Estonia was my 30th international stop. I have been so blessed by my lifestyle
allowing me to travel
far and near around the world. Estonia, like most other countries, was
amazing. It was filled with welcoming
citizens, good food, good beer, and lots of interesting cultural and historical
experiences.
We rented an apartment in downtown Tallinn. It was across from one of the only Catholic
churches in Estonia. Unfortunately the cathedral as under construction so we
weren’t able to explore the inside of the church. Nearby, however, was an old
monastery (there are lots of these types of ruins in Estonia).
We explored the museum that showcased archaeological finds
from the friary as well as the city itself.
It was closed in 1525 during the Reformation. After being a monastery,
the building served some time as the city arsenal. It later served as a school and
hospital. Starting in the mid-50s
archaeological excavations began on the structure.
One the more unique finds in Tallinn was the city’s
historical separation (long-term feuds) between the lower and upper parts of
town (where rich vs poor merchants lived).
There were two paths connecting the upper and lower town, the long leg
(a long, winding, gradually ascending path suitable for horses and carts) and
the short leg (a steep ascent only suitable for walking).
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| Short Leg |
 |
| Gate to the short leg |
Both paths were governed by a gate, strictly separating the
two separate parts of town. The gates
were governed by the lower town and allowed the magistrate to control movement
between different parts of town. Strict
curfews were enforced with the penalty often being jail time.
We continued exploring Tallin by visiting St. Nicholas
Orthodox Church. Some Estonians desired
to
After wandering around, we joined the free walking tour,
which turned out to be pretty similar to my impromptu, undirected wandering
around the town. Our tour guide though
was awesome! She was a little older than us and had a lot of stories from her
family about Estonia during Communism and after the fall.
Estonia is a TINY country. It’s entire population is 1.3 million, which is less than Metro Detroit.
Heck it’s about the same as the county that I live in (Oakland County is a little over 1.2 million). Her pride for their culture though was really
impressive and the country’s tenacity remind me a lot of Poland’s history.
Per usual, we asked her for an idea for dinner and ended up
walking all the way to the other side of town.
I should mention my husband was a CHAMP with all the walking. I
convinced him to walk a lot!
The restaurant
was a tiny brewery called Pööbel where most people were locals. It was so good. I even convinced Jeff to get dessert which
was basically French toast sticks with a berry medley and honey. Oh man.
It was heavenly.
On our way back to
the room, we stopped for a few beers along the way. The first was Beer House where there was a
giant group of Polish businessmen who basically had 8 fifths of vodka at the
table and hundreds of dollars in meat.
They were having a darn good time.
My only regret at this point was never getting the fried cheese balls (I
know, I know a terrible oversight). We
wrapped up the night in a rooftop bar that served a very strange mix of craft
cocktails and Asian/Mediterranean cuisine.
Jeff got Kimchi and I got some avocado fries and chili mango weirdness. Katusekohvik was definitely and interesting place.
All in all a good day!
More Day 1 Pictures!
