Tallinn, Estonia, is one of the most famous abroad destinations for Finns and expats living in Finland. "Abroad", as I should probably write in quotation marks, because almost any one from Helsinki has been to Tallinn at least few times in his life.
Tallinn with its proximity to Helsinki makes the perfect destination for a short family weekend, a nice party trip with friends or just a place you would like to visit for literary a delicious lunch. The trip to Tallinn takes in worst case 2,5 hours one direction with a ferry, and during the summer you can reach the city from Helsinki in a bit over an hour.
The trip with the ferry complements a nice walk you will most probably have in the Old Town Tallinn, no matter of the weather. In general, Tallinn offers you the opportunity to enjoy its authentic atmosphere, with medieval pubs, taverns, crafts shops and markets, old protestants temples and shiny orthodox churches together with new and lustrous architecture and shopping malls accompanied with the sound of the old trams and a hint of remembrance of the Soviet Union's cultural heritage along with the country's constant thrive to wash away its historical existence. But to my humble opinion all of this has already weaved in the city's atmosphere and any part of it has nicely found its place amusing tourists and visitors. And because of it, you can visit Tallinn hundreds of times, and you will still find something new or something unexplored. And all of this in a small capital city with less than half a million population, Tallinn definitely worth visiting.
Our family had wonderful time in the city, and although it was a rainy day and occasionally rained cats and dogs, it could not ruin our lovey family walk. Supplied with rain coats, rubber boots and a rain cover for the push chair, we still enjoyed both rainy and post rainy Tallinn, with the charming glimmers of the rain drops and the water puddles on the cobble streets. And oh, the smell of the rain...
I am loquacious, as you notice and can go on writing about Tallinn, but instead I'll let you have a look at some of the pictures made there. And I hope that next time you consider a destination to travel to, my random ramblings about the beauty of a city charmingly combining the cultural sensibility of the North and East, will help you remember Tallinn.
I am sure Tallin will welcome you warmly.
Tere tulemast or "Welcome" in Estonian!
