Estonian Weekend

Thanks to lastminute.com, AM and I spent this last weekend in Tallinn, Estonia, which is across the bay from Finland and Sweden and just next to Russia.

I have always been drawn to Central/Eastern Europe and the former Soviet block. I am not sure why. Perhaps it is because I am at least half Polish, maybe because Hungary was the first country I ever visited in Europe and really enjoyed it. Mainly though because I think these places didn't exist as independent countries and/or were largely inaccessible when I was growing up. I remember looking at maps as a child and just seeing a giant red blotch that was USSR (or CCCP) and thinking it was cold and scary there. It is just amazing to me that now not only are these countries independent and open for business, many are even part of the EU and NATO.

Michael Palin has just started doing a travel series on the BBC about the 'new Europe' - which is exactly a tour I would like to do someday. I wish he had invited me along.

Anyway, I had been talking about seeing Tallinn for a while. It has a reputation for its beautiful old town and its active nightlife (translation - cheap beer for stag nights). We also found really lovely cafes and cheap spa treatments.

We left Gatwick on Friday for the three hour trip to Tallinn, on Estonian air. I didn't realise how far it was, both in distance and time zone - they are two hours ahead of GMT. We arrived late on Friday but still managed to check out Hell Hunt, the oldest pub in Estonia. We snagged a great table for people-watching and I sampled some of the local beer. When we left at 2 a.m. there was still much more night left for most of the folks there.

Saturday, after dragging ourselves out of the hotel after 11, we wandered around the old town checking out the various sites. Tallinn has a compact, beautiful old town with lots of colorful buildings and churches. We wandered around, climbed up St Olaf's tower for a rainy view, walked to the other side and saw the view from there as well and took plenty of photos. Later in the evening we settled into a lovely little wine bar and did a full tasting, and I mean full, before having a nice Italian meal.

We also found the DM Baar - a bar dedicated to Depeche Mode and evidently affiliated with the Estonian Depeche Mode fan club. It was covered in DM paraphernalia including pictures of the band when they have visited in person. They really need to change their carpet though, it was really disgusting. We took a bunch of photos during the day when it was empty and then had to go back at night to see what kind of clientèle frequent the place. It was a bit surreal to say the least.

Sunday we relaxed and had very reasonable spa treatments before having an Estonian lunch and heading back to London. There are an abundance of spas in Tallinn and the treatments are much, much cheaper than London, though evidently much more expensive than the rest of Estonia. My only problem is that my pedicurist took a little chunk out of my heel, and it still hurts. I think she was still hung over from Friday :)

Photos are posted here. I would highly recommend Estonia for a couple of day trip if you are ever up that way.