The imposing 14th century Gothic Town Hall dominated the busy town square which had a mix of pavement cafes and shops selling traditional handicrafts. This is where we enjoyed our coffee and cake breaks as we watched the passing parade of tourists buying hand embroidered linen products and the knitted hats, jumpers and woollen shawls.
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| Amber Products |
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| Having a well deserved break. |
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