Blerf Blog: Tallinn, Estonia 2018

I'll admit. I had heard of Estonia. Knew it was a "Baltic Republic". But, I had to look on a map to see exactly where it was. Tallinn? I had never heard of it.

Our day in port provided a good amount of time to check out the town. The shore excursion "walking tour" provided a good orientation. The old part of the town is split into "upper" and "lower" by elevation and class. The two parts of the city even had separate sets of laws at one time.

The view from our cabin in port. You can see the upper and lower parts of the city.

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral

Very Russian looking...because it is!

Tallinn was often under the influence or rule of other countries, Sweden and Russia predominantly. Now, with both Finland and Estonia being part of the EU, there are quite a few Estonians that commute by ferry to Helsinki each day to work.

Government building - Tallinn is the capital

St. Nicholas Lutheran's steeple

Not something you'd find at Target.

Medieval basement under gift shop leads to modern restroom

St. Olafs

Looking from the upper city to the lower

More stuff you won't find at Target

Street connecting upper and lower parts of the city

Main square in the old town

Like many cities with a medieval core, Tallinn counts on a lot of tourism. However, unlike many places, the old part of the city has not gone completely tourists. There is still a good residential component and the old city has convenience stores and markets as well as cafes, gift shops and restaurants.

We wandered out of the old town to a shopping area for lunch. It's always good to get out of the tourist areas to see what else goes on in a city.

School kids in yellow safety vests being transported about on foot was a pretty common sight in many cities we visited

Defense. A good city wall needs towers.

Tunnels under the city. Used for a wide variety of purposes over the years. Originally build for shuttling troops from one part of the wall to another, later in life it served as an air raid shelter.