Around the World in (Approximately) 80 Days: Day 45: Tallinn, Estonia, Another New Country For Me

Sunday, October 30, 2016

I had some moments of freaking out that morning, but thank goodness I've learned to give myself lots of extra time when traveling. Even though my ferry to Estonia wouldn't leave until 8:30 a.m., I left SleepCheap Hostel at 6:00 in the dark, while everyone else was still asleep. I had double checked the directions to the street car #9, just a couple of blocks away. I wouldn't have left that early, but when I bought my ticket online it said you must arrive 90 minutes early or possibly forfeit your ticket. What the...?

Fortunately, Finnish bus stops have electronic marquees that list the name of the bus or street car and how many more minutes until it arrives. My stop was blank. It was very early on a Sunday morning. I wasn't sure what to do. I waited maybe 10 or 15 minutes, then spotted another stop a street over. A street car stopped and the driver was kind enough to listen to my story and he suggested I hop on his tram and he'd tell me when to get off to catch another #9. For some unexplained reason, the #9 was not going to stop at the stop near my hostel.

It all worked out, and I didn't even have to buy a second ticket because I noticed that they're valid for one hour of travel. A German couple was on the #9, also traveling to Estonia, so I knew I was fine. Germans are almost always punctual. In fact, the woman told me that when they bought their ticket they were advised to arrive an hour early, which we did. No worries.

The ferry was more of a cruise ship, with shops and restaurants, bars and entertainment, great wifi. So the three hours passed in no time. I liked the musicians who played mostly American covers, and secretly laughed at the magician who apparently learned his tricks from a do-it-yourself book. He called up children volunteers whose main job was to say, "Hocus Pocus!" or "Abracadabra."

The Old City of Tallinn is definitely a must-see. A 15-minute walk from port to my hostel, 16Euro Hostel (which actually cost that much for two nights in the dorm) felt very homey, complete with couches, big screen TV, video games, a fußball table, complete kitchen and bikes to rent (for tomorrow).

It was still early in the day, so my first stop was the Tallinn City Museum, one of the best city museums I've ever seen. They cover everything...ancient archaeology, medieval professions, every period of Tallinn's history, and current special displays of china from around the world and weapons.

I was especially interested in 20th century history of Estonia -- declaring their nationhood for the first time in 1918, celebrating 20 years of independence in 1938, then the Soviets invaded soon afterwards. Estonia turned to Germany to liberate them from the Russians, only to find out that the Nazis did not have good intentions. At the end of WWII, the Soviet Union reclaimed Estonia. Finally, in 1990, at the fall of the USSR, Estonia became a free and independent nation, somehow retaining their language and culture intact, despite most of their Jews being killed, and thousands others deported to Siberia. I never knew about the Human Chain of 1989 in which 5 million people joined hands from Tallinn to Latvia and onto Lithuania to set a world record, in protest of the Soviet occupation, which ended a year later.

I walked all around the Old City, taking photos of course, and stumbled across a fabulous Vegan restaurant. I finally decided to take the appetizer plate which had a nice variety of delicious goodies to sample, and promised to come back the next night to order the chickpea beet burger. Then back out into the cold night to admire more of the medieval city.

I was not expecting such a luxury cruise ship from Finland to Estonia, especially for the reasonable price I paid, something like $25.

First glimpse of Tallinn, Estonia as seen from the ship approaching the port.

Entering the Old City on my way to 16Euro Hostel.

Hardly any cars drive through the Old City. That helps take you back in time.

A lot of the old city wall is still intact. I heard that in the summer you can walk on top of it.

Checking in at the 16Euro Hostel, which actually cost only $18 for two nights in one of the many dorm rooms.

One of the lounges at the hostel. It felt really homey, despite the big TV.

Tallinn City Museum is really excellent. I could see why they have such great craftsmanship since tradesmen had to apprentice for several years before applying for certification in their trade.

A model of the old walled city of Tallinn, Estonia.

Special collection of china from around the world.

The most amazing thing I learned about was the Baltic Human Chain in protest of the Soviet Union (and fascism) which spanned three countries and included 5 million people. Such power in numbers.