“Q: So what do you know about Estonia?”

A: Ummmmm, its capital is Tallinn and .........?

{This exchange, of course, occurred before our tour and day in the capital of Estonia Tallinn}

Promptly at 7am, with sunrise still hours away, we set out to see a new country, this time by boat.  I really did not know what to expect out of the ship we were going to take from Estonia to Tallinn, “ferry” is a very ambiguous term.  Well it turns out that we basically took a 2 hour cruise on a full equip Baltic cruise ship.  My group chose to sit in the bow are of the ships which was set up like a 4 story night club complete with booths, bars and a stage (empty for this trip).  The ship has 3 other bar/club areas, a restaurant, business class center, shops, a grocery store, slot machines, a playground, and even kennel on board.  I went up onto the cold and windy top deck to watch the sunrise (well watch it get light anyways, the sun was MIA) and even was able to check my email and chat online with some people on the ship's free wireless internet.

View from our Booth on the Ferry

Gulf of Finland at "Sunrise"

We arrived in Tallinn at around 10:30, pulled Estonian Kroons (soon to be a dead currency replaced by the Euro) from the ATM, and then our group set out on a walking tour of the city.  I thought Helsinki was a small city; Tallinn barely meets the definition of a city and several Orange County cities have larger populations, but is still the capital of a European country!  Old town Tallinn, which is surrounded by the old city walls, was a lovely place to walk around and learn about Estonian history and culture.  Estonia has had very little time as an independent country; instead it has spent its existence as a German, Swedish, Russian, Polish or Soviet territory so it has little culture of its own.  However it is quite a good place to experience the best of German, Swedish, Russian and Polish food and traditions all at once. 

As a testament to the small size of Estonia (population around 1.5 million) we saw their president’s car parked outside of a church and were able to walk right up to the front door of their parliament building.  For the record Tallinn is the 6^th national capital I have visited, but I have not yet made it to D.C., which I know is shameful and will hopefully be corrected in the coming year.

After the tour we had 6 hours to wander the city, find food, and buy souvenirs, I very pleasant way to spend an afternoon.  The only hard part was when the sun went down at 4:30 and the temperature dropped into the 30s but by now I am used to that sort of thing!  Overall Tallinn was a very nice place to be, but I wish it was less touristy and offered more historical information instead of just endless shops full of kitschy souvenirs.  Unfortunately for Estonia they have no heavy industry and no natural resources besides timber, so their economy relies on tourism from Baltic Sea cruise ships to bring in foreign money.

At 7pm we had to say goodbye to Tallinn and return on a different, less impressive, but still huge ferry back.  While I had fun in the Estonian capital, I don’t see myself ever going back as I have been there, done that and literally bought the tee shirt.  There are many other places like it throughout Europe just waiting for exploration! Tomorrow we have the morning and early afternoon free to spend in Helsinki and we will get back on the train to St. Petersburg.

Me and my Roommate Corey, Cold but Happy on the Ferry Back