It took us about 24hrs of traveling to get from Tallinn, Estonia to home in NH. This really threw off my schedule, but it was so worth it.
Dan greeting me at the park & ride
We had to leave our hotel no later than 6:00am, so it was another early morning for us. Traveling with me is the worst! Tallinn was quiet in the morning and almost felt like a different city. We had about a 20 min walk to the ferry if we didn't get lost. The instructions for the ferry say that passengers need to arrive about 30 min before departure (which was 7:00). We got there 40 min before our scheduled departure and boarding was just about to happen. As with our ferry to Estonia, the ferry actually left 15min early! The Finns don't mess around when they say to be early.
The streets in the Old Town of Tallinn are quiet in the morning.
We made it to the ferry terminal.
Our ferry back to Helsinki
The ferry was supposed to leave at 7:00am, but set sale at 6:45am! Don't be late in Finland.
Heading into the port of Helsinki.
Saying goodbye to Fallon and Sherlock.
Fallon and Sherlock in the entry to their apartment.
We're about to get on the tram to take us to the Helsinki train station.
A church in Helsinki
The Helsinki train station
Made it to the Helsinki airport 😃
The train to the airport
Hooray! I found something yummy to bring on the plane. We wouldn't have a chance to get food again until after our flight to Iceland and then Boston.
Don't even think about being late in Finland.
Our flight to Reykjavik, Iceland
Our flight from Reykjavik to Boston
And after a tiring 24 hrs of traveling, I made it to home sweet home. It seems like I brought a little bit of Lapland home with me with all of this snow. It was so fantastic to see my crew and critters. I missed them so much.
Dan and Maya planned on going backcountry skiing in the morning and despite not getting much sleep and jetlag, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to hang out with them and play in the sweet pow-pow. On our 3rd lap skinning up the mountain, my body asked "why???" I guess because that's just what I do. While traveling, Sarah and Fallon have been super troopers in hanging with me. Of course, when traveling with my family, they have been kind of stuck with me. Any takers on traveling with me on the next adventure??? You might get scarred for life, but you'll be confident that you will have maxed out your experiences.
Looks like I brought some of Lapland home with me with all of the snow.
Backcountry skiing with Maya and Dan in the morning - looks like Lapland with all of the snow
For a change of pace from outdoor adventure fun, we headed to Tallinn, Estonia for 24 hours. However, if we had recorded the walking we did in the city on Strava, our walking track would have looked liked a ridiculous pile of spaghetti which would have ended up being a decent distance.
We woke up early in order to catch the ferry from Helsinki to Tallinn. It is only a 2 hour ferry ride to get to Estonia. While on the ferry, people do lots of shopping as everything is duty free because it is in international waters. In fact, lots of people who live in this region take ferries to different ports partly for the shopping and partly to visit other places as the tickets are not expensive.
Our "little" ferry to Estonia
We're getting good at figuring out how to get tickets.
The sunrise was as we were leaving the port of Helsinki.
Leaving the port of Helsinki
Island of Suomenlinna is just off the coast of Finland. It’s home to the 18th-century Fortress of Suomenlinna, a UNESCO World Heritage site, with its passageways, cannons, and a former prison.
Passengers doing duty free shopping - alcohol
Passengers doing duty free shopping - chocolate
Passengers doing duty free shopping
Arriving at the port of Tallinn
Tallinn is the capitol of Estonia and is the country's cultural hub with a mix of both Nordic and Russian influence. Even though it is only a two hour ferry ride from Helsinki, it felt like we had traveled a great cultural distance. The Old Town is one of the best preserved medieval cities in all of Europe. It consists of winding cobblestone streets, architecture from long ago centuries, lots of unique doorways, and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
We read a little bit about it before we went and had several places we wanted to check out, but not much of a plan. The city has a wall around it complete with towers that was initially built in the 13th century. Our 1st stop was Kohtuotsa viewing platform to see the view and get our bearings. From there, we wandered around the Old Town without much method to our madness, taking in different sites and a fair share of pastries. Of note, there were many Ukrainian flags flying and clearly lots of support for Ukraine (even more so than in Helsinki, which there were a lot there too).
Outside of the walls of the medieval city
Entering the walled city of Tallinn.
So many unique doorways
Notice the Ukrainian flag flying on the building. There is huge support for Ukraine in Estonia. We saw Ukrainian flag everywhere.
Interesting old architecture and lots of cobblestone streets.
Signs against the Russian war against Ukraine.
More signs protesting the Russian war against Ukraine.
A street heading to the town square with the 13th century Town Hall in the middle.
Town Hall Square
Town Hall Square
The view of the Old Town from the Kohtuotsa platform.
This meal tasted so good! It felt like we hadn't eaten vegetables in forever.
Sarah can't wait to dig in!
Sarah accidentally poured water into the pick candle holder. We both thought it was hysterical, but the person working there did not smile when we told her what happened.
The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral is a Russian Orthodox church built in the 1900s by Russians. When we went inside, we were surprised to see that there was an open casket funeral happening.
Toompea Castle built in the 1700s which now houses Estonian parliament.
The old town well
Heading up the Nunnatorn tower (tower for the nuns)
View from the Nun's Tower
Inside the top of the Nun's Tower
Some sketchy stairs in the Nun's Tower
Inside the sauna tower
Looking at the Nun's Tower and the Sauna Tower
Enjoying Town Hall Square
Going into the old town hall pharmacy which is the oldest operating pharmacy in Europe (since 1422).
The symbol outside the oldest working pharmacy in Europe.
Lots of old medicine
Examples of medicine - lizards?
Dehydrated toads?
A dried deer penis as medicine?
We headed to our hotel in the afternoon to recharge before going back out to explore more.
Complementary wine when we checked in - so fancy!
The chocolate store smelled so good, we just had to go in.
We had trouble passing by bakeries without stopping in to sample what they had.
The market just outside of the walled city.
Ooooo, another bakery. Of course we had to stop and sample the goods.
Inside the big marketplace. This is where locals go to shop.
Giant cans of olives and olive oil.
They are making mini blinis. Check out the giant cast iron forms for making these.
Outside of the other side of the marketplace.
St Olaf's Church tower. Records go back to 1267. It is closed in the off season. The tower was one of the tallest towers in Europe for a long time.
Interesting old houses
This street really caught my eye.
The old well
We went into an English Bookstore and saw this book. It's comical.
Exploring St Katherine's Passage
Viru Gate built in the 1400s.
Flower sellers just outside of the Viru Gate.
Olde Hansa Restaurant (where we ate).
Olde Hansa has a elaborate medieval theme.
Entering Olde Hansa
Musicians playing medieval instruments.
We even used a giant wooden spoon to eat our soup.
Our server was quite the ham.
Dessert was delicious - the one with cream was described as a "journey".
Employees at Olde Hansa in medieval clothing.
This skating rink was just inside the Old Town city walls.
Ahhhh, back at our hotel.
It was a full day with lots of walking and exploring this fairytale-like town. The Estonians have done an outstanding job of preserving/restoring this treasure. Tallinn was not in our original travel plans. However, I'm really glad we made time to check out this gem of a city. The next morning we start our long, 24 hour trek home very early, so it was an early to bed kind of night.
