the (not so) mild days – part 5

Entered the Luxexpress bus. Once again a single comfort class seat. This would be the final Luxexpress of the trip. They proved to be a fantastic service, can’t really think of a complaint except the nitpick of the narrow luggage racks over the comfort class rows. Gotta be the best bus service I ever had the joy of experiencing. Not just in terms of the bus interior quality, or the extra perks but just the fact they were extremely reliable. All of the ones I used made sure to be where they depart from on time, without delays. The arrivals to Vilnius and Riga were on time, in fact the arrival to Riga was earlier than planned. There was a delay for Tallinn but I think there’s a justified reason for that which I’ll get to later. All in all I’m full of praise. And all that for really good prices.

This time in terms of the offered water one could get both the Estonian Varska and the Latvian water. I picked the Estonian one. In terms of music, once again made sure to go through the songs associated with Latvia (read Eurovision entries really) while still in Latvia and as a way to sort of say goodbye to the country, before transitioning to Estonia related songs and trying to make sure I time to have them play while the crossing happens. Alongside the Estonian Eurovision entries I also went through Eesti Laul entries from the years when I followed it (most notably 2016 and 2017).

Shortly before the border crossing the bus slowed down significantly. Eventually realized the delays were caused due to construction around a bridge. Through the area near the Latvia-Estonia border I had Estonia 2011 play, hoping to enter with that. But it ended before the crossing so I quickly picked a different song to mark the occasion and that song ended up being Eiolemulolla by Pohja-Tallinn. Not far from 10 years since first listening to this song, I never would’ve thought it would get the additional meaning of being the song I listened to while crossing into Estonia for the first time. It was already a happy one to give a throwback to, but now… It set a positive mood which continued with Unikaalne, from the same Eesti Laul edition. Other notable Eesti Laul songs here were Slingshot (from 2017). The positive emotions conveyed by the song are now associated with the joy of listening to it while riding the bus in Estonia. Also both songs by Grete Paia. I was a big fan of her 2016 song Stories Untold and really wanted that one to win, but now, and especially since the trip, my bigger favorite is the 2013 entry that I can’t type out without looking up the title. It’s now outright one of my favorite songs in Estonian. And another one I was a fan of, but from a more recent edition is Kulm, and ofcourse it now also has the memories of the trip attached to it. Both are kinda melancholic. That also fit with the fact that being in Estonia meant this trip was now in its penultimate country.

In the Latvia-Estonia border area the houses I could see had a more northern vibe but I could be spouting nonsense again. One of the first noticeable things after crossing is really just the language – a very different one compared to Latvian. And Estonia does have a slightly different look of traffic signs, although the signs for places were pretty much the same as in the other Baltics.

The bus did a stop at Parnu. I didn’t feel brave enough to get out and I don’t think there was much time for it anyway. From what I could tell I could see streets in Parnu that I’m sure I’d enjoy walking around. Near the stop there was also a nice art piece of the Estonian flag. I didn’t know Parnu was the “birthplace of Estonia” but I found that out thanks to this brief time passing through Parnu.

The bicycle!!

Through the ride I was doing some of the things that became standard by now. Such as looking up at the offerings of places to eat/drink at, looking where I’d go eat today. Looking at the public transport options from the bus station to the apartment, ways I could get the tickets. For the latter I basically had a file with info on public transport which I made in preparation for the trip. This file also included some places to eat and ideas for places to see in each particular city. Although for the places to eat, the HappyCow website was more useful.

I just felt really cool about being in Estonia. Through Lithuania and Latvia you could occasionally hear some (most likely) Estonian language. On the bus I could hear someone speaking what I detected to be Finnish due to the word “aina”. Both of the languages always kinda felt exotic, and just very far away. Now I was in places where it’s actually being spoken which was a unique feeling.

Soon enough this bus ride was coming to an end and the bus was entering Tallinn. Saw a blue Coop store and felt cool about it cause the color fits for Coop ngl. And ofcourse for Estonia too. Coops always feel interesting cause I saw them through various countries (Hungary, Italy, now Estonia) but I didn’t really know if they are all connected to each other in some way. I believe they aren’t, at least between these particular countries.

The bus driver did the announcements with a bit of a playful energy. I exited the bus and chose to walk to the apartment. Basically as soon as I went to the direction I needed to walk in, everything seemed to be under construction. I could pass through, but it really wasn’t too walkable at some points. Had a missed turn moment cause the place I needed to walk through didn’t seem like something you could go through and eventually reach a road from, but those impressions turned out to be wrong.

Found myself at crossroads/convergence points that you could walk through but it didn’t feel too comfortable at some points, especially when I did a few missed turns there too and the cars on these roads were going quite fast. At those points I regretted not just taking the public transport towards the apartment.

Eventually reached the large Ulemiste shopping center. The direction I needed to go to was also one giant construction site. A few days ago before writing this I found out it’s the construction of a passenger terminal related to Rail Baltica. One could go through a small passageway with stairs through some more construction feeling ground before going around another giant shopping center with a Lidl. Turns out very near there I had to cross and could go towards the apartment.

Found the apartment. Had the instructions ready. Could take out the keys. Everything felt like it was going well. But then I was trying to unlock the outer doors with the mechanical key and no matter how many times I tried and turned it around it wasn’t working so I felt like I might’ve been missing the right key. I called the host and it turns out I needed to use the small rounded part of the keychain to unlock the outer door. Then once I got into the building I successfully entered into the room. But that entrance felt more stressful and longer than it could’ve.

This apartment definitely felt on the older side in terms of furniture and provided things. There was a bit of a paper guide near the TV with some info about the city, apartment, things near the apartment. Even public transport timetables which were a few years outdated. Appreciated the effort for something like that though.

The TV sadly wasn’t that same, now already kinda familiar, Samsung smart TV. It wasn’t a smart TV at all, meaning no ability to watch anime on it. I quickly went through some channels. I waited inside the apartment till it was close enough to the tram departure which would take me towards a restaurant I wanted to have something to eat in.

The good thing about the apartment was that it was basically a few minute walk from a tram station. A few bus stations were quite close as well, offering flexibility. For this first occasion, I chose to go to the Telliskivi area with the tram to a place where I’d get something to eat. It was relatively late by now, a bit before 7pm, and I was in need of something to eat. I went outside just in short sleeves, not taking the light jacket with me.

It felt like the simplest thing to do with Tallinn public transport tickets was to just tap with the card to pay for tickets (but only on the machines closest to the front and back of the tram), so I planned to do that. I was waiting for the tram, but by the time it was supposed to come, it wasn’t happening. Eventually one with the number I needed just passed by, which caused confusion from the others waiting (and me). Finally the required tram did come but the longer wait than expected wasn’t the best first impression of the Tallinn public transport.

Inside, everything felt good, clean, modern. Due to the machine setup I found myself on the end of the tram and basically any time I used the trams I sat at the very end. This meant I could sometimes have a look towards the driver seat which was cool.

The screens in the trams that I looked at weren’t helpful for knowing what is the next station, or maybe there was some other place I could’ve been looking. I could hear the announcements for that however, and I eventually got used to the terms that I presume meant “next station”. There was this pleasant energy to the way the announcer was “saying” those words.

I got to Telliskivi. It started feeling slightly chilly but I still felt like I could manage. Didn’t take too long to find the place where I’d eat. It felt like a really stylish place with cool artworks. I looked around a bit, and then chose to sit near the wall. I loved the vibes. Got an unknown brand (but fancy looking bottle) of cola, as well as mushroom ravioli in a very creamy pepper sauce. I enjoyed it but also felt like the portions could’ve been slightly bigger. I added a bounty cake to it as well.

After that I looked around the Telliskivi Creative City. Just a really cool place to go around. Various artworks, created directly on buildings or hanged, or on the grounds as well. There was a crafted artwork of a squirrel. There is a notable middle finger sculpture which sets a vibe. One could build different characters by rotating a cubic installment with different heads, shirts, legs. Noticed a poster for a Pohja-Tallinn concert which just felt fitting due to the song kinda being in my head at those moments as well. And Telliskivi belongs to the Pohja-Tallinn area of Tallinn. I was happy to look around the creative city area before it got dark. Reached a dead end from which I could see a train (with a lovely orange-black color scheme).

Then I went to the nearby Rimi to get something to eat on the go. A bit of an underwhelming choice. I ended up taking a snack sausage (vegan) which honestly I didn’t like the taste of too much but it was edible. Now I realized I’ve actually been to a Rimi in all of the Baltics, and a large one too in each of them. Maybe the one in Lithuania (Trakai) gave the best impression.

Wanted to head towards the center to explore for a bit. Saw what looked like a nicely walkable way to get towards the center in the direction of one of the old town towers. This led me on a path right next to the train station where I had another chance to look at the trains.

Reached the old town and had a first look around. The dusk was well within its final stages, the buildings being lightened up. The city definitely didn’t feel as crowded as it might be during daytime. I felt serene walking around even if I came across a reminder of where I am from (the Cr*atian embassy).

Came across a square with what looked like a construction site, but inside of it was the separator thing that seemed to serve for people to play volleyball. Does the construction site get repurposed for temporary volleyball during evening hours? Don’t remember encountering something like that before.

Soon came to a tram station from which I took the tram back towards the apartment. This tram station was in a very modern looking part, with a bunch of bussiness glassed building and hotels. The hotel right in front of the tram station I waited on was from Tallink and I liked the decorations(?) in front of it.

The light jacket was definitely needed at this point. Learned my lesson to not skip bringing it with me in Estonia.

Day 13

Made my mind on the place to go eat, and took the tram towards the area. The tram stopped at a busy main road but I didn’t have to do much walking before I was supposed to do a left turn which led me through what felt like a wonderfully peaceful residental area. Loads of greenery in these particular streets as well, and houses with a true northern Europe feel. Already felt serene.

Then I reached the place where I’d get my breakfast. Was met with a wonderful, nice service, happy to provide me information on the different pastries and plant milks available. Vegan pastries are always a delight because of the rarity of those in my location. I had a chocolate roll, a cappuccino with oat milk IIRC, an apple (IIRC) puff pastry. Then later on a couple of sandwiches as well, which weren’t ready right when I ordered and I needed to wait on those to be prepared. But that was perfect cause I was enjoying the pastries first afterall. With the cappuccino you even get a couple of cocoa cookies. The vibes, the food, the cozy, relaxing interior, the cute Hisense fan rotating in front of me, the books and magazines on veganism that I presume you could take and read if you wanted to, the staff… Everything was just wonderful about this place.

After this I went a bit more around this area, went by the nearby park. Eventually found myself near a university, and near what I now realized was a joint building of Estonian ministries. It felt polished, modern. Now I know why (didn’t know it was a building of ministries till now). There was also a Haas building nearby aka the company with the F1 team. As I got closer to the centre, which was roughly the idea, saw a poster on the tram stop with the word “Lendav” which reminded me of the Slovenian Lendava which I cycled to multiple times. Looking at the poster, I suppose the name of the place would roughly mean “flying” in Estonian.

I was, naturally, taking some pictures of relatively “random” buildings which had what to me felt like distinct, satisfying to look architecture. One thing I love about Tallinn is how there were signs showing when you entered into distinct city areas. I mentioned something like this for Warsaw, but I don’t recall seeing such signs in Lithuania or Latvia, or maybe I just forgot.

Eventually reached the start of the central area. The exploration of that started with a peaceful park. Or well, the exploration of the center already started the evening before, but this was the first time in daylight.

Saw the medieval towers and walls for the first time and went through the surrounding park. Reached the Estonian parliament building next to the impressive cathedral. What caught my attention was the tall tower with the Estonian flag. One could go near it through a nice garden passing by the parliament building. I had the thought that I’d like to go up that one for the views, but as far as I understood that only seemed to be doable by being in a group tour or something at certain times. Nonethless I enjoyed my time going near it, relaxed a bit on a bench there. I could feel the cool winds causing me to think of the light jacket and that brought joy.

Eventually went around the walls again, going through paths I didn’t go through yet. And I found myself in what looked to be the Danish King’s garden. I didn’t know the backstory of the Danish flag was from here. But that was just the beginning. I entered the area that is essentially a square. One could see the monk sculptures put in different places. The mind went to the scenes of Monica Everett wearing a similar robe. The towers and walls were absolutely beautiful to look at and walk by. I just felt joy. The street musician sang Espresso Macchiato. I still don’t like the song, but it felt lowkey funny how I was walking around with the Eurovision tote bag and he went ahead and sang that song multiple times. One could also get a bit of a view over the old town from this square. I loved this square so much.

One of the ideas for Tallinn was to walk the city walls. I saw people within the walls from the square, so I supposed this was the place where you could do that? This was a museum building so I went inside with the idea to do go through the walls. I didn’t have an elaborate plan for where I’d walk the walls but it seemed possible to do it here. And it was. I got a ticket for entering.

But not only could I walk through the walls with that ticket. I also had access to exhibitons of old items, including an entire room set up with old items. Even some Olympics posters from the time the Union hosted them. Rooms dedicated to coffee, old bar chairs, old coffee equipment. I didn’t expect any of that extra content. I was happy enough just walking through the towers. After all that coffee related content and backstories it made a bit more sense why an Estonian singer sang a song such as Espresso Macchiato.

Walking through the towers was a lovely experience. There is a cafe bar from which you could take your drink and bring it to the walls and sit down and enjoy the moment. Which is exactly what I did. I loved the view from here towards the old town and sea. And on the walls there were also wooden horses, adding another Silent Witch reference. In fact, coffee in itself can also very much be a Silent Witch reference. So with all these references, and the type of building I was in, it only felt appropriate to wonder… Am I in the Silent Witch era?

After exiting the walls I went around the square once more to take it in and get some more pictures of the old town views. Then went around the square and found myself in a bit of a dead end. Soon went to the old city on the other side of the dead end. Took a picture of a traffic sign in Estonian because I found it to be cool, which was a moment when a car honked at me. Whatever lmao.

What I did already on the bus the previous day was reserve a table at one of the highest rated vegan restaurants in Tallinn. They didn’t have tables available the day before so I just chose to make my lunch for this day be there. Definitely not the most spacious place. Reservations felt necessary. But probably worth it. The crispy tofu chicken I got was incredible. Brilliant watermelon juice as well. Can’t complain about the dessert either. Definitely not the cheapest but I was able to live with that. That crisp remains in my mind as an example of top tier crispiness.

The restaurant is placed quite centrally so it was a great point for continuing on with exploring. Going up that one cobblestone hill had a distinct feel to it cause of the grand buildings that appear on the side as you go upward.

Eventually found myself in what would be the main square I suppose. The Town Hall building actually kinda gave me vibes of being on the main Koper square for some reason. And I noticed the dragon on it as well, which would add a Ljubljana element to it. But then as I saw the other colored buildings, the light blue and pink ones, the ones with Estonian text on it… A feeling of distinctly Estonian prevailed. The crowdedness of the square however, and probably the architecture as well, also reminded a bit of the rebuilt Warsaw square too.

Came across a message to P*tin about speeding up things to a certain point. One I saw on the internet a while ago that I felt was popular. Continued on through the old town, supported a street musician, saw more medieval towers and walls. Walls that felt longer than the ones I walked earlier. That led to a nice medieval street with displayed stone carvings.

This was the point when I chose to take a bit of a break. I went just outside the old town area and I ended up taking a bus with the plan to stop at the Ulemiste shopping centre for some more experiences of shopping in Estonia. For whatever reason I felt like entering a large Estonian shopping center could be a futuristic experience or something. From the outside the shopping centers certainly screamed modern.

The bus reached the Ulemiste area. But I went off at what was probably one station earlier than the “optimal” one if you aimed to get to the Ulemiste shopping center. But that in itself was fine since it was still basically right by the shopping center. But I also realized that perhaps the only store in the Ulemiste shopping center that might have food items was a Rimi, and I already had the Rimi experience in Estonia. But there was also the other giant shopping center with a Lidl right by the Ulemiste shopping center. And that shopping center also included another store I didn’t went to in Estonia or the Baltics yet, and that one was Selver. So I just continued onto that other shopping center (T1) to go to there.

The T1 center sure looked impressive on the outside, and polished on the inside. In the Selver store I was a bit undecisive on what I’ll even get to eat for dinner. I remember checking out a souvenir type of section. And wanting to use a self checkout but having no clue how to do it due to seeing those devices that I assume are for scanning items as you go through the store? I wasn’t sure how these things worked as I never had a chance to use them. So my only choice ended up being the regular checkout.

Then it was a relatively short walk to the apartment from there. What I got was some vegan cheeses and salami to eat with rye bread because I gathered rye bread was big in these parts. I guess the meal was fine but nothing groundbreaking. But don’t get me wrong I liked the rye bread. I wanted to eat as quickly as possible cause the idea was to head back out and walk towards the not too distant Kadriorg park and then continue onwards towards the shore for a wonderful sunset moment.

Went through the cool pedestrian/bicycle bridge at the end of the apartment street. This then led towards the area of the park. Wonderful paths to walk around the beautiful greenery. The scenery was feeling particularly magical as the dusk was doing its thing. Someone else also took pictures near the fountains.

Eventually reached the presidental building, guarded by two guards. It was nice enough, and pink, but the bigger highlight was definitely the art museum building. Took my time walking around it and the surrounding area. Someone had a photoshoot around it.

Going towards the shore from there was a matter of heading onto a straight path from the park towards a monument, from which I went towards the shore. Someone was DJing and a decent amount of people were dancing around. I basically timed things perfectly in terms of the sunset scenery. Took my time just enjoying the scenes, and relaxing, whether it was by sitting for a bit or just standing or walking around. Eventually a Tallink ship came to the port which I watched as it was happening.

Since I was this close, the next objective basically became to go to the ferry terminal. First I basically just tried to reach the end of what looked like the walkable parts near the shore and the entrance to the terminal area. But this was only a part for vehicles so obviously walking there wasn’t a smart idea. So I then walked on the sidewalks with the aim to get to the ferry terminal entrance. Ofcourse used a toilet beforehand (which wasn’t the most impressive). The walk to the entrance actually felt longer than I might’ve anticipated.

I got there and I liked the paper boat sculptures near the ferry terminal. They even had lighting in different colors which was cool. Near the terminal entrance I could see Kaarija on an ad for what seemed to be a betting thing… I went inside the terminal and tried to familiarize myself. This was really the main reason I went through the effort of entering it – to get a feel for the ferry terminal before I was going to use it a couple of days later.

From here I went back towards the apartment with busses. This led me to having to take a connection at a bit of a random station at dark in Tallinn. The stop was a bit less flashy than that tram stop from the night before. It worked out fine.

Day 14

Headed out around 9:30am. I believe I had some of that food from yesterday as a light breakfast before heading out. The first destination in plan was actually the centrally located Coop store that was by the bus station I used the previous day on that late afternoon return to the stores/apartment area. I was curious about the Coops of Estonia.

I thought I’d have an easy time getting off the tram station and locating the store but I made a mistake or two along the way. Came across what I now see is some type of an event hall called “Vatican”. I wasn’t paying enough attention because as I was getting closer to the Coop and went through a park area, I suddenly saw what looked to be reporters, and the woman put an orange mic in front of me after saying something in Estonian. All I could do was clumsily say something like “I’m a tourist, so no” and continue walking forward.

I did reach that Coop. It was quite a small shop. Was hoping to get something convenient to eat, maybe from a prepared meals section or bakery section but I felt there wouldn’t be enough of a choice considering the size. Took a couple of those tofu bars I first tried in Latvia, a small Alpro drink, and a Coop flavoured water with some vitamins. The amount in the bottle was a a bit specific, a bit over 500ml. Felt like good value compared to the other drinks.

I had a wonderful time walking the city walls the day before. So I proceeded to look for those longer city walls I saw the day before but didn’t go through. As always after a couple of wrong turns, I found the place. It really was a significantly longer stretch available to walk through. Different views available from the openings on the wall side. Colorful decorations on the wooden side on one end. I found the view in the tower on one end, towards the walls you just crossed and the opposite tower particularly beautiful.

Less extra content compared to the Danish King’s Garden. Some comparison photos and text from different places in Tallinn. Some torture devices. A medieval toilet (very basic). Some furniture, a decorated room in a place next to which you can get a coffee. Which I did. It was another day and another medieval espresso. The same room had a chess board with figures so yay a Silent Witch!! reference.

After that, walked around with the aim to find that one said-to-be high quality bakery where I’d get a cinnamon roll. Felt like the type of place that was always a bit crowded. Enjoyed the cinnamon roll however and enjoyed walking around the old town and eating it. The walking that now followed was with the aim to get to the church tower.

Turns out that the square where they played volleyball earlier was used for playing through the day as well. Some sort of official event seemed to be going on. Maybe it was a temporary volleyball field for the purposes of that event.

Along the way to the church tower I came across the Russian embassy. This was full of different messages, flags, symbols, symbolic items, photos… Really the best way to convey that would be to let the images speak for themselves. Going through those messages was an emotional experience.

A bit later I came across a souvenir shop called “The (silent) Witch’s hat”, without the word “silent” in the name. This was right by the church I was looking to go to, in order to climb up the tower. I was told to leave my tote bag with the worker, due to the tight space. Fair enough. This was just a lot of climbing up stairs. Small windows to glance through and use as a breather. Tricky to navigate around other people. A bit of a place where you could sit just before you reach the very top. The views were good and worth it, but again some tricky navigating around the top of tower. Not an ideal place for running across people.

After that I felt ready to go have lunch somewhere. The place I chose was some 10 minute walk from the tower. In fact just in front of the train station. Felt like having an ice coffee (with soy milk). It was actually a decently warm day, no need for the light jacket. I had a green pasta meal (including edamame, pumpkin seeds, brussel sprouts and more). Not an overly busy place (not that it was bad in any way). One needed to request a key for the toilet which felt like a first, at least through this trip.

After I was done, seeing as I was so close to the train station, I went ahead and had a closer look at the trains which I really liked the color scheme of (black and orange). Would’ve loved to use them but that wasn’t part of the plan on this occasion.

What did end up part of the plan was to visit the Bastion tunnels. Before that I did some more walking around the old town. Looked at an uphill path near the Kiek in de Kok, sat on the nearby bench and thought if I should go up there. Chose not to do so. Came across a street musician group and the people gathered seemed to really enjoy them which was nice to see.

Entered the Bastion tunnels museum. At first there were some firefighting related exhibitions. The lighting was, I suppose understandably, pretty bad for taking pictures, at least on my phone. One of the more memorable things for me was the usage for the tunnels through the years, how it was used by punks at some point, or for Soviet propaganda storage. While inside there was a tour group. At one point I was genuinely annoyed because I couldn’t focus on reading the signs in peace, and it probably showed in my walking speed oops as I went ahead of the group while they were sat down listening to a lecture. In my defence I can actually say I didn’t seem to be the only person annoyed, one couple seemed that way too.

There were also some short films being shown in different parts. One part with ghost/spooky type of effects so one could recall the Toradora cave episode. Towards the end stone carvings, some of them giving vibes of astrological charts.

Afterwards sitting on a bench near the Norwegian embassy. A melancholic feeling creeping in. The stay in Estonia was nearing its end. I did a bit more of city exploring before going back towards the apartment. Before that headed towards the nearby Lidl for a couple of food items (one of them being a hazelnut milk).

By a little after 6pm I was done with the Lidl. I felt compelled to be back in the apartment at this time because I needed to pack things and I had an early morning ferry the next day. The time in Estonia ended up being the shortest out of the Baltics and Finland. A relatively late bus arrival, technically 2 full days but the other I was “done” with by the early evening. No extra morning time before the next destination because of how early the ferry was. It was a bit of a sacrifice to maximize time for Finland.

Caught some sort of Estonian comedy seemingly based in the 20th century on the TV. As I packed I played Kulm on the phone. I was kinda sad. But there was still a very special chapter of this story awaiting.

I tried to go to sleep as early as possible. I was in bed with lights out at a little past 9pm.

Day 15

It was dawn.

I was a bit worried if the tram would arrive “enough” on time seeing as it wasn’t always the case. But I believe technically even if the first tram I waited for wouldn’t come, I was still gonna be fine with time if taking the second tram. In any case I got to the ferry terminal with enough time in hand. Very convenient to have the tram line pass by the ferry terminal. While the tram itself had a good amount of passengers, the streets did still feel noticeably less trafficky than at other times. I was saying my internal goodbyes to Tallinn as the tram passed through different parts of the city.

I made my last photos while on the ground in Tallinn. It was of the morning sky looking towards a Tallink ship, among other ones. The air was chilly. I went towards the ferry terminal which I “got to know” a bit the other day. Successfully got through the gate and into the waiting area. There wasn’t too much time before I could head onto the ferry. I tried my best to get towards the front of the lines because I felt like it might be important to be able to find a space in the luggage lockers and to get the best possible seats. The boarding eventually started and ngl I was in a bit of a rush. But in hinsight, there probably wasn’t a huge need to be rushing.