22 February 2013

Friday

Woke up at 5AM. Showered and finished packing for our trip to Tallinn. Went by taxi to meet our bus downtown. Mirja’s aunt Tyyne was able to join us. Harri, Mirja, Tyyne and I left Lappeenranta around 6AM.

The bus made a number of stops, including Hamina, Kotka and Loviisa, picking up more passengers along the way. While on the bus, we pre-ordered tax-free alcohol…it’s so much cheaper than buying it in Finland. We arrived in Helsinki around 10AM.

Boarded the Viking Line ship and departed around 11:30AM. We put our extra bags and coats in a baggage room. Everyone else left their suitcases on the bus. I didn’t realize until later that our bus (and other buses, trucks, cars) came along on the ship too!

After boarding, we went to the ship’s disco bar and had a champagne welcome drink. The bar had a live band that played a lot of traditional Finnish music, including some waltzes.

We arrived in Tallinn, Estonia around 2PM, right on time. It was a very fast express ship. What used to take 4 hours+ now takes only 2 1/2. There was lots of sea ice in spots…huge icebreakers are used to make the Gulf of Finland (Baltic Sea) navigable during winter.

Left the ship with my bags, then went to find our bus and collect everyone else’s luggage. From there, we walked to our nearby hotel. It was a cold, blustery day and we had to walk very carefully. Most of the sidewalks in Tallinn were snow-covered and quite icy.

Checked in to the Tallink hotel, then bundled up for a long walk into the Old Town section of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. The country has a rich history, enduring several Soviet and Nazi occupations. Estonia received her independence again in 1991 and is a very popular destination for Finns.

I think 88-year-old Tyyne is in better shape than all of us, especially me. We just had to make sure to hold on to her when walking the icy streets and sidewalks.

This was my first visit to Tallinn and I loved the charm and history of Old Town. Narrow cobblestone streets and beautiful old buildings. Such a nice place to visit, even in winter!

Mirja has been here many times before, most recently last month with her neighbor Liisa. She recommended a nice place for dinner, which was actually in the basement of a very old building. So cool! We all had the same steak dinner, medium for the boys and well-done for the girls. It wasn’t terribly expensive either, only about 60 euros total for 4 dinners and drinks.

We stopped at an Alko shop on the walk back to our hotel. Picked up a few bottles for the evening, then continued our journey. Went to Roberts Coffee for some java and dessert. We also had a memorable experience trying to find a working pay toilet!

Got back to our hotel around 8. Harri and I went over to Mirja and Tyyne’s room where we opened a bottle of brandy.

Harri and I went back to our room and between us, finished the bottle of brandy. Mirja and Tynne had to switch rooms because of noise from some obviously drunk hotel guests. Not us, mind you! Turned in around 11PM.