Tuesday May 13th ~ Tallinn, Estonia
Where in the world is Estonia???
OK, so maybe I did not think this out very well. I packed clothing primarily for warm, sunny weather. Over the past few weeks, we have had rain on several occasions. We are now the proud owners of two more umbrellas.
Now that we have arrived in Tallinn, it is ____ cold and yes, raining again.
We reached our hotel last night (early this morning) around 1:00 am. Our room at Old Town Maestro is large, cozy and comfortable. Located in the old section of Tallinn, it is ideally situated for walking the town. Thank you to Karen and Jan who did all the research and found this great place.
At breakfast, it was terrific to meet up with our good friends, Dick, Karen, Jan and Gary once again. We last saw them March in New Delhi, India. The six of us are taking the Gate 1 tour together that starts on the evening of the 14th. We will have a couple of days to explore on our own prior to meeting up with our tour group.
We really enjoy taking the hop-on, hop-off busses as a way to get an overview of a city when we first arrive. We purchased a two-day pass for 38 Euros ($52) total for the two of us. There are three different routes you can choose from.
This morning we did the green and red routes, and tomorrow we plan on taking the blue route.
Here are my pictures from today. The first few were taken through the bus window, so they have some not-so-glamorous reflections.
Olympic memorial
Followed by a walk past the flower market and a few minutes roaming around in old town.
The roses were perfect
Viru Gates going into Old Town
This picture reminds me of a hollywood set from the turn of the century
Two churches between the buildings
Lunch was at the Schnitzel Haus in Old Town. They have a dozen different schnitzel options all reasonably priced at 9.90 Euros ($13.56 USD)
Our friend Dick with Joanne drying out in front of a roaring fire before a great schnitzel lunch
Cellar restaurant in a building dating back to 1476
GRATITUDE MOMENT: Today I am grateful to be spending time with good friends, sharing a schnitzel lunch, a warm fire, a good smelly cheese and semi-sweet red wine at happy hour.
A Note From Abroad 
My FB photo was taken last year when we were in Tallinn…I love that ancient city! 🙂
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My warmest greetings to Joanne, Karen and Jan and your husbands! It’s funny that you are now so close to where I live in Helsinki. No chance of crossing the sea? Anyway, enjoy your stay in Estonia. It has been amazing to follow Joanne and Tim’s adventures around the world.
Love,
Sirpa, your housemate in Guatemala
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Hello Sirpa! How wonderful to hear from you. I have such fond memories of our time together in Guatemala, especially our wild and wonderful trip to beautiful Semuc Champey. I still laugh about our day of floating down the river. No, sorry we will not get to visit your homeland on this trip, but perhaps in the future. Sending warm wishes to you.
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We must have been so lucky in May 2012 – sorry you’ve got such poor weather – it’s a great city though.
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Thankfully our weather now seems to be improving each day. Even with the cold and drizzles, we really liked Tallinn. It is one more of those hidden gems that we do not hear about in the states.
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spending time catching up on the earlier stages of your grand adventure. The Schnitzelhaus was our favorite place to eat in Tallinn . Got to know it well over the course of the three days we spent in advance of a Gate 1 tour as well (it was our go to place for lunch and dinner). Brings back fond memories.
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Tom, wasn’t that a great find. We too really enjoyed our meal there.
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