Weekend Getaway: Tallinn, Estonia

After getting situated my first weekend in Kangasala, I was excited to spend my second weekend exploring a new city. Before I came across the water I promised myself I would take full advantage of being in Europe. Choosing to explore whatever cities were nearest to me when I had the weekend off. As mentioned in earlier posts, a friend of mine recently moved to Tallinn with her husband and two and a half month old son. It was nice to see a familiar face and hear English without the European accent.

Once I got to the train station I hoped onto the tram located outside to head to the West Harbor where my next mode of transportation was located on my route to Tallinn. When I first asked for directions to the harbor I was under the impression that West Harbor was located in the same area as Senate Square and the market; boy was I wrong. After about a 5 minute ride on tram 9 I soon learned that the West Harbor was actually located in old Helsinki, the same area I had trekked across during my day long biking excursion in July. At the moment I saw the tram pull away from the main city, I was thankful I decided to hop on. When we pulled up to the last stop at the harbor, I was a few minutes early to boarding so I grabbed my ticket and found some food. There was a cafe in the lobby already filled with energized weekenders fresh off out of work ready for two hours of laughs and cheap booze. I had heard about this alleged "booze cruise" that many people took to Tallinn and Stockholm due to the expensive prices of liquor and beer in Finland. At the final ding for boarding the boat, I made my way along with the already tipsy others to the ship. For some reason I expected more of a ferry to travel two hours, but the boat was actually a cruise ship equipped with cabins for overnight travel. Initially I followed the crowd to the top deck to see the boat leave port and head into clear water and sunny skies. After failing to find a good seat accidentally in the smoking section and then on the windy deck, I stumbled across a stadium-seating lounge area and stalked the crowed for a spot. Once situated, I kicked back, relaxed and enjoyed the full open view of our voyage to Estonia.

Two hours later we arrived. Everyone seemed to be very anxious to leave the ship, a lot of pushing and shoving occurred as we exited. I found my friend waiting for me with the baby at the exit and our weekend journey began. As we walked to the town center in Old Estonia we caught up on her travel and different events that had occurred since the last time we had seen each other. Old Estonia is a typical European city; lots of cobble stone and historic buildings. Simply breathtaking. Her husband met up with us after practice and the search for dinner began. Unfortunately our hunger got the best of as we fell into the tourist trap of eating in the town square, amateur move. The food was ok and the prices were outrages. We made sure not to make that mistake the next two days. As we headed out to the parking garage to go back to their apartment, I fell in love all over again. There's something about European cities that makes you appreciate history. It's the same feeling I get whenever I go to Chicago. Maybe it's the tall building and hustle and bustle of people, I'm sure it will be a reoccurring sensation as I continue my travels.

Saturday morning began with a tour of Old Estonia. A young man no older than me led our group around the city, providing very detailed historical facts about the areas we stopped. In the section following are pictures of Old Estonia, along with some historical information.

Enjoy!

View from the top deck

Town center

Did you know: Estonia is home to the first public Christmas tree? 

View from the "park" built but the government

St. Nicholas Church. Currently being used as a museum. Estonia is 70% atheist. It's not that they don't believe in God, most Estonians just don't have a specific preference.

Monument in Freedom Square. The iron clad on the top of the tower is not a cross. Estonia has had independence from other countries for only 22 years. 

Oldest standing medical wall in Tallinn

Parliament. Learned here that the Estonia flag stands for the blue skies (blue), soil and dark past of the country (black), and purity (white).

Did you know: The first programmers for Skype were Estonians? Estonia is a completely wifi-friendly city. It's accessible in the majority of the restaurants. 

Orthodox Church built by Russians during their reign over Tallinn.

My friend Krysta, the baby and I above Tallinn.

Tallinn's infamous Red Roofs

The following photos are from Patarei Prison, which recently housed inmates until 2004.

*One of my favorite photos taken*

View of the Baltic Sea from the prison yard.

As you can tell, it was amazing. We couldn't have asked for a better day to explore! Since we made the mistake of eating at the European version of an overpriced Ruby Tuesday's Friday night, we made sure to ask the guide for lunch suggestions. He provided us with a brochure, LikeaLocalGuide that gave various eating, lodging, events, and museum suggestions. Once her husband met up with us after his practice we decided to eat at a cozy restaurant named Reval. It was tucked away in the midst of the city with low lighting for an intimate setting and a cheap, diverse menu. In comparison to the meal before, this meal was everything I had hoped at a GREAT price. I ordered the tomato and mozzarella soup and spinach sauce pasta with chicken, delicious! Throughout our meal we were already discussing dessert but decided to pick up chocolate on the way back to the apartment. Apparently the team her husband plays for, Kavel, is known for great chocolate. Being the skeptic that I am I didn't think it could be better than Finland's, but I was proved wrong ONCE again. Two for two on this weekend! The chocolate melted in my mouth like butter and left me wanting more. Sadly however I only purchased a small milk chocolate and dark chocolate bar. I will be asking my friend to send me more ASAP! After lunch we made a trip over to an "old" prison that had recently shut down in 2005. Talk about an eerie experience! Rust, and I'm sure tetanus, covered the iron doors and metal bars. The barbed wire still curled around the walking yard. It made me realize I could never be in jail, especially in Finland. Having freedom so close but constantly being reminded by the bitter cold and neighboring Baltic sea of how trapped you are would drive me insane. Saturday night was another relaxing evening; I believe I am STILL recovering from my 10-day farewell tour back in the States. We walked around Old Tallinn again, attempting to navigate the map for a restaurant while giving her husband a brief summary of the historical facts we could recall from the tour he had missed. After hours of irritation from the Saturday night crowd and being turned away from a few restaurants that discriminated against baby strolled, we all agreed to stop a newly found favorite sushi restaurant. Who doesn't love sushi? I had been having an itch from some since I left the U.S. so I was perfectly fine with going for something a little more "traditional". Exhaustion seemed to hit everyone like a brick wall, including the baby, about an hour into our meal and we headed home to relax. Another peaceful night in LaLa Land.

To have the opportunity to explore the world and make myself vulnerable to unknown surroundings is still a surreal to me. I'm constantly reminded how blessed I am to have friends all over the world who invite me to share their experience with them and have been lucky to have crossed paths with some amazing individuals and establish new relationships. Never would I have thought that a hobby I joined through the influence of my older sister and the words of encouragement of my athletic ability would have landed me in Finland playing internationally, professionally, 10 years later. Without a clear goal in mind I know that right now in this moment, this is my purpose. To purse the talents God has given me and develop them to my fullest potential while still loving the game. He spoke to me a December night after attending my younger sisters JO practice, after I had already decided to end my volleyball career after a dramatic, draining season and I thank him every day for opening my eyes to pursue a professional career. Without him, none of this would have been possible.