Tallinn, Estonia: surprisingly it ended up being one of the best days of the entire trip! Bret and I had looked into different things to do, but we didn't see many options. We were going to join a private tour with some of my siblings but it was going to be expensive, so we opted on a private tour group with my brother Chris as our guide. Oh my goodness he was incredible! He had done a lot of research about Tallinn before the trip and we walked around the entire old city with him pointing out important buildings and telling us about them, he taught us the history of the country, and he walked around the city, knowing which way to go and what street to go down without ever looking at a book! He was awesome! It was so fun to spend the day with Michelle and Bo, Chris and Maren and Kathryn and Steve.
We walked through the main gate and started walking down Long Street, which appropriately is named such because it is the longest street in Tallinn. This is the major street in the old city, with all shops, churches and restaurants along this street. I was surprised by what a charming Medieval city it was and loved the day of wondering!
Three sisters outside the Three Sisters Hotel! Sure love my sisters!
The was the former KGB building and it was said of this building that you could see Siberia from it. (referring to the basement of the building where people that were held there were sent to Siberia.) Yo
We spent some time in their history museum. It was lovely because we just happened upon a beautiful little concert that was put on it what was some type of standing harp. It was lovely. As I learned about their history it was sobering to learn of really the lack of history and culture that they had. The history of Estonia really consists of being invaded and the people largely killed or shipped off into exile. It was heartbreaking to learn about.
We came to Town Hall Square and the Dome Church and spent some time wondering the square trying to decide on a place for lunch.
We ended up going up little side street to a restaurant Bo found on yelp. Oh my goodness, I have to say that this lunch will forever be one of my personal highlights of the trip. The setting and ambiance was so incredibly charming! The company delightful and the food was AMAZING. Definitely the best meal of the trip.
Bret ordered Elk
I had myself some cheese pot roast. Most of this ordered this and thought it was going to be a traditional pot roast somehow cooked with cheese. Nope!!! It was a pot of cheese roasted in the oven...a cheese pot roast! Even with it not being what we expected...it was awesome and I'd order it again in a heart beat.
And then there was dessert....I ordered a warm chocolate cake and Bret ordered traditional bread pudding. Incredible!
Everywhere I looked I was surprised by how beautiful I found the city to be. The different colors, the red tile roofs, the architecture, it was all breathtaking!
Bo walking through the streets with his umbrella, he was definitely easy to spot! I loved it.
It was easy to see the Russian influence in this Alexander Nevsky Cathedral.
We made our way to Toompea Hill which offered this breathtaking view of Tallinn.
Michelle and Bo
Chris and Maren
Kathryn and Steve
My selfie stick came in handy to get a group photo of all of us!
We continued on to another overlooked and passed the royal palace. The funniest memory of the day: Bret saw a button on the side of the gate and though to himself, "No way this is a doorbell." So he pushes it. Most of us had made our way out of the courtyard already but Bo was still there. A man opens the front door and scowls at Bo. Bo waves to him with a big grin on his face not knowing Bret had rang the doorbell. Who else besides Bret is able to say that they doorbell ditched the royal palace in Tallinn?
Steve in front of the royal palace.
Spanish Embassy...
Our last stop on of the day on the way out of the city was sweater wall.
Bo found himself a great look hat/scarf combo.
Tallinn...such a great day!
No comments:
Post a Comment