TALLINN, ESTONIA

2015-11-11, 21:45, THORIN

STAY: OLD TOWN ALUR HOSTEL

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Early on the morning of May 25th, we got to the Helsinki ferry terminal, and jumped on the 8:30 ferry to Tallinn, Estonia. Obviously, any ferry we jump on is a booze cruise, and this was no exception. In fact, booze is so dear in Finland that the Finns regularly hop on the ferry to Estonia with their cars, load up the boot with booze, and go home again. Consequently, this 8:30am ferry had at least two bars serving slightly overpriced lager. Naturally we partook (as it seemed rude not to)! In fact, the boat itself had a duty free, which opened shortly after departure with a queue waiting for it to open at least 30 people deep! 

The ferry journey was only a few hours, and we got off the boat in chilly Tallinn! The ferry terminal is not super remarkable, but the old town (and main attraction) was only a ten minute walk away. And let me tell you, Tallinn old town is absolutely stunning. Gorgeous Scandinavian-esque church spires tower over the city of winding cobble streets and stunning mediaeval architecture. Estonia is the most 'Scandinavian' of the Baltic countries, sharing linguistical and cultural roots more closely related to Finland than its Baltic and Slavic neighbours (Tallinn in particular as it is right on the coast). This gives the city a distinct Scandinavian feel, if not slightly influenced by russian culture.

We spent the day wandering around, taking many pictures and sampling the local food (some is delicious, some is not so delicious!). As the evening rolled around, we met a few people in our hostel who were all going to a local bar with the people that ran it. The chance to go drinking with Estonians was too good to pass up, so we lept at the chance. It was great! We went to two seemingly Viking themed bars (although that could just be the local style), one in a stone cellar. However let me back track to discuss the crowd. The hostel owner was an irish bloke, who was dating a local (who was super cool). We played some drinking games with him, her, her sister and some other hostel randos (A Finnish girl who sung black metal, and a bloke from Cumbria who said he was to thick to learn the rules). Hysterically, a bizarre fight broke out between the the Irish guy and his gfs sister over someone not following the rules of the game properly, and it escalated QUICKLY. Hilariously and raucously he left and the rest decided to go to the bars. By the end of the night (which never seemed to end as the sun never went fully down!) we were all arm in arm, sharing war stories. Or something like that. 

The next day we crept out of the hostel after the hilarious night and hopped on a bus to Riga!