June 2023- Helsinki grabbed our hearts in the 48 hours we got to spend there. Now to see if another Baltic spot could do the same. But in half the time. We had only a day and we planned to spend it in and around the Old Town.

Fun Ferry Ride with Fine Dining

When in Europe, we love using the trains to get from place to place. Not an option between Helsinki and Tallinn, for obvious reasons, but the ferry is a fantastic alternative. There are several good ferry lines offering the roughly two hour crossing. We chose Tallink, based on good reviews and the schedule.

As we traveled at lunch time, I thought it would be fun to reserve a table at the fine dining restaurant on board. The West Terminal in Helsinki is a really fine facility and check in was straightforward. When we rolled our bags on board, we quickly found people to direct us to the restaurant, the Chef’s Kitchen. After stowing our bags in a safe spot, we were shown our table by a window, allowing us to watch the sea throughout our meal. Attentive service and beautifully prepared and presented food. By the time I finished my coffee, we were almost to Tallinn.

The Walled Old Town

We had an apartment in the heart of the old town reserved. It would have been about a 30 minute walk, a lot of it on cobblestones, so we took a taxi from the ferry terminal. Our cabbie was able to get us very close to our pedestrian area building for about $15.

We checked into our super spacious one bedroom apartment complete with sauna! But most important to me, it came with a washing machine. I have what can only be called an obsession with doing laundry on vacation…I’ll have to do a complete post on it one of these days. Since the apartment had no detergent for us to use, first order of business was going to buy some. We found a little store a block or so away, getting to check out the lovely main square we were staying on, returned and started a quick load. Now we had over an hour to go exploring.

Right Off the Main Square!

Steps from our building entrance is the main town square of this beautifully preserved medieval old town. Parts of the walled defenses date back to the 14th century. Tallinn was a thriving member port of the Hanseatic League, and much of the town was built during those times. We headed through the cobblestones streets, past the gothic Town Hall, towards the Russian Embassy. This was behind fences covered in protest posters over the war in Ukraine. All over Tallinn, and Helsinki too, we saw Ukrainian flags and other signs of solidarity with the people of Ukraine. Further along our walk, we passed the former KGB prison cells. Estonia is keen on keeping the memories of Soviet days alive, not wanting to return to anything like them.

The Fortifications

We arrived at Paks Margareeta, or Fat Margaret, part of the fortifications of the old town, with a tower named Fat Margaret. Why this name is up for debate. Could be because it’s the biggest hunk of battlements, or it could be named after a big cannon, or there may have been a cook by that name. The Fat Margaret Tower now houses the Estonian Maritime Museum. I’ll be honest here that you will enjoy this place if you’re really into ships and naval stories and seafaring talk. I mainly just wanted to climb the 4 or 5 floors to see the views from the top of the tower.

Out and About Town

We found a restaurant in a really old building we wanted to try for dinner. We had a little time to kill before our table would be ready so we tooled around for a bit, outside St. Nicholas’ Church, the adjacent city park, and along Rataskaevu, the site of our Restaurant Rataskaevu 16. So much new mixed with the old, art everywhere you look. And dinner was something special, with wonderful seafood as well as specialties like elk and fresh baked molasses-sweetened bread.

Now Back to that Laundry…

After that lovely, long dinner and a little more strolling we returned to our place and a load of damp laundry. While the apartment had a great washing machine, there was no drying rack or clothesline. I always carry a short, braided rubber clothesline when I travel so we strung that up in the huge bathroom and tucked what we could into it. The rest we put on hangers and hooked to a tower shelf unit in the bathroom. While it had all air dried while we were out to dinner, it was still pretty wet. So we utilized what we had and enjoyed the sauna while pulling the shelf unit in with us! This was definitely a first! I will even admit that I lay some socks across my legs and over my shoulders to dry in the heat. I told you I have an obsession. And what can I say, it worked.

Morning in the Old Square

We awoke to our sunniest day yet and found a place with great breakfasts around the corner from our building. Kohvik Must Puudel, translates to Cafe Black Poodle, and has wonderful coffee and super fluffy omelettes and pancakes (pancakes are the thing in all these parts). After breakfast, even though we still had a good part of the day left to explore Tallinn, we needed to check out of our lodgings. So we packed up and were able to use a storage locker off the lobby of our building to keep our bags for the day. Then, we set off for the upper part of town, Toompea. This is the Tallinn seat of power. To get to it we climbed gradually up to the Neitsitorn, or Maiden’s Tower and Museum.

Connected by scenic passageways to the Stable Tower and the Gate Tower, this whole structure has been used in many ways over the centuries, from battlements to prisons to artist ateliers and now a small but interesting museum with a cafe and great viewing platforms.

Power Plays and Architecture

Now that we were up in Toompea, the big thing staring us in the face is the Russian Orthodox Church, or the Alexander Nevsky Katedraal. Built when Estonia was part of the Russian empire, it was consecrated in 1900. It is said to have been built directly across the square from the Estonian Parliament Building as a flex. During Estonia’s first period of independence (1918-1940) there were plans to demolish this symbol of oppression that many Estonians hated. It never happened due to cost and scale however. Then during the Soviet years, it fell into disrepair. After independence from the USSR in 1991, it was fully restored. It’s quite opulent with soaring ceilings, onion domes and gilded iconography. Photos weren’t allowed inside.

We made our way back down to the lower town and out of the gates to what we believe is a park that replaced a moat. Spent a glorious hour or so here recharging, soaking up the sun and the breeze, walking through one of the lovely gardens of Tallinn.

Next we headed back inside the walls and headed to our own Town Square to check out Europe’s oldest pharmacy.  Housed just across the square from the Town Hall, Raeapteek is the oldest pharmacy in Europe that has been doing business in the same building since before 1422. It was already on its 3rd owner at this point. It’s a little museum now with all kinds of cool old tools and distillation and measuring equipment. And bottles and bottles of potions, liniments, unguents, powders, etc. I saw things used in Ayurveda today, like triphala. Quite a few things seem to have found their way back into favor.

Kohvik Maiasmokk-Serving Tallinn since 1864

Before reclaiming our bags and heading to the airport, we had a little time for a cafe stop and we made it at Tallinn’s oldest cafe. Maiasmokk retains all its old world charm and character, and still makes great coffee and pastries. Attached they have a marzipan room where I watched a lady paint creepy eyeballs on marzipan balls. Tempting though they were, I restrained myself. And it was off to Tallinn Airport and the next part of our Scandi trip.