Tallinn

The last two days were spent in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. Lena Jonkawiak wrote of some of our exploits in this beautiful medieval city.


12th May
Saturday morning we left the hostel at 10am. Therefore, some people used the late departure to sleep in after a busy week and 2 birthday parties. Others, however, used the morning to see the famous market hall at the harbor of Helsinki, which opened at 8am. Also the outside market was nice with even more traditional food, but also a lot of wooden souvenirs and artisans. At 9.30am a group even took the chance to visit a church from the inside (after the previously described bad luck with open churches). Fortunately the church was nearby the hostel, so we could take-off at 10am sharp. Since the ferry left very close-by the hostel we had a lot of time before getting onboard, and the following phenomena happens after 4 days without free internet (see photo). 

Free WiFi and this is what happpens

The ferry from Helsinki to Tallinn took only 2.5h (for people with sea sickness probably still a little too long). However, arriving in the early afternoon gave us the chance to already get a first impression of Tallinn, or rather the Old Town of Tallinn. The historic center (Old Town) of Tallinn has been inscribed on UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites in 1997 as an 'exceptionally complete and well preserved example of a medieval northern European trading city'. It is indeed beautiful. 
In the evening we had a group dinner in the ‘Olde Hansa’, which was very gezellig. In a medieval-themed restaurant we got served food such as Crusader’s lentils sauce, barley with nuts, baked-smoked sauerkraut, ginger turnip, and beef, salmon, and sausages made from bear, wild boar and elk. 
However, before we could start our feast, we had to vote for a Table Master, the strongest and most handsome man on the table, who then had to sprinkle salt over a loaf of bread. Afterwards, Remko (the Table Master) had to tear a piece off (we all had to wash our hands before joining the table) to taste if the bread was nice. After approval we ‘ate as if there was no tomorrow’, and tasted rather sweet honey beer, strong dark herbal beer, and light cinnamon beer. 
For some people the evening ended with apple and honey under crispy coat with almond milk, for others it still went on with one or the other drink…

Good Times were had

13th May


Today more or less little groups were visiting not only the Old Town, but the city Tallinn, which has many things to offer. The Kumu art museum was a destination for many, followed by a stroll along the beach, the harbor or within the Rotermann’s quarter (a former factory complex), to see where Tallinn is heading in the 21st century. 
Certainly, some hours of the day were also reserved to answer e-mails, work, relax, and recharge the batteries for the up-coming week in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

Some of the views of beautiful Tallinn