Life in Tallinn

Estonia favored me with sudden adventure and pouring rain.

Despite the marvelous trip to Tallinn, every night there I risked staying outside. The person I was supposed to stay with was suddenly leaving the city. At night. An hour before my arrival. Other times, my plans changed and I didn’t have time to reach the meeting point… Something happened all the time.) Finally, I spent one night in one place, the second one in another, and the last two at a hostel. I started thinking that I was socializing too much, and I could stay at a hostel without talking…:)

By the way, the hostel…

Backpaker’s United Hostel. Its location is perfect: 5 minutes, and you are by the fortress, 6 minutes, and you reach the main square. I wish it had a clothes dryer.) Due to a lot of people staying, my clothes didn’t dry, and I had to put them wet into my backpack. However, there are very kind people working there, and they are always ready to help. They only speak English. If you are

going to make a reservation, don’t be afraid of rooms with 10 and 16 beds. They are much more spacious, cleaner and better then the smaller rooms with 6 beds. Their price is only 10 euro per night, and you can have coffee and tea 24 hours a day. There is everything you need for life. You have free sightseeing tours every day, like at the hostel in Riga.

All in all, I liked Tallinn very much. It impressed me by combining the incompatible. Before, we had two-storey wooden blocks for multiple apartments in many places, and now there is almost none left. As for Estonia, half of Tallinn lives in blocks like this! Nevertheless, they have high-risers, business centers and hotels in the city center.

There is the impressive Square of Freedom, narrow streets… Very cozy small parks, a river and many fishermen. Sleepy ducks and, again, unusual sculptures.

There is an incredibly beautiful fortress! In Tallinn, there are the downtown and the upper district, Vyshgorod. There are several embassies, an administrative building and hotels there. But what matters most are the remains of an ancient fortress, a city wall and fortifications, the architecture… And from the top of the wall you can get an unbelievable view of red fairy-tale roofs and, very unexpectedly, of newly-built blocks glinting in the sun. Do you remember Andersen’s tales? There were the same wonderful roofs there. You can walk around Vyshgorod for a very long time, and find something new each time.

Life in a squat

These are the photos of the incredible place where I stayed one night in Tallinn. It’s a squat: a former big factory, every room of which is now taken by artists, actors and sculptors. It’s an astonishing place. I was lost for words to describe it! The photos won’t express everything. There’s high concentration of creativity and freedom of creative thought.

The Tallinn Marathon

A small life hack for those travelling light.)

Big cities often hold large-scale sports events. During these events, many companies advertize their products and allow customers to try them for absolutely free.)

When I was in Tallinn, I saw the International Tallinn Marathon. So, I managed to get a liter of some very healthy water with juice, candies, some vitamins, a first aid blanket… On the whole, I had a good walk. Take it into account.

The ferry Tallinn—Helsinki

You can get from Tallinn to Helsinki by ferry. It’s fast, not very expensive and very comfortable.

The ferry ride costs around 20 euro. It’s a huge five-storey vessel with restaurants, a lounge, bars and a casino. Live music plays there getting on your nerves. You

can sleep on a couch or watch the calm sea through a porthole.

It’s important to be attentive! The entrance to the ferry closes half an hour before the departure. And if you are buying a ticket over the Internet, you need to remember that it’s not a ticket… It’s a booking confirmation, which needs to be exchanged for a real ticket at the ticket office of the port.

Otherwise, there’s nothing special.

Both in Helsinki and in Tallinn, the ports are located within the city, you can reach them by foot, and buses run regularly there.

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