Myung and I often talk of getting out of Korea during the hot summers and the cold winters. About two and a half weeks ago, we got fed up with the record heat in Korea, and decided to go the Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. A week or so later, we arrived in Estonia. No plans, Just figure it out when we get there. That’s usually how it works, anyway. About the only plan was to line up an airbnb in Tallinn, the capital.
Tallinn is good place to fall out the back of a turnip truck. It’s a capital, so it’s tourist friendly, modern, not overwhelmingly big (population 458,000), has a compact city center/Old Town, and English is spoken by over half the people.
We did as almost all visitors do. That is, stay near (or in, if you have money) Old Town. If you look at any website listing what to do in Estonia, about three-quarters of the recommended sites and things to do in all of Estonia are in Old Tallinn. The whole place is a World Heritage site. There are some outdoorsy places, especially along the coast, like Lahemaa National Park, an hour and a half east of Tallinn. We went there, but spent the rest of our 5 days in Estonia in Tallinn. Our airbnb was about 10 minute walk from Old Town.
Tallinn Old Town
Tallinn Old Town
You may ask, isn’t five days in a country kind of short for you guys? Yes it is, but as I said, there isn’t much else to see in that little country. We could just get more into it, for sure, but we decided to move on.
Helsinki, Finland, is just a two-hour ferry ride away. Many Finns go to Tallinn as a day trip so, compared to that, we stayed a long time. Plenty long enough to take many pictures. Old Tallinn’s buildings date from the 14th century to the 19th century. During much of that time, Germany and Germans under Russia, ruled and their culture is evident. You can see it in the architecture. Our experience reminded us of walking in the old Italian cities we visited last year.
Old Town Square
Old Town Square
Alexander Nevsky Russian Orthodox Cathedral
“Short Leg Street”, connecting upper and lower Old Town
St. Catherine’s Passage
St. Catherine’s Passage
Another site is one of Peter the Great’s palaces, Kadriorg. Besides this shack he and his court had to stay in, there are about 250 acres of park.
Japanese garden in the Kadriorg Palace grounds
I mentioned Lahemaa National Park. We took a guided tour out there. 23% of Estonia is bog, and this is said to be the most attractive. Interestingly, it was the very first national park in the Soviet Union, established in 1971. It’s a big peat bog. The Soviet leadership wanted to dig it up for fertilizer, but the Estonians successfully talked them out of it. The tour guide took the eight of us to some scenic spots, then sent us over about a kilometer long wooden walkway over the bog. It looks better in person than in the photos. Lots of wild cranberries.
I know first impressions are often misleading, but Tallinn seems like a very livable place, at least during the warmer part of the year. Good size, kinda slow, plenty to do, happy-looking people like in Finland, full of urban parks, and cute. I could imagine spending a summer or two here, in the nice 20 degree Celsius weather (68 degrees Farenheit).
Tram car in Tallinn
Park. a couple of blocks from our airbnb
If we had done any planning, we would have approached this trip differently. We thought we could chill out in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania for five weeks, and have flights back from Vilnius. Lithuania. Turns out, we decided to do more than just chill. We took the ferry over to Helsinki, and that’s where we are now. It further turns out, we tentatively decided not to explore Finland. We’re going to the old capital, Turku, in a few days, and from there take a ferry to Stockholm. It sort of looks like we’ll end up flying back to Riga, Latvia, then go down to Lithuania. Maybe there’s a ferry, though that would be a long ride.
So, that’s where it’s at now. When we leave Finland, I’ll blog again. Until then, be well, all of you.
Last shot back toward Tallinn from the ferry to Helsinki