I traveled to Estonia in between Semesters 1 and 2 during my study abroad semester in Berlin, Germany. I planned a five day Baltic adventure, beginning in Tallinn Estonia. 

 

My trip began on Friday, September 20. I flew from Tegel in Berlin to Tallinn, Estonia with Airbaltic. I had never heard of Airbaltic before and I had my doubts about this airline but I was fairly impressed. There was no one in the seat beside me so I could spread my legs out a bit more. The flight was under two hours. It was raining when I arrived in Tallinn. I did not feel like figuring out public transport from the airport so I got a very cheap Uber to my Airbnb. The Uber driver told me that the Estonian language is most similar to Finnish and that Estonian has no similarities to its neighboring language, Latvian. I found this extremely interesting. He also told me that a lot of the people in the Baltic countries speak Russian as well. My Airbnb is really nice and right outside of the Old Town. I settled in and went to the grocery store right around the corner from my Airbnb. I found it quite interesting that there was no dialogue between cashier and customer. Some of the people checking out left their headphones on during the whole check out procedure. The whole store was silent and I found it to be just awkward. I got pizza and garlic bread for dinner, although they were certainly not the best I have had. After dinner, I had plans to go and take night pictures of the old town, but as I stepped out of my Airbnb and saw that it was raining hard, I decided to stay in for the night.

 

Early the next morning, I made breakfast in my Airbnb and walked through the park to the Old Town. Of course it was drizzling, but it was not that bad. I did not even need to use my umbrella. I explored the Old Town for about an hour and a half. The Old Town is surrounded by a very old castle wall. All of the streets are cobblestone and no one was out on the streets this early, meaning I could explore without any interruptions. One of my favorite sites in the Old Town is the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, pictured below. Tallinn also has a ton of street art, especially when you exit the Old Town. The Street Art is very tasteful and very well done, something that most cities do not possess. Tallinn is a very up and coming city in my opinion. They are rebuilding a lot outside of the Old Town. They are also extremely environmentally friendly, which I did not expect them to be.

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Alexander Nevsky Cathedral 

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Old Town Tallinn Castle Wall

 

I checked out of my Airbnb and went to Kadriorg Palace, located in a beautiful park. This was definitely the highlight of my time in Estonia. The palace is very colorful and there are fountains and gardens in the back of the palace. Almost no one was there so I could get some really good photos. Unfortunately, the weather was not very good so there is a grey sky in every photo. I walked a bit more around the park. There were a lot of families out walking around. The park is very well kept and seems to be very kid-friendly. I then walked to the harbor. The smell of the Baltic Sea was actually quite awful. I got to see all the cruise ships at the harbor though. Tourists come by the hundreds every day via cruise ship into Tallinn. There are cruises that include Helsinki, Tallinn, and Saint Petersburg. All three are capital cities that are located right near the sea, forming a perfect travel route for cruise ships.

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Kadriorg Palace

 

I will say now, Estonia was my favorite out of the three Baltic countries that I visited. I liked that I did not feel as though I was in a city. Everything that I saw was very beautiful and as I already mentioned, Tallinn feels very up and coming. I could imagine a life in Tallinn.

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