Tallinn, Estonia: A Quiet City With a Difficult Past

We've been on travel for the past five days and this is the first chance I've had to get on here and write about it! A terrible error indeed! This trip has felt like two or three trips all jumbled into one as we flew into London, spent one day at Windsor Castle and Stonehenge; one day in Britsol where we got to meet the fine folks at Trunki (!!!!!); and then we headed off for Tallinn Estonia. Since the other places we've been are pretty typical on the average travelers itinerary (well maybe except for the meet up with Trunki) I'll stick with Tallinn for now.

Tallinn is an old city that has been beset with invasion after invasion over it's time. In ancient times it was the Romans and the Vikings. In more recent times it was the Nazis and the Soviets. Tallinn seems to be trying hard to cut ties with it's interloper past and prove that it is a city, and a country, of its own. During WWII it was first taken over for a short time by the Nazis who then lost it to the Russians. The people of Tallinn certainly seemed to suffer under the Russian occupation with many people being sent off to Siberia, foreign Russian workers brought in to "russify" the area, and a take over of their economy. After the fall of communism in Russia, though, Estonia worked hard to get back on its own two feet and looked to make itself more like the west. Today Tallinn is quite a popular tourist spot for many Europeans and Scandinavians and it seems to be doing well for itself.

There are some drawbacks to all this popularity for tourists at least. Namley the cost of things. Now I didnt expect to come here and be able to go on a giant shopping spree but when it's $10 just for a fridge magnet I'd say teh price of things has gone a little overboard. Granted we've been hovering around the prime tourist trap areas and I would expect some level of inflation but really, comon, $10 for a magnet? I saw a hat I could easily have made for myself selling for $35! Ouch! The food is good and our hotel is once again exceptional thanks to TripAdvisor.com (my new favorite website) but everything else has been a hit to the pocketbook and almost a turn off.

There are good parts though. There are parks EVERYWHERE, Maya loves all the old cobblestone streets and there is some really beautiful architecture here. I've been impressed with the beautiful wood carvings here. We went in one church that was covered with intricately carved wooden plaques made whenever the patriarch of a prominent family passed. Also, many of the buildings have beautifully carved doorways and walls. Maya loved the Estonian Hisotory museum and we found a great many coffee shops and sweet stores to pop into for a break from the cold.

Over all Tallinn has been a nice break from the business of back home. Despite not being able to buy my VERY IMPORTANT useless bric-a-brac at a reasonable cost I would say Tallinn is nice if you want a little taste of history with some lovely walks and beautiful scenery.

Here are some of Josh's beautiful pictures as always