A City Imbued with Stories: Day 1

Time visited: September 2022

Time spent: Three nights

When Finland was confirmed as the first destination of our month-long holiday in 2022, Rakesh suggested that we add Tallinn to our itinerary. With international travel still on hiatus due to COVID, our preparations started with a bucketful of hope and excitement mixed with a spoonful of trepidation! To plan our three nights in the city we knew very little about, we turned to our trusted sources including Rick Steves, Richard Ayoade (Travel Man Season 2019) and Flying the Nest.

The easiest way to reach Tallinn from Helsinki is by ferry. The main operators are Viking Line, Tallink and Eckerö Line. We chose Eckerö Line because our Tallinn Airbnb was only about a kilometre's walk from A-Terminal, where M/S Finlandia (the Eckerö Line ferry) docked, and the website was easy to navigate. Adult tickets were €19 each, and for ShNaajh we paid a mere €10. Even though the journey was only two hours and 15 minutes, we booked a four-person inside cabin for €25 to keep our backpacks - the price was the same as a two-person cabin. The adult ticket price seems to have risen to €22 and the cabin now costs €34.

We boarded the 9:00 am ferry, collected our key cards from the kiosk and followed the signs to the cabin. The key cards didn't work at first. After multiple failed attempts, we headed back to the kiosk downstairs and were given replacement cards along with three drink vouchers 'for the inconvenience'! We utilised them of course, for three hot chocolates! we also bought some nibbles.

Then we went on the deck. The sun was tearing through the clouds, but the lingering chill and strong wind forced us back downstairs and inside within 15 minutes. We spent the rest of the journey exploring the ship with its impressive on-board services and facilities and sitting in the lounge, watching the waves created by the ship on the Baltic Sea.

Tallinn's Old-Town-scape emerged on the horizon. We disembarked and followed Google Maps to where our Airbnb host had left the key. The location was in a street parallel to the one our Airbnb was in, about 200 metres away. Like a couple of others, our key safe was attached to an ironwork around a rain pipe. This was somewhat novel, because, for all other Airbnbs where we'd stayed previously, the key safe was always just outside the Airbnb, usually mounted on the door. Our Tallinn Airbnb was probably the quirkiest we've ever stayed in. The flat was in a 15th-century residential building in Old Town and retained several medieval architectural features. The toilet, shower and sauna, for example, were inside a medieval chimney!

We dropped off our luggage and headed to Loiri Pagar, a budget-friendly bakery, for some danishes and pastries.

Then we set out to explore the charming Old Town of Tallinn. The first landmark we came upon was the Long Leg Gate, which was at the lower end of a cobbled stone street called Pikk Jalg (Long Leg). The gentle, steady slope of Pikk Jalg was used for riders and horse-drawn carriages. Its steeper counterpart, the Short Leg, was for pedestrians. Steps were added later to the Short Leg so the ascent was easier, especially during winter. There was a wooden door at the lower end of the Short Leg Gate. This oak door from the early 17th century is studded with decorative large-headed nails.

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral was only about 100 metres from the Short Leg Gate. The onion domes make it quite obvious that the architecture is Russian. The cathedral was a reminder of Russia's political and religious rule over Estonia. After independence, Estonians wanted the cathedral demolished, which never happened. The cathedral now stands as an architectural masterpiece. Entry into the cathedral is free but photography is prohibited inside.

On the right of the Cathedral is the Million Kroon Toilet! How do we know this? Well, our Tallinn in a Nutshell Walking Tour guide Dominic told us the story (, and we never not believe in stories, especially in a city where they are found in the most nondescript nooks and corners)! Soon after independence, the Estonian government wanted to give visiting dignitaries a good impression that it had lots of money, so they built this toilet on Toompea Hill. It cost one million in Estonian currency! Dominic's word of caution: do not expect to see gold toilet seats there!

Opposite the Cathedral was Toompea Castle, the Estonian Parliament Building. We went around the building to take a look at the Tall Hermann. Every day at sunrise, but not earlier than 7:00 am, the national flag of Estonia is raised there, and is lowered at sunset. It's a very special flag because it was originally the flag of the Estonian Students’ Society and became a national symbol during the independence movement at the end of the 19th century. The blue of the flag symbolises a bright future and the Nordic sky; the black the dark past of the nation and the soil; and the white striving towards enlightenment. Interestingly, the barn swallow, which is the national bird of Estonia, has these same colours.

Then we went to the must-see museum complex of Kiek in de Kök. Despite how it sounds (!), the supposedly Old German phrase actually means 'peek in the kitchen'. From the vantage point of this artillery tower, the largest in the Baltic States, one could peep into the enemy's kitchen.

The museum complex comprises four towers: Kiek in the Kök, Neitsitorn or the Maiden Tower, Tallitorn or the Stable Tower (, which used to be a dungeon), and Väravatorn or the Gate Tower. The Bastion Passages run underneath the towers.

The Maiden Tower has a unique rectangular shape. Legend has it - courtesy: Dominic - that it was an old prison for medieval virgins who refused to accept arranged marriages to 'grumpy old medieval kings'! If the women didn’t change their minds, they’d live and die there. It’s said to be haunted by the ghosts of those medieval virgins! The city wall can be accessed through the Maiden Tower and provides an easy walk to the Stable Tower and the Gate Tower.

The Stable Tower was an infamous prison because it was cold and prisoners were held in chains. It was also said to be haunted at night. The message itself, written on its wall, almost chilled us to the bone!

And then there were the Bastion Passages! This impressive Swedish earthwork fortification was built to defend Tallinn against artillery fire when the Great Northern War between Sweden and Russia reached the city in 1710. Over the following centuries, the passages were used as air raid shelters, to store museum artefacts as well as Russian propaganda material, and by the punk and homeless. The cleaning and renovation of the passages started in 2004, and it opened to the public in 2007. The accessible length of the Bastion Passages within the museum complex is almost 400 metres. Being underground, it's a spooky walk, made spookier by the lighting, the shadows and the wax figures.

At the end of the Bastion Passages is the Carved Stone Museum. Carved stones were customary decorations in medieval times. The images included ornaments, family crests, coats of arms, and flowers and plants.

We visited Kiek in de Kök and the Bastion Passages on our first day in Tallinn and the Maiden Tower the following day, but it'd be wiser to visit the entire museum complex on the same day because, believe it or not, they are covered by the same ticket and that's what we'd purchased on our first day but didn't utilise! A family ticket for the whole museum cost €24. Now it's €32.

Our final destination was a supermarket on the other side of the iconic Viru Gate. As you walk out of Old Town through the gate, you will most certainly spot a tall white building in the distance. That is Hotel Viru. Opened in 1972, it was used as a surveillance station by the Soviets. The entire hotel was bugged to spy on foreign nationals. Estonians weren't allowed in the hotel. We didn't manage to go on a guided tour although we wanted to - it's €14 for adults and €7 for children between 10 and 15.

The Prisma Old Town supermarket had everything we needed for all our meals for the three days we stayed in Tallinn, but we ended up not using quite a bit of the food we'd bought! Why? Day 2 will tell!