Tallinn, Estonia

Posted on May 10, 2024  •  16 minutes  • 3376 words

Author’s Note: Dan, who has appointed himself “temporary editor”, contributed to this posting, when I was encountering some writer’s block. All complaints should be addressed to him.

I felt very unprepared going into this weekend. I had always figured we’d do a short trip to Estonia during our time in Helsinki, but I just put it together a couple weeks before. That, and being busy with work/life/school, there has been zero time to do any prep other than bake some banana muffins. Well, that gave me something to do on the ferry.

Because we were changing apartments, we took everything we had with us. We had to take two taxis down to the wharf; we checked several of our larger suitcases into the storage lockers in the ferry terminal.

In the waiting area upstairs, we found a table to finally eat breakfast/snack. I had made 2 batches of banana nut muffins the day before, so we were loaded up. So easy to pass out and quick to be eaten.

Boarding started and Dan was anxious to get onboard, but I had to stop and get a photo. I could not believe more strongly in this statement.

On we go!

Fun fact about today…it’s our 10 year wedding anniversary! A bit hard to do a night out alone in our current situation, but doesn’t matter, we’d have a 10 year wedding celebration with kids this year.

I went up to get food, as we were going to need more than 2 muffins each. THIS was the breakfast! I’m pretty sure, if it was only me, I’d be good with half the food or just the porridge! It fed us all and we didn’t even finish the last few bites.

Most of the time the kids played in the kid area, Dan worked and I researched what to do in Tallinn. As we were coming into port, we headed upstairs for a view.

Not quite sure how they coordinated their stoic faces here.

Off the boat we had a 20 minute walk to the hotel. I booked a hotel this time, as I didn’t want to be bothered with what to do with our luggage if we got in too early and the AirBnB wouldn’t let us drop off stuff. The hotel was nice. Good location, family room with bunk beds for kids and free ice cream in the lobby whenever you wanted. It did take us longer than 20 minutes to get there, due to an epic meltdown. But it finally turned around; we left our luggage in storage and headed out for food and Cornelius Fudge.

Finding a non-touristy restaurant outside of only a few areas was difficult. The first place Dan found for lunch was teeny, vegan, and had no free tables, of the three total that were inside. Sam didn’t actually want to eat there, but then when he found out we couldn’t, he was so upset. Luckily we found this for the kids to play in while we figured out a place to eat. Dan found a close place with okay reviews… it would have to work.

And it did. I got a delicious squash soup, kids and Dan got burgers. We also got an order of fried cheese balls that were a hit. So much so, that Sam was upset because he wanted a whole order to himself.

Calorie deficiency replenished, we headed to the old town with a loose plan. We entered through what felt like the front gate, but who knows. The towers were in great shape, even though I’m sure they had been rebuilt a couple times.

You could see where there used to be a more controlled entrance, but that either fell or got removed to make room for 20th century vehicles.

Note from Dan: There are pictures of the gates and entrance from a long time ago, so perhaps it has been that way a bit longer.

We had heard from many people that Tallinn is a great city and we were already fans. We started off roaming small cobblestone streets, although it was freezing.

Dan had a general idea of where we were headed, but we kept having to turn around as he usually doesn’t map us, he just looks at a map. Well the map was lacking where some roads didn’t go through due to the high medieval walls in the way. We walked along the walls and then found the entrances through them to our destination.

We decided to worry less about the destination and explore along the way. We headed towards the center of town and St. Nickolas Church.

Outside the Church, we found a strange looking tree that was half-fallen over and gated. It is estimated to be about 350 years old. Nature is amazing.

We walked around the church a bit, but didn’t go in. There was an 8 Euro fee and the kids weren’t in the mood to spend any real time there. We walked on.

Dan and I did share a bench in the sun for a bit while the kids played in a playground. Happy anniversary, honey!

We haven’t aged a bit, right?

And yes, I can still jump this high. Maybe not in heals though. It’s cliche to say, but that day feels like forever ago. We’ve had a busy 10 years, but still.

Okay, back to the present…I know I say it all the time, but I love old structures. We came across a 15th century artillery tower standing proud and alone. Again, not sure how much of it was original, but it was cool looking now!

From here, we knew we wanted to get to the other side of the walls. We saw an entrance. the kids took off running.

Yup, it went through to the Danish King’s Garden.

Why were we so excited to go the Danish King’s Garden? Oh, just had to expeliarmus some dementors!

I’m sure when these monk statues were designed. I’m sure Harry Potter wasn’t on the mind of the artist, but it’s hard not to immediately see the dementor aspect to them. And they were huge! There were three total and the on looking down upon was the most creepy. I’m pretty sure Max shouted ’expeliarmus’ about 30 times. The tourists were amused.

We went into the little museum inside a tower, which took us 30 feet up the tower, walking along the walls up above. This slope of staircase was pretty typical here.

It was beautiful up top, especially with the mixture of dark wood and grey stone intertwined.

We walked to the end, where there was an odd exhibit on the topic of…chairs through the years. We didn’t stay long, as I was worried a kid would sit in one, and really I just wasn’t that interested. Somehow it was difficult to convince the kids to leave.

Back on solid ground.

We retraced our steps out of the garden to see the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, not to be confused with the one we saw in Sofia…even though the similarities are apparent. It was closed, which was fine with me in the moment. We were happy walking around outside.

Instead of heading back through the old town, we decided to walk around the back side of the walls. The kids found some creaky slacklines and Dan and I found some historical plaques to read. Isn’t it crazy how each slope of grass has a 500-year-old story?

We off-roaded a bit around the back, but had fun. Lots of over growth, but no one else but us on the little trails.

We finally came to an entrance to bring us back inside the walls, which put us in a little courtyard area with the Canadian embassy and some great views.

As we continued walking around, it felt like we kept stumbling upon an area we had already been. We didn’t really care, just enjoyed seeing all the little streets and old buildings.

And sometimes the kids just had to be kids and we waited until they got bored…or someone got hurt. 50/50 on which happens first these days.

At this point, we were killing time a bit before dinner. We didn’t want to go back to the room and then have to rally the troops for dinner, but it was still early and we were all dragging a bit. We went back, got into the rooms and let the kids watch a show while we chilled. We found a place for dinner near where we had eaten lunch and celebrated 10 years.

Ben ordered zucchini pasta with fish. I love how he loves to try new things.

Back at the hotel, Dan and I got ourselves another round while the kids had some of the free ice cream in the lobby. We may have told them that they could only eat it on the far side of the lobby, but not in the bar area, so that we could have some alone time. I got the bar special and it was not small; a mixed drink in a goblet with berries.

On the ferry the day before, during my last minute research of Talliin, I had found a “KGB Tour” taking place in a hotel they used to run. I knew Dan would love it and found tickets available for the next day. We knew we would need breakfast before our 10am tour, but most restaurants outside of our hotel didn’t open until 9am. We figured a cafe/bakery was the best choice to give us time to get their early and walk over. Dan didn’t realize the place we wanted to go – near yesterday’s lunch, and dinner – didn’t open until 9am, so we hung out at the spinny chair area again. I guess we are all a bit off our game, Dan.

Editor’s note: I picked a 4.9 star bakery and we were the first ones in the door, out 3 minutes after it opened with fresh cinnamon buns. Never been more in my element, Sara.

Cute little library in the middle of the square.

But Dan picked well! We were first in line at this 4.9 rated place and the line was not short behind us. Kids all got cinnamon rolls, I got a cardamon roll, and Dan got some exotic thing. Everyone was happy.

There we go.

Mine.

We walked over to the current day Hotel Viru for our tour. Again, if my planning wasn’t so last minute I would have booked us here! We met up with the tour guide and others in the group and took the elevator to the ‘official 22nd floor’, then climbed the stairs one level above. A big difference between ‘official’ and ‘unofficial’ here. It really had echoes of the bunker in Albania that we visited in Gyrokaster, only on the top floor of a building rather than buried deep in a mountain.

The hotel was one of those projects intended to show off the Eastern Bloc’s success at attracting tourism, but also had a darker side: it was the only place foreigners could stay in Soviet Times, and the whole place was wired, bugged, and logged. Imagine little old ladies sitting at the end of the hallway recording the times you entered and left your room, playing your music loud so you could whisper something discreet, or meeting someone in the bar downstairs and having someone trail you. The tour put you back there in all that.

The tour guide was so informative and interesting; unfortunately, the kids had a hard time understanding everything given his accent, so they mostly looked around. I tried to give some summaries to Ben, as I knew he would love all this spy stuff. Good timing for him to be reading ‘Spy School’.

In the main room of the tour we found the remnants of an old radio station, that served as the main relay to Moscow, along with blueprints that showed where all the bugs and microphones in the hotel had been installed. The hotel was built by a Finnish company, but after it was mostly completed, the Finnish workers were given 2 weeks off…all of them. They all left and in came a second crew to install all the surveillance equipment. Then the walls were sealed up, the Finns came back and the job was then ‘finnished’…pun intended. ‘X’ means microphone location. SO many!

From the outside, the radio room had a sign on the door that said ’this room does not exist’. Right before the USSR fell and the KGB ran out of here fast, they tried to destroy everything. Our guide told us it was a mess when it was opened up, but there was still a lot for us to see. Cufflinks that had a microphone in them, a KGB stamp (that was broken), tapes, papers, and other stuff. He was’t clear on what was found in this room or other parts of the hotel. We let the kids take a rubbing of the stamp, tried to explain what we could to them about Soviet times, and still catch the tour.

It was fascinating hearing all he had to say…we loved it. At the end, we got a view from the deck up there.

We wrapped up, rode the elevator down and walked the few blocks to old town again. We walked along the medieval walls again and kids wanted to walk along them again. We found an entrance, paid the small entrance fee and headed up. I just love the mix of wood and stone in these old structures.

We climbed up part of a tower. When the ‘guardrail’ is a rope, you know it’s going to be steep.

Another amazing view over the roofs of the old town.

And along the wall. From the hotel, you could connect the dots of all the towers and make out the old boundaries of the city.

They were doing something with holding the tops of the wrought iron bars and closing their eyes. I can’t remember exactly what, but as usual with the kids, there was a reason.

A nice cross section of the next tower we were in.

Some collar ties to retrofit the roof.

Every time, and I mean every time, we walked past an arrowslip, the kids had to practice their imaginary arrow shooting. And I’m not just talking about at this place…EVERY castle, city wall, etc we have been to, this happens.

And all three doing it.

After the wall walk, we just looking for some food and found a garden on the way.

We walked down, what felt like alleyways, but were probably normal streets back in the day.

We were searching for traditional food, which can sometimes be hard in the touristy area, but Dan found a winner! It was in the basement with armor on the walls. Homemade bread was served. Yes, the kids wanted to eat the sunflower seeds. I think Sam managed to sneak a few in.

To start, we got the garlic bread (google review suggestion), which was sort of like bread fries as it was cut in strips, baked so much that they were hard and delicious with a great dip. Dan got the herring.

We went heavy on the soup, but it was all great. Max and Sam went for the fish soup, Ben decided to mix it up and get the pork soup and I got a cream soup. Dan got pork. The fish soup was just okay, although Max loved it, but the rest was amazing.

Dan asked for the waitress’s suggestion and went with the pork and potatoes with a berry glaze.

As we were walking out, Max and Sam met a couple women and gave them the play by play of our lunch and told them what to order. They were grateful and loved the kids’ enthusiasm. Outside, we took up wandering around without a plan and the kids and I hopped into some souvenir shops. Found a central plaza.

Some added, after-the-fact stairs.

And surprise, surprise we found a playground. Not too shabby to have towers to look at while the kids played.

They needed to have some run around time and this allowed Dan to check out the old KGB cells without kids. I sat in the shade and watch the kids make ‘pure’ sand for about an hour. What is ‘pure’ sand you ask? They load up the bouncy seesaw type thing, then shake it so the big aggregates fall out and just the smooth sand is left.

Dan came back and we headed back in to the old town. I couldn’t stop taking photos of the towers. They felt so stoic – standing proud, but not showy.

More wandering, figuring out the pattern yet?

Warning, don’t get hit by a car!

The kids made a fair point that we needed to try out Estonian ice cream. “But we don’t know what it tastes like!” said a very exasperated Max. We found out and it was good.

It’s such a beautiful area and we were just loving it. It wasn’t big, as we found ourselves back on a street we had been on a couple times already…even though we were trying to go down new ones. Not doing much research, and only having a weekend, we didn’t explore much outside old town and the port area. I loved all we did, but felt there was so much more to see.

I think Sam was being a monster here?

We did a few more shops, where all the kids got a shirt, Max finally found a giant pencil that he had been wanting since before his birthday and Sam got and Estonian teddy bear. Ben couldn’t decide on anything and ended up saving his money for yet another week. Max also got 2 little glass jars…one with Estonian air and one with Estonian dirt. He had 2 euros and that’s how much it was. The kid loves to spend any cent he has.

Finally decided to find a place for dinner. Dan ordered me a Moscow Mule and a Moscow Mule I got! The guy brought it over and I was so shocked I blurted out, ‘That’s huge!" He laughed and I went to work on it. Half a liter.

We got a mix of things and everyone was happy. I got a Mexican style baked potato, but with an egg on top.

Ben was thrilled with a burger.

This was the night where the KP index was off the charts. It was supposed to be cloudy, but after putting the kids to bed, I went for a walk to see if there was an area that seemed dark along the shore. It was still light out, but I figured I could check it out for later. Spoiler alert…did NOT see any northern lights. Did see a great sunset though.

And every time I see Eurovelo routes, the urge to do a multiple month bike trip resurfaces.

And incase you were every wondering the correct way to sound out your name on the phone when you need to deal with a canceled flight…

Pressed the easy button for breakfast and had the buffet at the hotel. Kids love it and I end up eating mini croissants and fruit. They did have a smoothie that we all loved.

We packed up and headed to the ferry. Found a little playground while we waited for the boat.

It’s always so fun to watch a giant ship come into port…and then lower the gate for the cars.

We had more of the same on the ride back, but we were smart and had our pick of tables in the restaurant this time. The kids played in the kids’ area and read. Max’s giant pencil was on the table for most of the time – the number of kids that walked by with longing eyes was hilarious. I was pretty sure one kid was edging closer and closer to try to grab it.

Back in the Finnish archipelago.

It couldn’t have been a smoother travel day. We grabbed our bags from storage, got on a tram, then a train and into our new place.