Going Somewhere
Estonia in a Day
 October 7th 2019

This is a translation of a German post. View original or Never translate German
Out at sea between Helsinki and Tallinn

Three Finns in leather pants and felt hats form the house band of the Finlandia. During our trip over to Tallinn they spread Oktoberfest vibes with German culture exports along the lines of Ein Prosit and Neunundneunzig Luftballons. The cruise manager is walking around in the audience rhythmically shaking a banana-shaped maraca — "And now a round of applause for our cruise manager Mikko shaking his banana!".

Estonia in a Day

Fresh off the ferry we head over into the Telliskivi district for dinner, an almost ridiculously trendy area: Old industrial buildings, cinder brick walls covered in graffiti, a contemporary museum of photography open till late.
A red neon sign reading 'Pudel' in a hand-written font inside a stylized bottle
öllebaar
A mural on a brick wall showing a woman's face, photographed at night and illuminated by a nearby neon sign showing a stylized sattelite
Satellite
Behind sticker-covered doors lay dimly lit restaurants on former plant floors and in old train cars. The tables are decked with avocado, quinoa, falafel, hummus, Fritz Cola, Club Mate and vegan cakes.
Street-art on a house wall showing a vaguely humanoid pink creature with insane eyes and a huge nose
Some average dude
A metal-and-neon sign reading 'Must' on a black building facade
Must
A raven or crow sitting on a white security camera on a red-brick wall bordering a black brick wall
Black / Red
The next morning we walk a loose curve from our place into the old town through some residential districts.
A plant with small pink blossoms growing out from a pot hanging next to a window in a rustic wooden facade
blossom
A white security camera on a withered facade made of wooden planks that might once have been painted white
The Walls Have Eyes
Two windows in a crooked, faded green wooden facade
crooked
After a tour through the old town, uncontested tourist highlight of Tallinn, we flee from the rain into a book store and fail to comprehend how so many books are translated into Estonian for an audience of a mere 1.3 million people.
A red, Russian-style church with domed roofs emerging from behind a pastel yellow house
Church view
Tallinn Review

Do I feel qualified to review Tallinn after little more than 24 hours? No, absolutely not.
So let's try:
At its core, Tallinn is quite small — small enough to get basically anywhere by foot. The old town with its pastel coloured houses and steep red roofs is very pretty but also incredibly touristy and feels a bit sterile to me.
Chimneys poking out from a mish-mash of roofs in various shapes and shades of red
Above the city
More interesting to me is the area we pass through on our way to the old town — the houses here share a similar colour scheme but are made of withered wood rather than stone — less slick, more gritty. Also you don't walk past as many amber or souvenir shops here, although that may be a matter of taste.
A couple taking selfies in front of a red wall with the words 'The Times We Had' written on it in large black letters
the times we had
The former industrial district is definitely cool — maybe on the edge of tryhard-cool, but still cool.
Hei is Tere here, which isn't quite as cool but still alright — it feels like the people here are a bit more shy, which might be because they aren't as sure of their (good) English as the Finns are.

So, to make it quick: Skip some of the old town, go eat dinner in a train car, look at some art here and there — you're gonna have a good time.