Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Tallin - a modern city with a Medieval touch

Our first stop on our Baltic Cruise was Tallin, Estonia... "a modern city with a medieval touch."
Tallin is the oldest capital city in Northern Europe and was once a part of the USSR.  The medieval old town is now a UNESCO World Heritage site.  It is also the birthplace of Skype!

Tallin, Estonia

We walked about 15 minutes to just outside of the Old Town and then grabbed a taxi.
Our brilliant idea was to start at the highest point of the town and then spend the day walking back towards the port.
The benefit would be that we were walking downhill rather than uphill all day and
that we would get out of the mainstream group of tourists that we had "outsmarted".

Wrong.  We arrived at Alexander Nevsky Cathedral at the same time as about 6 tour buses.
There goes that brilliant idea.  After fighting our way through the initial crowds and dealing with some morning showers, the day quickly improved as we explored the medieval streets of Tallin's Old Town.

Tallin, Estonia

Tallin, Estonia

Tallin, Estonia

Tallin, Estonia

Tallin, Estonia

Tallin was once called Reval and Estonia was a dominion of Sweden.  In the 1700's, it became a Provence of Imperial Russia until 1920 when it gained independence.  Twenty years later with the beginning of WWII, Estonia was annexed by the Soviet Union, then occupied by Nazi Germany from 1941-44 and heavily bombed by both the Germans and the Soviets.  It remained a part of the USSR until 1991.  Estonia is now a part of the European Union and a modern European Capital.

Tallin, Estonia

Tallin, Estonia

Tallin, Estonia

Tallin, Estonia

Tallin, Estonia

Tallin, Estonia

The old town square of Tallin is one of Matthew's favorite European squares.  The town hall is the only Gothic style town hall still standing and is over 600 years old.  In the shadow of the town hall, we sat down for a quick lunch.  Of course, I had to try some Estonian Honey Beer.  (Yea, it's sweet.)

Tallin, Estonia

Tallin, Estonia

Tallin, Estonia

Tallin, Estonia

Tallin, Estonia

We stopped to watch some Morris Dancing in the town square.  I'm not sure why there was English folk dancing in Tallin but they were having a great time.

Tallin, Estonia

Tallin, Estonia

And of course we had to stop at the Texas Honky Tonk & Cantina for a Lone Star beer.
For just a few moments I felt like I was home.

Tallin, Estonia

I'll be honest and say that 10,000 cruisers descending on this small medieval old town is a bit much.  As we made our way back to the port, I was wishing we could stay into the evening after the cruise ships had sailed away.  Tallin is definitely someplace I would love to spend a long weekend during the off season or maybe even for the Christmas Markets.

I hope we can make it back someday.

Have you visited Tallin?  What did you think?




15 comments:

  1. I think Tallinn is one of the most beautiful Baltic cities. The panoramic views, the castle, cobblestone streets. It's so romantic :) But I do agree, visiting a tiny city with the entire cruise ship makes you feel a bit claustrophobic. That's why it's so worth it to spend a night in a city. Actually, any city, because at night, when the tourists leave you can feel the real spirit of the town :)

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  2. I had no idea it used to be part of Sweden, but when I saw that first square picture the first thing that popped into my head was "that looks just like Sweden"!

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  3. Wow, Tallinn looks amazing! Going on my to-visit list, thanks for sharing!

    xo Becky
    Seductive Mania

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  4. It is one of our favorite cities, but we didn't do it on a cruise. We went to Tallinn, then drove down to Latvia and Lithuania and it was all amazing.

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  5. Such an interesting place... and I loved getting to know the history of it!

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  6. You would love Rīga, Latvia - it is just to the south of Estonia and as the two countries share a similar (pretty horrible) history, they are like sisters. The language is very different, and this has helped form each nation into its own entity. I think all three of the Baltics are extremely underrated tourist destinations, although this might be a bonus for those who do venture that far... Beautiful pictures, thanks for the post!

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  7. Great photos, thanks for showing us around!

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  8. Tallin looks like a great place to visit. I have heard that is it was not quite prepared for the booming tourist industry but I kind of like that. I like that it seems to be authentic rather than a tourist trap.

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  9. Wow, I absolutely love cities like this! I love traveling to cities and countries that are different from what I am used to. Any city by the water with cobblestone streets is a winner in my book!

    http://liveitinerantly.com

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  10. What a great looking place to visit - so vibrant and colourful. That lady dancing with the gold sneakers looks HIGH!

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  11. Wow what a gorgeous place! LOVE the pics!!!

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  12. They had Lone Star beer? Seriously?! That's awesome.

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  13. Thank you for sharing this. I am really on the fence about cruises, but my husband and I decided if we went on one it would be a river cruise. So I will be reading all of your stories! (PS- I just realized the link to my button isn't working. I think the http://www. is missing right before my url. Sorry about that!}

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  14. What a gorgeous and historic town. There is so much colour and life! I musty add it to my "future plans" list!Bronwyn

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  15. Lovely blog, Selena! Thanks for connecting with us on Twitter!
    Keep up the great work and travel safe! Oh… and all the best in the New Year!
    :)

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Thanks for commenting. I love to hear from you!