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motodraconisSo, I'm back from Tallinn (Estonia.)
After scanning the weather reports daily in the run up to going, they'd all been threatening sleet and rain, but in the event, I had bright white skies of cloud and one very blue and sunny day (which naturally I chose to spend wandering round freezing cold underground tunnels.)
View fromPiss in the pot Kiek in de Kok tower, low german(?) for Peep in the Kitchen, so called because the tower was tall enough for the guards to peep at the locals in their own homes.
Tallinn has the most impressive and complete city walls around any old town I've yet seen...
Fat Margaret Tower...named for obvious reasons...
And Tall Herman...
Lots of cute oldy streets...
...full of ridiculously expensive souvenirs and crafts. There is a lot of amber here, but it is stupid expensive, (I swear you could get it cheaper in England) and every time you walked into a shop, the shop persons would pounce on you. "Amber! It's Baltic amber!" No wonder really, I never saw anyone buy anything, and I'd be the only person in the shop, in amongst the tumbleweeds blowing about. Yup, amber, in every shade of congealed pus you could ever hope or dream of. I got sick of the stuff pretty quick. I didn't buy anything really, just a couple of linen ponchos which were reasonable in value (one for my mum) as even a pendant made from a plain nugget of glass cost 40 quid! And some of the stuff on sale was just plain creepy...
(though it gets creepier - see later in the post.)
I can only guess that this is the Goddess of Caesarean Sections.
Wandering up to one of the big parks, I was confused by the view on my left. According to my map, it was beach and Baltic Sea, but I couldn't make out if it was snow or sea.
It turned out to be both...
No swimming on the beach...
No shit!
This did blow me away a bit, as I've never seen semi-frozen sea before. WEIRD!
Underground train in the Bastion Tunnels, slowest and worst train ever, but futuristic looking...
Real train (proper locomotive) included for the pleasure of![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
eharris
Corn! Corn! This lil' fella was being fed from a woman's hand, in return for posing for photos...
On the second day, I decided to go to a public sauna, the oldest and most "retro" public sauna in Tallinn...
I wish I could say it was a palace of deco design and engineering inside, but it was more like the grubby swimming pools you used to get sent to as a kid (before they were condemmed and knocked down to be replaced by housing estates.) There was a vile and murky looking plunge pool, which I noticed NONE of the locals were using, so I thought it best not to risk cholera by trying it myself. Otherwise, I got to sit stark bollock* naked with a load of Estonian ladies. One was very chatty, and I felt compelled to mumble "English, English" at her in case she thought me rude for not joining in. At least this seemed to satisfy her, though I don't think many tourists come to that particular neck of the woods.
I also got to see ancient Nanas beating themselves with leafy twigs that they'd prepared by soaking in the plastic buckets provided. "Beating" is probably too strong a term, dabbing would be more accurate. It didn't look like it was going to get much circulation going. Alas, it was only after I'd dressed and was on my way out I noticed the basket of bunches of leafed twigs available (free or for hire?) So sadly I did not get to go whole Estonian hog with the sauna experience.
Also went to the Balti Jaam Flea Market, "a true culture shock for the western tourist" according to the tourist map, but considerably more impressive than my local Saturday flea market in North London, which adds a whole dimension to the meaning of pathetic and depressing.
At Balti Jaam, you can pick up a marble tombstone...
Or buy second hand books...
Or browse Nazi and Soviet memorabila, displayed side by side and, (since this is Estonia) probably equally loathed.
It is a measure of how desperate the souvenir-buying situation is in Tallinn that I found myself seriously considering buying an SS ring or somesuch, for the shere illicit thrill of owning such a morbidly macabre item.
But what would be the point of buying a ring too disturbing and creepy to wear? And anyway, all the "antiquey" stalls were closed until 11am and I had a plane to catch.
But yeah, nightmarish stuff...
So, Tallinn, I can recommend it, though it was a bit pricey what with the pound being 1:1 with the Euro. I got one begger incident, a young bloke comes up to me and says "you speak English? Can you spare me 5 euros to get a train ticket back to Riga?" 5 euros? 5 FUCKING EUROS? THAT'S 5 QUID!!! Whatever happened to "spare us 10p for a cup of tea?" Do I look like I can give away fivers just like that? WTF! I used my usual trick that I have for getting out of such situations - I pretend to be French, works every time.
I know a couple of you on my f-list were thinking of going one day (if possible) or have already booked to go, so I can recommend the Old City as a whole, as a beautiful place to wander about in. My hostel was cheap and excellent (being right on one of the Old Town streets.) Check out Balti Jaam and the Bastion Tunnels at Keik in de Kok. Don't buy any amber (if you must buy some, the airport sells it cheaper) but ponchos are a good deal. There's probably not a lot to occupy you if you wanted to stay for a week without taking out of town excursions, though you can take a ferry to Helsinki. Summer when the Linda line is running is better for this, the winter routes are a bit too faffy (or I might have tried it myself) as one of the lines drops you off several km from Helsinki central, and the Viking line you have to embark at 7am and don't get back to Tallinn until midnight.
Next up, Estonian medieval food, the cheap eats, the not so cheap eats, and my ongoing appraisel of cakes of the world.
But finally, an unexpected Hetalia moment.
SPOOKY!
* Figure of speech, no bollocks were visable here in the ladies only section.
After scanning the weather reports daily in the run up to going, they'd all been threatening sleet and rain, but in the event, I had bright white skies of cloud and one very blue and sunny day (which naturally I chose to spend wandering round freezing cold underground tunnels.)
View from
Tallinn has the most impressive and complete city walls around any old town I've yet seen...
Fat Margaret Tower...named for obvious reasons...
And Tall Herman...
Lots of cute oldy streets...
...full of ridiculously expensive souvenirs and crafts. There is a lot of amber here, but it is stupid expensive, (I swear you could get it cheaper in England) and every time you walked into a shop, the shop persons would pounce on you. "Amber! It's Baltic amber!" No wonder really, I never saw anyone buy anything, and I'd be the only person in the shop, in amongst the tumbleweeds blowing about. Yup, amber, in every shade of congealed pus you could ever hope or dream of. I got sick of the stuff pretty quick. I didn't buy anything really, just a couple of linen ponchos which were reasonable in value (one for my mum) as even a pendant made from a plain nugget of glass cost 40 quid! And some of the stuff on sale was just plain creepy...
(though it gets creepier - see later in the post.)
I can only guess that this is the Goddess of Caesarean Sections.
Wandering up to one of the big parks, I was confused by the view on my left. According to my map, it was beach and Baltic Sea, but I couldn't make out if it was snow or sea.
It turned out to be both...
No swimming on the beach...
No shit!
This did blow me away a bit, as I've never seen semi-frozen sea before. WEIRD!
Underground train in the Bastion Tunnels, slowest and worst train ever, but futuristic looking...
Real train (proper locomotive) included for the pleasure of
eharrisCorn! Corn! This lil' fella was being fed from a woman's hand, in return for posing for photos...
On the second day, I decided to go to a public sauna, the oldest and most "retro" public sauna in Tallinn...
I wish I could say it was a palace of deco design and engineering inside, but it was more like the grubby swimming pools you used to get sent to as a kid (before they were condemmed and knocked down to be replaced by housing estates.) There was a vile and murky looking plunge pool, which I noticed NONE of the locals were using, so I thought it best not to risk cholera by trying it myself. Otherwise, I got to sit stark bollock* naked with a load of Estonian ladies. One was very chatty, and I felt compelled to mumble "English, English" at her in case she thought me rude for not joining in. At least this seemed to satisfy her, though I don't think many tourists come to that particular neck of the woods.
I also got to see ancient Nanas beating themselves with leafy twigs that they'd prepared by soaking in the plastic buckets provided. "Beating" is probably too strong a term, dabbing would be more accurate. It didn't look like it was going to get much circulation going. Alas, it was only after I'd dressed and was on my way out I noticed the basket of bunches of leafed twigs available (free or for hire?) So sadly I did not get to go whole Estonian hog with the sauna experience.
Also went to the Balti Jaam Flea Market, "a true culture shock for the western tourist" according to the tourist map, but considerably more impressive than my local Saturday flea market in North London, which adds a whole dimension to the meaning of pathetic and depressing.
At Balti Jaam, you can pick up a marble tombstone...
Or buy second hand books...
Or browse Nazi and Soviet memorabila, displayed side by side and, (since this is Estonia) probably equally loathed.
It is a measure of how desperate the souvenir-buying situation is in Tallinn that I found myself seriously considering buying an SS ring or somesuch, for the shere illicit thrill of owning such a morbidly macabre item.
But what would be the point of buying a ring too disturbing and creepy to wear? And anyway, all the "antiquey" stalls were closed until 11am and I had a plane to catch.
But yeah, nightmarish stuff...
So, Tallinn, I can recommend it, though it was a bit pricey what with the pound being 1:1 with the Euro. I got one begger incident, a young bloke comes up to me and says "you speak English? Can you spare me 5 euros to get a train ticket back to Riga?" 5 euros? 5 FUCKING EUROS? THAT'S 5 QUID!!! Whatever happened to "spare us 10p for a cup of tea?" Do I look like I can give away fivers just like that? WTF! I used my usual trick that I have for getting out of such situations - I pretend to be French, works every time.
I know a couple of you on my f-list were thinking of going one day (if possible) or have already booked to go, so I can recommend the Old City as a whole, as a beautiful place to wander about in. My hostel was cheap and excellent (being right on one of the Old Town streets.) Check out Balti Jaam and the Bastion Tunnels at Keik in de Kok. Don't buy any amber (if you must buy some, the airport sells it cheaper) but ponchos are a good deal. There's probably not a lot to occupy you if you wanted to stay for a week without taking out of town excursions, though you can take a ferry to Helsinki. Summer when the Linda line is running is better for this, the winter routes are a bit too faffy (or I might have tried it myself) as one of the lines drops you off several km from Helsinki central, and the Viking line you have to embark at 7am and don't get back to Tallinn until midnight.
Next up, Estonian medieval food, the cheap eats, the not so cheap eats, and my ongoing appraisel of cakes of the world.
But finally, an unexpected Hetalia moment.
SPOOKY!
* Figure of speech, no bollocks were visable here in the ladies only section.
