Beatboxing the Baltic
Instantly on arriving in Tallinn it appears to be a far more thriving place than Riga. Still the same pattern of old town, this time rather attractively on a hill as opposed to beside a river, surrounded by more recent development of which there has been quite a bit. From what I’ve read Estonia is the success story of the European Union expansion into the Baltic. Skype was created here, turns out fittingly as we sure put it through its paces but more on that in a bit. It definitely feels more cosmopolitan, where in Riga a couple of blocks out of the old city it was almost immediately run down Tallinn has skyscrapers and malls. Usually I wouldn’t view this as a positive but here it feels kind of hopeful so will let it slide.
Lookout over the lower old town.
I am gradually settling into the backpacking routine again – arrive, preliminary money change of a small amount to be able to use local transport, find local transport, find map of local transport, argue a bit about local transport, take local transport (in this case buses), find hostel conveniently located under a stripclub (a great look the next morning when outside in the courtyard gateway having coffee and cigarette then realise why all the passersby are smiling is cos right overhead is a sign for the top floor establishment). Change more money trying to estimate how many Kroons will be needed for a couple of days accurately enough not to get burned too much by exchanging money too many times yet still having enough to have a good time. All pretty straightforward on about an hours assessment of prices, find supermarket, find pub.
The old town itself is nice enough all cobbled streets, well preserved 14th century walls and towers, the first onion dome cathedral of the trip pleasantly perched on the top of the hill, nice lookout from said hill, icy wind blowing straight off the sea. Further afield is the obligatory Soviet victory monument, this time nicknamed An Impotent’s Dream. Weddings, weddings, weddings and some markets selling amazingly ugly knitwear (if you’ve seen that Sigur Ros tour of Iceland dvd there are some here similar but). A good pastry selection but a strange attitude to sitting and eating in malls in that we were sitting and eating and this attracted a similar amount of strange looks as say a couple making out in an over the top way.
File under people are often annoying.
The heart attack indicator is still climbing steadily. Today’s encouragement was ‘täidetud pannkoogid’ literally filled pancakes. Having not had time for breakfast, been on the bus through lunch we were appropriately hungry when we sat down in a nice little place that has these as their specialty. The colloquial term is ‘Tule homme jälle’ or ‘Come again tomorrow’ the idea is that these pancakes are so satisfying and tasty, that you’d want to return for more on the following day. Well they were good but I think this was the first time I’ve encountered sickly savoury. Like sickly sweet where you just can’t eat more because the flavour is so intense that it catches in your throat. Mine was like distilled smoked salmon and about 200g of cream cheese. In a pancake. On a positive note I did manage to identify and order milk from the menu.
Other walking around got us out to a fairly depressing beach looking out over the Gulf of Finland. An Impotent’s Dream, kind of misnamed seeing as it’s a fairly phallic obelisk though I suppose an impotent would dream of tall towers made of stone, stood at the far end but as a bahbushkah shuffled by the walk seemed a little taxing. We had been running from the exuberance of youth at the last place where there were just too many weddings and now old age or a cold wind made me tighten my kuffiah and further zip up my jacket and turn away. The next discovery was from an age when the only true way to show a girl you cared was to build an overly large house in a far off place, this one being for Catherine by Czar Peter I. Finally it was to the viking take on Prague’s Old Town Square that is Raekoja Plats and its 600 year old hall, squashed together buildings, and most importantly the best hot chocolate in existence. So thick and pure you actually need a teaspoon to drink/eat and consumed in the vaulted crypt that was the back room this was a great way to reflect on the day.
Us in the garden.
The hostel we got is a morgue. It is in a great location and very tastefully named being called Vanna Tom, but there doesn’t seem to be anyone else around. With more of a motel feel downstairs where all the private rooms are and then upstairs the dorms which back onto the aforementioned strip club. In our room are only us and some mystery people who have stuff but don’t seem to exist and then five empty bunks. So there was us in this huge empty building going a little bit crazy, then realised we had not had anything to drink all day and were actually a bit delerious. Fun way to decide what to do at night.
We were supposed to meet up with Aussie Joe but having no phone makes this difficult. Went looking for him down at his hostel which I am very glad we are not staying in as it was full of very serious people having an intense, self-righteous conversation in a big circle and the whole thing is open plan so there is no escape. Luckily we managed to escape, Rdoc and I were desperate to get out of there and just managed to dodge the flanking maneuver a group of Americans were trying to execute. It was easy to see why Aussie Joe has left before our scheduled meeting time. We end up wandering aroudn a bit and stumbled across an ‘event for young people’ which turns out to be a beat box competition which we watch for a long time – wicked. Rdoc and I push on and try to find somewhere decent to have a drink but doesn’t cost 200k to get in (free if you’re an immaculately dressed Russian). This city is supposed to be the new British boozing capital of Europe but establishments seem a little thin on the ground. Try and work out this cover system at what could well be a masquerade ball by asking the three girls in front of us
“Excuse me, d…”
“No excuse me, no!” flicks pony tail in turning back around.
Try a couple of other places, we didn’t have masks on us, before finally finding something decent that turns out to be about twenty metres from the entrance to the hostel.
Struggle awake the next morning to walk down to the ferry terminal.
Tags: architecture, drinking, entertainment, estonia, food, girls, monument, Tallinn
montombo