Falling for Estonia

Posted on August 4, 2013

As we rolled into the old town of Tallinn, I felt like yesterday had never really ended. I was a little short on sleep.

We quickly found our hostel where we’d reserved a private room for a few nights. Amazingly, our room was less expensive than our campground in Stockholm. All day I’ve been marveling at the amazing concept of having an outlet, a bed, wifi, and a bathroom all in a fifteen foot radius. Further, the hostel is right across the street from the old town.

Once we’d settled in and Ben had put in nearly a half day of work, we headed out for groceries and spent an abnormally long time at the grocery store, marveling at Eastern Europe grocery prices and stocking up on all our old favorites. It is good to be back!

Once we’d been fed and run a load of much needed laundry, we headed into the darling old town to check things out. The old quarter is tiny and charming, full of adorable details. As we approached, Ben muttered, “wow!” which is a rare sentiment for us these days. After feeling so jaded in Stockholm, we couldn’t believe how fast Tallinn won us over.

With almost no traffic in the streets, we wandered the cobblestone streets capturing doors and windows and poking into shops and art galleries. Ben climbed the tall church tower for some aerial shots. The old walls, the pretty churches, and even the cute post office all brought charm to the place.

Ben: Tallinn is the coolest town we have seen in a long while – it’s little wonder it was inscribed as a Unesco site. Its medieval theme resounds throughout the entire old town. The towers are nearly always visible, overlooking the medieval-themed restaurants shops selling iron goods (alongside those selling cheap “Made in China” souvenirs , and some pretty incredible artists. We found one we particularly like – Navatrolla. Of course pictures weren’t allowed, but we still had fun perusing his bright, witty art.