Tallinn post-travelogue

As I stated here last week, we visited Tallinn during the weekend. We had a blast, weather was really nice and the hotel absolute superb.

The “business” class in Linda Line was not that swanky — the boat had old Lufthansa seats, made of grey leather, and also a pair of old Lufthansa sofas. Fortunately we entered the ship early, so we could claim one of the sofas for us.

The trip to Tallinn was overbooked, and people were swarming in the business class area. There simply were not enough seats for everyone, and some had to go to the rear of the ship. The stewardess had a typical Estonian service approach: “this is not my fault, it’s fault of the ticketing”. Everyone knows that, but still being a bit sorry for the situation would make wonders.

Otherwise the trip was swift and we were in Tallinn after 90 minutes after leaving Helsinki shore. Got a taxi from the pier to Hotel Telegraaf in the Tallinn old town.

The hotel was really, really nice. The front desk found out that our room was not yet ready, so she upgraded us. Maybe the little charming boy played some role here…

The hotel room was excellent, all amenities top-notch and the bed was large and comfortable. The service was above anything we’ve encountered in a couple years. Really friendly and attentive to the smallest details.

We didn’t spend that much time there, but went to see some views from Toompea hill. There were no clouds in the sky, so vistas were magnificent.

Toompea is not a big place, so we had a plenty of time for shopping in the new part of the city. Sanna had booked a spa treatment for the evening, so we had an early dinner in a fancy old town restaurant. It had been voted as one of the best restaurants in Tallinn, but our food was nondescript. The portions were small, too.

After dinner, I and Aapo went to sauna and pool in the hotel spa. The sauna was hot as hell and the pool water was below my comfort level; thus things were well on average…

The spa was so relaxing experience that Aapo fell asleep while we were hunting for some food for the evening.

On Sunday, we woke up too early. This happens too easily with small children. The breakfast was sumptuous, and once again the service was swift and pleasant. We visited also the spa again and then checked out to visit the new art museum KuMu.

The art was mostly Estonian and I didn’t know any of the artists. There were paintings and sculptures from late 19th century to current years. The contrast between independence and communist era were really striking.

The museum is located a few kilometers east from the city centre, so we used taxis both ways — about or less than eight euros one way, not that bad compared to prices in Finland. We also visited some shops and bought nothing.

Before going to the ship, we ate a simple Italian fare in a restaurant close to our hotel. Food was good, but really salty.

The trip back to Helsinki was uneventful, except that I had eaten something bad during the day and had some stomach troubles. Fortunately nothing major.

In Helsinki, we hopped in a tram and arrived to the train station just in time to buy a carton of milk and get into train to Espoo.

All in all, the trip was excellent — a lot of good time with the family.