Day trip to Tallinn!

On Saturday, I went to Tallinn for a day-trip with my roommates.  It was amazing!  Tallinn is an old Hanseatic port, founded by the Danes in the 11th or 12th century.  Estonians, like the Finns, speak a language in the Finno-Urgic language family.  Supposedly they can understand finnish but Finns can't understand them.  Estonia is 80 km/ 1.5 hours away from Helsinki by ferry.

Estonia is solidly Eastern Europe.  It is slightly cheaper than the States, but it is an order of magnitude cheaper than Helsinki.  The difference in the cost of living is most noticeable on liquor.  For this reason, 1 in 3 Finns make it to Estonia every year for a MASSIVE bender. Estonians refer to Finns as "two-legged deer," because by the time they make it back to the boat to take them home, they typically can't stand up by their own power.  The low alcohol taxes, combined with a new discount airfare connection at the local airport, have turned Tallinn into a major destination for Finns on holiday and British bachelor parties.  Me and my roommates, while we did not abstain from the cheap beer, were mainly there for the lovely old town and city center.

We got up before dawn and caught the fastest ferry (Linda Lines) to Tallinn.  It was a cold and rainy day, but I was so excited and Tallinn was so beautiful I couldn't be upset by it.  We spent most of our time just walking around the well preserved medieval quarter.  I liked the old buildings with their Russo-Baltic architectural blend.  We really lucked out with random cultural experiences.  First, as we were walking towards Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, we intercepted a 'procession of the icons.'  This is a Russian Orthodox tradition of taking the religious icons for a walk on special occasions.  The church elders were dressed in gold robes with special black hats.  They were singing as they walked down the old alley.  I didn't take any pictures, because the atmosphere was so solemn at first I thought it might be a funeral.  

The second cultural experience we happened upon was a free organ recital at Niguliste (St. Nicholas') Church.  This building is now a museum, but it started out as a 13th century cathedral.  Now, it houses religious art.  Visiting this museum was my favorite part of the Tallinn trip.  The building itself is beautiful but what makes this museum special is that it displays late medieval and renaissance art in situ, as it was meant to be seen.  The altarpieces are on an alter, the religious paintings are set in their original frames, and the wooden statues still have the gaudy flesh-tone paint.  The most famous work housed at Niguliste Church is the "Dance Macabre," a rare large northern renaissance work on canvas.  The image below is from wiki.

In addition to touring, I did the typical "trip to Tallinn" activities of getting a haircut and stocking up on booze.  We hit the Alko (ABC store) right before our scheduled ferry ride home, and we hustled on down to the terminal to check in.  We needn't have bothered, however, as the seas were too rough for our little Linda Line boat, so our departure was cancelled.  They placed us on the Tallink cruise home, leaving at 9 pm instead of 7.  This was OK, but the Tallink is a party-boat, so we were molested by a drunk Finn on the ride home.  He was so drunk, we couldn't tell if he was trying to bum a cigarette, sell marijuana, or buy sex.  However, other drunk Finns rescued us, so I guess we came out even.  Finns drink more than any other nationality I've encountered.  

Tallinn was a touch touristy, but it was local tourists.  I'd give it a weekend, with a solid night of hitting the bars sandwiched by two days of sight-seeing.  The exchange rate is fabulous, and I intend to return in a few months to get another haircut and buy more wool and whiskey.