Exploring Tallinn

Hello from Estonia! 

Today we got up at 5.45am and walked to the Helsinki ferry terminal west. It was raining but only a tiny bit which was lucky!! We boarded our ginormous ferry and were on our way. The ferry had 10 levels. We spent the duration of our ride sitting at tables using the internet and walking around a little. There were shops, a supermarket, a pub etc. At one point I put my head in my arms and managed to nap for about 10 minutes!! The ride was very foggy so we couldn't see any views of the Baltic Sea but I was just happy to be on a ferry without feeling like I was going to die (see my post from the 4th of June - ferry ride from Ios to Athens!). 

We arrived in Tallinn, Estonia about 9.30am and walked to the old town where we are staying. It was really really really foggy this morning so I was a bit grumpy as I'm a little over the crappy weather. Kind of ironic that we came to Germany in winter last year and it was 23 and sunny, now I'm here in "summer" and it's cold, cloudy and foggy. I expected the cold and don't mind it, but would like the sun to appear again at some point please!

Our apartment is in a fantastic location. We are easily able to walk anywhere we like, and people from Topdeck recommended me two restaurants; one of which is 20m opposite us and one of which is around the corner!! We easily met the owner's friend, got let in and were so happy with how big the apartment is. Helsinki's was so small that we were very cooped up. Here we have a huge lounge room, bedroom, kitchen and bathroom with a washing machine. 

We set off for a day of exploration. As I said yesterday, I've wanted to come to tallinn since year 11 when they came here on 'The Amazing Race' and then speaking to nan and pa about their time here as well. The old town area is so medieval, reminds me a little of Prague. I love the cobbled streets, medieval looking buildings and the people dressed up (even if that's a bit touristy!). 

We walked around all day and saw and did a lot of different things! Firstly we walked the famous streets Vene and Pikk, which are lined with 15th century buildings. We also enjoyed the old town square which has northern Europe's only remaining intact gothic town hall and is lined with quaint little restaurants. I can hardly tell the difference between the roads and footpaths here though, and we couldn't help but laugh at a fellow Australian when, while he was taking a photo, a van snuck up behind him. Everyone else nearby had moved but this man was completely oblivious of the fact a huge van was 10cm away from his back. I couldn't help but burst out loud with laughter when he turned around and had the funniest look of shock on his face!!! He laughed too, the driver didn't (he looked unimpressed!!!). 

We saw a few little passageways like the White Bread Passage which was lined with chocolate shops and cafés, and St Catherine's Passage. Only problem is that eight cruise ships decided to dock here today as well, so there were people EVERYWHERE! Mum had her first experience of European summer craziness today. Our previous two Europe trips have been in winter. Due to this, we a used to either being two of few tourists around (eg Italy) or the only tourists around (eg our tour at Gallipoli on which we were the only people!!). So as you can tell we've been well and truly spoilt and enjoyed many sights and towns mostly by ourselves. Today mum realised this is not the case in summer (which she can also remember from hers and dad's tour in summer 1990). About five groups of cruise people walked through the passage so we had trouble actually looking at parts of it. But we got there in the end. 

We also went to St Olaf's Church and climbed the 260 odd steps of the tower. They were so steep - great exercise! The view was nice but partially spoiled due to fog. Ah well, can't have everything. We then walked to the Fat Margaret Tower and the Great Coast Gate, which protected the entrance to the old town from the port in medieval times. Today it houses the maritime museum but we gave that a miss. 

Then we checked out some medieval market stalls. I bought some reindeer socks in Norway with pom-poms but had been on the hunt for some longer thick socks to wear with my boots. Here I found them! Bought some fluffy, woollen grey socks with cats on them. So warm!! Here we ran into some men from the cruise from Canberra. God I hope my accent doesn't sound like theirs. Painfully bogan!!! But they were really nice. 

Next was another tower, this time the town hall one. This time the sky was still cloudy but much brighter. The stairs were once again very steep and we all started to feel dizzy. Got to the top and it was this tiny little room with a few openings that were hard to see out of. We had to climb up on them to see the view! But once you did that it was ok. Then we had some lunch at a little cafe. Mum and I had a sandwich each and a cake (me raspberry and mum an orange berry we didn't know) and dad a Mars bar type car. All was delicious! And we enjoyed it sitting outside in a cute little laneway. The best part of Estonia - how cheap it is. I've gone from 3-4 weeks of expensive food to all this food with drinks and a coffee costing us just €14,40. Yay!

We had a rest at the hotel and then went to the city museum. I really enjoyed this museum as it had just the right amount of info. Gave us a good overview but didn't make your head feel like it would explode. I didn't really know anything much about Estonia so it was good to find out some information. Over the years the Danish and Swedish ruled Estonia, but the Russians then did until 1918. From 1918-1940 they were an independent country, but then the Russians took over again in 1940. The Germans did for a short time in 1941 but then the Russians continued to rule until 1991. In 1991 Estonia once again became independent. Hard to believe that this happened just a year before I was born!!! 

Our last stop for the day was climbing some old towers and scaling part of the city walls. This was quite good but there were pigeons (and bird poo!!) everywhere. All over the stairs and rails you had to use and everything. Wasn't very pleasant!!

Tonight we went to a medieval restaurant called 'Olde Hansa' which my Topdeck tour had gone to on Saturday night and raved about. Unfortunately for us we must have got them on a bad night. Firstly I had to go and get us menus as no one else brought them. Then we all ordered an entree and a main. Mum's entree came but not mine and dad's. Then our mains came....we chased it up about 3 times and the waiter kept getting confused. Finally our remaining entrees came but mine was cold as if it had been sitting there the whole time. We got our mains and they were alright but nothing special. Disappointing :(

Ah well. Trying a pub tmro that the cook from the tour recommended, but after the last recommendation from that tour group, maybe we shouldn't!! Haha. 

Love to all

Claire

Xoxox

Suomenlinna Fortress

Hi all!!

So the weather turned to absolute crap today. It rained ALL DAY. Didn't stop at all. And the wind was icy. It was colder than Melbourne! There were many comments along the lines of "I bet it's warmer at the MCG right now!!" because Collingwood were playing Carlton while we were out. Bet you were warmer Nan, Pa, Ian and Robyn!!! Please enjoy the photo of me below scowling as mum takes a photo of me in the freezing wind and rain. I title it 'Unimpressed'. Haha. 

Today we headed out despite the rain (nothing will stop us seeing everything!) and had breakfast at the Kauppatori. Dad had a donut filled with blueberry jam while mum and I shared a punnet of blueberries. I'm on a partial diet because I've become a bit of a chunky monkey while sitting on the bus so much (I just feel yuck anyway!!). So I am snacking less and trying to eat better! Of course if there is a cultural dish to try I will never say no. More just eating meals instead of snacks all the time!!

We caught the 10am ferry to Suomenlinna Fortress. It took about 20 minutes. When we arrived it was of course raining!! We started off by walking around a bit and then joined a walking tour. We learned a fair bit about the history and purposes of the fortress and island. Suomenlinna fortress consists of four islands. In 1748 when Sweden controlled Finland and it was part of their empire, they decided to build the fortress to maintain their control over the Baltic Sea. A guy called Ehrensvärd designed and constructed the fortress. In 1809 the Russians overthrew the Swedish and took over Finland. Then in 1917 the allies helped Finland gain it's independence and break free from Russia's rule, but as I mentioned yesterday this caused a civil war to occur which lasted a few months. Over the years due to the changes of hands, Suomenlinna fortress has been called Sveaborg (Swedish), Viapori (Russian) and now Suomenlinna fortress. 

Even though the weather was horrid we powered on. We joined an 11am walking tour which walked around outside. I made the stupid mistake of going '13 degrees! That's not THAT cold!' And wearing a thin $8 kmart top with a cardigan and raincoat. BIG MISTAKE. Definitely investing in more layers from now on, think I got a bit excited after 5 degree weather in Norway...! But anyway I toughened up and put up with it. Our guide was really good and we walked around some of the complex including Ehrensvärd's tomb, Russian cannons (this part was the coldest!) and some walls and tunnels. 

After the tour, we went back to a cafe we had passed and enjoyed amazing and hot salmon soup with bread and butter. Then we all shared a piece of chocolate cake and a piece of rhubarb cake. After these few weeks in Scandinavia and Finland I will have mega eyesight forever due to all this fish!! All of it was delicious. My favourite part of the cafe was the fast wifi that allowed me to listen to the first quarter of Collingwood vs Carlton hahaha. Glad to hear that only 40,000 showed up due to the terrible Sunday night timeslot in the rain. Maybe the money hungry AFL will learn to put the footy on when the fans can actually attend without falling asleep at their desks at work on Monday!! Speaking of footy, was exciting to wake up this morning to find out that in his first senior game for the bulldogs Mitch Honeychurch kicked a goal with his first kick! He went to the school I both attended and did placement at. Good on him!!

After lunch we went to the Ehrensvärd Museum which was about the man himself and the building of the fortress. Then we went to the Suomenlinna Museum which was about Swedish and Russian control and the history of the fortress. We had a quick look at the Suomenlinna church (church count = 8, not many yet!!) and then boarded the ferry back. Quite rough on the way back!!

We had an early dinner at the Kauppatori and shared a plate of reindeer meatballs and salmon paella with veggies and potatoes - yum! Hit he spot perfectly. 

Now we are watching Holland vs Mexico and packing up tonight as we leave for Tallinn, Estonia by ferry quite early tomorrow morning! Those from my Topdeck tour have been there the past two days and recommended us two good restaurants to eat at - one is next door to our apartment!! And as it turns out they will be in St Petersburg and Warsaw when we are for one night in each, so I think I will be joining them for a couple more nights out! My tour was one part of a larger, four part tour. About 12 of them are doing the whole tour so will be good to see them!!

See you in Estonia everyone, I'm so excited as I've wanted to go there since I saw it on 'The Amazing Race' in season 15 in 2009. 

Love to all

Claire

Xoxox

Walkabout in Helsinki!

Hey all!

I am SO tired! But it's great to be walking around again. As good as Topdeck was, sitting on the bus for 12 days was not good for my fitness or my hips. My jeans feel a little tighter than before haha. So as tired as I am I am happy to be exercising lots again!

Last night was really good. I went for dinner with Emma, Dan, Ben, Susie and Mel. We found a reasonably priced Finnish restaurant and I enjoyed sautéed reindeer with potato mash and lingonberries, and haloumi with cloudberry jam for dessert. Yummmmmm!!!

Then we headed back to the hostel and met the others. We all walked to a place called M Bar which coincidentally was 100m from our apartment and right around the corner from the train station. We had a great night catching up for what would be my last night on tour. Jess turned 23 at midnight so we counted down and sang happy birthday to her!!! Mum and dad finally arrived in town by bus at 1am so I said my goodbyes to everyone (lots of hugs and trying not to be sad!) and went and met them at the station. On the way back I walked mum and dad past the bar and waved to everyone, they got a huge cheer and a round of applause from the Topdeck group as I had told them of all the delays mum had put up with!!

I had a really great time on Topdeck. Met some more fantastic people who I hope to catch up with in the future. A few are in Melbourne so that'll be good, and next time I'm in Sydney or Adelaide or Perth I have a few people to visit too!!! But it was so good to see mum and dad! Poor mum looked like a zombie after her epic never ending journey from Melbourne to Helsinki. But she was finally here - yay!!

Today we woke up about 8.30am. Took our time getting reedy and headed out about 9.30. Our first stop was the underground church. I already went yesterday but thought mum and dad should have a look! 

Our Finnish family friend, Maarit, had recommended a few foods for us to try as she grew up here. So next we headed to the train station and bought a Finnish meat pie with sausage in it called Lihapiirakka Nakilla. It was yum!!! 

We spent most of the day just walking around seeing what we could see. It was a beautiful sunny day so it was lovely walking around!! We went and had a look at both the main cathedrals; Helsinki Cathedral and Upspendki Cathedral. The first was very plain inside but nice on the outside, and the latter quite decorative both inside and out. My church count is now at 7 this trip!

After this we had a look at the Kauppatori (the market square). There were lots of arts and crafts as well a fresh fruit and hot food. We bought a punnet of raspberries which were amazing !!! Then we had the second food recommended by Maarit; a Finnish donut filled with Apple jam. Again - yum! Thank you Maarit!

We walked through the shopping district and back to Helsinki cathedral as we saw lots of people gathering. There was a gay pride march on with loud music and colourful banners everywhere!

Next stop was the National History Museum which was huge. We saw and read about everything from prehistory to medieval times to the 20th century. I didn't know that Finland only became an independent country in 1917! Before this Russia controlled them, and once they became independent a civil war happened. 

After this we had a bit of a rest as we were quite tired. Then we went to a restaurant I found in my guidebook called Konstan Mölja. We paid €18 each for a buffet including salmon soup, pork, reindeer, potatoes, various appetisers and bread and other meats too. It was delicious! Very good value for Helsinki as well. 

After dinner we went for a walk to the Sibelius monument. On the way back we walked by the lake and through a very leafy cemetery. It was a nice walk. 

We've had a great day but are so tired! Mum's Fitbit bracelet that dad bought for her birthday measures how far we walk each day and today we walked 18km! We are now watching extra time of Brazil vs Chile. 

Love to all

Claire

Xoxox