Here are some snaps of Monkey around Old Town in Tallinn, Estonia. The steep cobbled streets were not fun to navigate with tired chipolatas. Trying to dodge large swarms of tourists added to the misery at the time. The photos bring back much fonder memories of the day in Tallinn, but in hindsight we should have rested a bit more before making the journey across the Baltic.
I really wanted to like Tallinn. We had originally planned on leaving on the last boat back to Helsinki but six hours is all we could take. In short, we were sorely disappointed to find that Old Town, with its ‘authentic Medieval architecture’, was all but a tourist trap. Perhaps if we had visited on a sunny day when we weren’t sleep-deprived and weighed down by tired achey feet, we might have enjoyed the capital on the Baltic sea a bit more.
That said, it wasn’t all bad and we got some cute snaps of Monkey and had a beautiful meal at Leib Resto & Aed (which totes saved the day). The meal was so exquisite we kept raving about it for days after returning to Helsinki.
Rhubarb and Raspberry Juice, Fresh Rye Bread, Marinated Baltic Herring, Clear Fish Soup
Leib Resto
Rhubarb Compote, Pan Fried Pike Perch, Pork Sausage, Chocolate-Tequila Mousse
The short two-hour cruise from Helsinki to Tallinn, operated by the Tallink-Silja Line, seemed to be a popular choice amongst holiday-makers, especially Finns. Apparently the main reason why so many Finns make the journey is not the cultural delights of Tallinn, but the cheap booze. With no government tax, alcohol may cost as little as half of what it does in Helsinki. Ironically, many of the items available in the cruise shops were actually Finnish imports to Estonia.
Catastrophic Findings 