So yes, I woke at 3am in order to get the coach at 4am. We were getting the ferry from Helsinki at 7am, so that we could get to Tallinn by 9am. We then had a bit of a wonder round before being met by our tour guide for the day. He had a very nice accent :) Anyway, he was a student from the university of Tallinn and so gave the perspective of young people in Estonia. Having only got its independence 18 years ago, it is still somewhat of a new country. It is however clearly taking its example from Finland. There are many Finnish companies here, and a lot of the shop and restaurant workers speak Finnish (its very similar to Estonian, and most of the tourists are Finns).
First he took us on the coach to the presidential palace. From here we could also see the art museum built into limestone (Estonia's national rock - do we have an official rock in the UK I wonder?) Anyway, the palace was very nice, and the flag was up so he was in. It was right by a lovely park with lots of ducks. Still happily swimming in the frozen lake. Nutters.
We then carried on to the song festival grounds. Every 4 years or so Estonia holds a huge song festival. Coincidently it is due to be held this summer. This is where I fell over for the first time all year. Very annoyed, thought I was getting the hang of this snow thing. Oh well.
We then had a quick look around a more wooden area of Tallinn before heading back to the old town. A few more chances to take some photos from the viewing platform and then it was time to check into the hotel. Was very nice, and very close to everything. (the breakfast was great too, hehe).
But after that it was time to go and sample a medieval feast. Tallinn's old town is really old. Medieval old. So they have a place called Olde Hansa, which serves authentic medieval cuisine (no potatoes here). They also sell items made in a medieval way. For example I bought a hand-made glass, complete with blobs on the side to help you grip it with your greasy hands. Luckily for our feast we were permitted knives and forks! The food was good, but quite rich. You really couldnt eat too much of it. After that we had another beer before heading back to the hotel to prepare for the evening.
Our tour guide was involved in ESN Tallinn, and told us that they were holding the welcome party for the new exchange students that night and we were very welcome to join them. Having been up since 3am, it probably wasnt a good idea. But the club was just 2minutes walk from the hotel, and we were going to be spending most of the next day on a coach, so I braved it (with a bit of a hand from some nice Estonian cider). Was a lot of fun. A nice place and relatively good music. Was tucked up in bed by 2am though.
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