Estonia

Leaving the Adriatic behind, we flew up north to explore another region of Eastern Europe – the Baltic countries. Instead of the clear deep blue sea, the Baltic is a lot darker and moodier, even on a sunny day.

(the old town of Tallinn is in the background)

Our plan is to start from the north, in Tallinn, Estonia, and work our way south towards Prague. When you look at the map, Tallinn is pretty far north – only 3.5 hours by ferry to Helsinki, Finland, and 4 hours by bus to St. Petersberg.... I think I even saw a sign for tours to the North Pole.

The city lived up to its e-Stonia reputation (i.e., being very wired in – after all, Skype and Kazaa, a Napster like music sharing software, were started by Estonians): there was a kiosk for free internet right at the airport which was a good thing as we had no idea how to get to our hotel; our hotel room was equipped with wifi and a computer; and free wi-fi spots were easy to find all over old town. Right away, we liked this city.

Seriously, it's not just because Tallinn's wired in. We were pleasantly surprised by the city overall. The buildings in old town have some Scandinavian influence so it has a different feel than the old towns we've been to. I also liked that old town is a part of the city, and locals as well as tourists go there so you feel like you're seeing what the city is like today. Outside of old town there are some interesting architecture as well. The people here are friendly.... and overall, it just has a very chill vibe. It may be a bit slow for some people, but we like the pace.

(pic of one of the squares in old town)

The rain cloud that was with us in Czech Republic and Hungary found us as soon as we left the coast, and it started to rain the night we got there all through the next day. Nonetheless we made the best of it and climbed the old town hall tower to see Tallinn in the rain:

We made good use of the rest of the day and the free wi-fi in town and booked our accommodations for the rest of the trip so we didn't have to stress about it anymore (and yes, beer was involved).

Here's a picture of Tallinn in good weather (we decided to extend our stay an extra day so we get at least one nice day):

This picture was taken from a church bell tower, which in medieval times was the tallest in Europe. The Soviets set up their KGB headquarter in the building next to it so they could use the tower to transmit signals.

Being so far north, the daylight lasts pretty late into the night. While it wasn't exactly “white nights” since it's already August, the sun didn't set until well after 10pm. Here's a picture I took of the main town square, Raekoja Plats, at almost 10pm:

It was very easy to get around with English, and we were only there for a few days so we didn't learn any Estonian phrases. We did notice a couple of signs that are pretty funny when you try to read it in English:

Read the second item on the menu list fast...

Try to read this sign out loud:

Finally, here are some random pictures from Tallinn:

Near the old fortress wall in old town Tallinn

This is a sculpture at a Soviet War Memorial which is slowly falling out of repair (hmm I wonder why)... I just thought the hands were cool:

Next stop: Riga, Latvia.