Tallinn Tales

[My photos from Tallinn and photos from the train trip ]

Tallinn wasn’t on my radar originally. It only came up when I let friends know that I was really planning to do this trip, and that I planned to start my Russian adventure in St. Petersburg. Gooch and Greger both independently chimed in, lobbying for a visit to Tallinn, which they both loved. And now I’m part of that club.

Tallinn’s old town is incredibly charming, with every corner or head turn a new, storybook view. The town’s ancient defensive walls and turrets, mixed with the many church spires make it the prototypical European old town. Toss in the cobblestones, limited car access, and lots of tourist infrastructure (bordering on too much, especially when the cruise boats let out…), and it’s a friendly place to spend a few days.

I arrived into Tallinn’s airport via a 45 minute flight from Stockholm just before Noon on Monday morning (yet another time zone hop forward…), and quickly recovered my checked bags and breezed through customs and passport control. The helpful info desk pointed me toward the bus that would take me into the city, and I was on my way. On the bus I started chatting with another solo traveller, an Aussie turned Kiwi on a walkabout with his family. He left his wife (”partner” in Aussie parlance) and son visiting her family in Sweden, to come check out Tallinn. He was heading for the Alur Hostel, which I’d seen online the night prior as one of the recommended spots in Tallinn, so I decided to tag along.

We wandered around confused for a good 20 minutes before finally just heading for the spires, and made our way through old town with our heavy packs. Gene had booked a private room ahead, and none were left when I inquired. So I decided to have my first go at dorm-style hostelling. I got a bed in a 6-bed mixed-sex room. I chose one of the 2 beds that wasn’t part of a bunk, figuring that’d give me the most isolation from someone else’s noises. None of the other packs in the room were locked or cabled to anything, but being a first-timer I decided to go the “safety first” route, and cable locked my bags to the bed frame before heading back to the lobby to meet up with Gene.

We ambled aimlessly through the maze of streets in old town before plopping down at a random sidewalk cafe for waters and a snack (I had a tasty feta salad). A bit more wandering after that led us to the main tourist information booth, where we found a tent offering guided walking & bike tours. We opted to join the 2-Hour Low-Key Walking Tour. Our tour guide was a spunky local girl, with an impossible to pronounce name. The tour was low on facts, high on fun and “not the normal tourist stuff”, which suited me fine (though I could have lived without the 10-person twister game under the hot sun…). Our tour ended up lasting 2.5 hours, and I was tired from walking at the end. Gene and I asked if anyone wanted to join us for a beer in the square after, but we got no takers (don’t think it was something I said?). We didn’t let that stop us though, so we enjoyed one of the local brews (mmmm, Saku) and people watched for a bit.

After some rest and cleanup time apart, Gene and I met back up for dinner at 9pm. I wanted to try some local flavor, and was in the mood for fish, but almost every restaurant was serving some form of Italian or just heavier meats. We opted for a place that had “Trout Casserole” on the menu. The “trout”, when it arrived, turned out to be salmon, which was slightly amusing but fine by me, with mixed vegetables and mashed potatoes. After a mellow dinner we headed to Hell Hunt, “the first Estonian pub”, for a pint to end the night. I tried their house-brewed cider, which I actually enjoyed, despite several warnings earlier in the day from some Brits that it’d be far too sweet to enjoy. Gene and I wished each other luck on our travels, and parted ways at the end of the night.

On Tuesday I had a 3:30p train to St. Petersburg to catch (picked up the ticket easily on Monday at the Tallinn train station, a 10 minute walk from old town). I had planned to get an early start on sightseeing, and then rest in the afternoon before the train. I was either incredibly lucky, or I can handle hostel dorm stays, as I slept in until 11:15 on Tuesday. I awoke to an empty room; I didn’t even hear my dorm mates get up and about. I quickly got cleaned up and packed my things, and left the big bag at the front desk to pick up just before my train.

My main goal was to get above the city, so I headed for the tallest church spire. 260 steps later, I had nice views over old town. And just as I was about to head back down the stairs, Gene showed up on the platform with me.

Randomly reunited, we head up Toompea hill to look inside the churches up there–along with the mobs who had arrived on the cruise ships–and then to the market to grab some snacks for later (for the train, for me). Gene and I parted ways for good (gave him one of my Moo cards; everyone digs those), and I headed off to the train station.

The Tallinn train station is compact, so it was easy to find my train. My ticket was for a specific seat in a specific car, so it was just a matter of finding the right spot. I was pleasantly surprised that the train seats were basically like airplane seats (sure, would have been happier if they had  been La-Z-Boys). I had been experiencing some buyers’ remorse for not having said “Bed” when asked “Seat or Bed” when buying the ticket the day before. But my seat was fine for the 7+ hour ride to St. Petersburg. There was a young American couple seated facing me 2 rows ahead, and we chatted a bit on and off, between me nodding off and listening to my “A Spoonful of Russian” podcasts.

Our train plugged along at a reasonable pace. The landscape was mostly unremarkable, a mix of small forests and farmland. At 6:20 we hit the Estonian border, and the train stopped for passport control and customs. We were treated to 50 Cent, Europe, and Lenny Kravitz blasting over the train speakers while we waited the hour for processing. We started rolling at 7:15, and not a moment too soon, as the train was getting stuffy without any air movement. Of course, we only rolled for about 5 minutes before hitting the Russian border, where the process was essentially repeated, with more snooping about and passport stamping. At 8:05 we finally cleared Russian inspection, and were on our way, unimpeded to St. Petersburg. Unbeknownst to me and the American couple, we crossed another time zone en route, so we were surprised when all the locals started getting ready to de-train an hour before we thought we were supposed to.

The approach to St. Petersburg train station made it clear that St. Pete is a BIG city; lots of highways with semis moving things around at 11:30 at night. I was very happy to see a man with my name on a piece of paper at the end of the platform. This was Vladimir, the driver from the agency sent to take me to my apartment. Vladimir spoke decent English (vastly more than my “spoonful” of Russian…), and made quick work of the St. Petersburg streets to the apartment. Fifteen minutes later I was in my own private pad, my home for the next several nights.

Popularity: 48% [?]

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.