The Baltic beauty with the warmth of the Med
OUR suitcases bump along ramshackle cobbles towards our hotel. The streets of old Tallinn are almost too narrow for cars, and the spires of centuries-old churches press against a deep blue sky. In some ways, Tallinn feels like a mountain town in Italy, but it lies on the northern shores of the Baltic. It only slipped the shackle of its Soviet past a couple of decades ago. Yet the city is intimate and European, ancient and charming.
The joy of Tallinn is simply being here. It’s impossible not to have a great time. Everyone is so positive and so happy. Service comes with a smile, a joke, and a sense that these delightful people are genuinely glad to see you. Perhaps it’s their relief at no longer being under the Soviet yoke – or perhaps Estonia has always been this warm and generous.
Climb the steep roads to the city’s ancient heart and you’ll find lookout points with views of the walled city below. You’ll see a church spire that was once the tallest in Europe, and a roofscape that appears almost Mediterranean. Alternatively, wander from shop to shop, stall to stall, and alongside the usual postcards and dolls in national dress you will find stunning ceramics and gorgeous textiles. This is a creative and artistic city.
It takes all of 15 minutes to walk from one side of Tallinn’s centre to the other, and whatever route you choose, you are guaranteed to love it.
Meandering through the streets, we even find a hotel whose front window is a display of stuffed animals at a dining table: a huge boar eats sausages with a hare, while foxes and ravens hover for the scraps – a frozen tableau from a tale that perhaps Aesop never quite got around to telling.
We also spend a surreal evening in a karaoke bar where the playlist is almost exclusively Finnish folk songs, and we make friends with a cheerful group of Finns who are in Tallinn to get drunk, because booze is cheap here. Their mission is a success; they treat us to several raucous songs, and one of them remains resolutely asleep throughout, flat out on a bench.
We have just a day and a half in Tallinn, and we could have done with perhaps a day longer. It’s the perfect destination for a long weekend break. We’ve been home a month – already it’s tempting to go back.