Tallinn

In Scandinavia - Baltic 2004, Europe On 19/08/2004 One comment

When we arrived in Tallinn it was raining and cold. We went for a coffee and walk a little in the old town. I was impressed by the amount of tourists despite of the rain. We walked on the narrow streets with groups of English, German and Spanish people. They were all with their rain jackets and photo camera. Places with many tourists, specially groups, make me claustrophobic. It was as if we were in Disneyland visiting organized old towns, there was even a trolley to take visitors for a drive around downtown.

I spent a great part of my days on lectures. My mother was walking around town and going to souvenir shops. We found out that the city was not so touristy as we thought, there were only times that groups would invade downtown. In my understanding, it could be the time when cruise ships stopped there for a few hours. The old town could be very beautiful and pleasant, specially on the evenings and hours with little tourism.

In one of the days in town we went to a party on a square where they had salmon barbecue and hamburgers. We ate there, the salmon was delicious. And we stayed a little looking at the senior ladies coral presentation, music and people with typical costume. They were commemoration the day of Restoration of Independence, when Estonia regains independence after Soviet times.

We were only for two days in Tallinn but could have an idea of the city. The people in general are very friendly and considerate. It caught our attention that the waitresses of bars and restaurants were very young and they all spoke English pretty well.