Tallinn in Estonia

…… last stop before Russia

The journey from Riga to Tallinn: A fairly dismal day for travelling, as the whole region seems to be covered in cloud. The sepia effect is even stronger now, as the land emerging from the snow is varying shades of brown, grey and ochre. Everything seems murky and soggy, but strangely beautiful…. The road surface is variable, and the road, as straight as a die, is a raised causeway between fields or thick pine and birch forests with deep water-filled ditches either side. Every so often there’s a village with some sort of imposing statue of a mother and child, or something similar.

Finally we reached Tallinn (Wednesday, 6th April), a city that seems more westernised than other Baltic states judging from the out-of-town stores we passed; there seems to be a considerable Scandinavian influence. We later found out that Tallinn is internet heaven! Not surprising when you realise the connections to Finland and its part in the techie history of Skype and Linux. So I’ve been told. The main thing is I could get back online again here – first time since KFC in Warsaw. The excitement was too much for most of the Ozbus group who settled down to a few hours of online activity before even going out to explore the old town!

We met up at 7pm to have a meal in the medieval-themed Olde Hansa restaurant. Everything, except toilets, authentically medieval so we were told! A meal by candlelight, ancient menus we could barely read by said candlelight…. and interesting beers and other drinks. Our hostel is probably the best so far; it’s very central, we’re on the ground floor and have beds, not bunks. We also have lots of sockets and I’m online just sitting on my bed – how good is that! It’s a small old town centre, so easy to get around. I’ve been trying to remember to take photos of my Oyster card from places all around the world in the hope that Boris will give me freedom of London city, or at least free London travel for my lifetime. So I’ve included a photo to prove the card has been to Tallinn!

Talking of freedom, today, Thursday 7th April, I trotted along to the pharmacy in Freedom Square to get more painkiller and throat stuff (my knee pains in the night and there’s a throat bug going around the Ozbus lot – stocked up on sage tea!). Later we did a walking tour of the old town and were told that as people could not be killed inside the old walled city, they then met their death outside in an area which would be set up with a guillotine, scaffold and other unspeakable things etc. after the fall of communism and Estonia’s independence, this area was renamed freedom Square.

Our guide for this tour was a student called Dennis, who gave us an interesting, if unconventional glimpse of his city! We learned a lot about the corruption of officials and the infrastructure of the town in medieval times – and currently! The rich tended to live at the top of the town and the cobbled road for their vehicles leading from the top to the town hall square below was known as ‘The Long Leg’ – see photo! The steps which got you to the same destination were known as ‘The Short Leg’.

From the viewing platform at the highest point of the city wall, you can see the port and the ships bound for Finland and elsewhere on the Baltic. If you look closely, you can see the frozen sea with only a narrow channel for passage of ships. It’s pretty cold up here. Which gave me a good excuse to buy a good woolly hat, with pom-poms of course. At the end of the tour, which included the Russian Orthodox church – beautiful! – our guide made us dance in the square (yes, really) and then told us the best places to get good cheap food. So we dined out on filled pancakes before making our way back in the pouring rain (did I mention the rain before? It hasn’t stopped, and it’s icy) to the hostel to dry off. And get back online!

After today we’re off to St Petersburg, and who knows if we’ll get good internet connections. and speaking of internet etc, I’ve been told we can’t use Facebook in China, as it is not permitted. So if you don’t hear from me in a while, you’ll know why!

I am enjoying every minute of this trip – even the fairly cold showers (Riga) and the strange hostel breakfasts along the way (bread and jam in Warsaw). I am with a great bunch of people – all ages and all differing degrees of alcohol tolerance. Having a wonderful time!!