I'm just going to say it, Tallinn is amazing. Moving past the primary European capitals / tourism centers, I think I haven't enjoyed a European city this much since Krakow, and this honestly might be better. Now, it is not a giant city, so I don't think I short-changed it with my 2.25 day visit (noon on Wednesday through 4pm on Friday). What also hit home hard to me is when I got myself out the door by 10:45am today, it was only about 90 minutes earlier than the boat arrived into Tallinn yesterday - in all reality, Wednesday was a full day in Tallinn.
Today was going to be centered around the historical heart of Tallinn, its large old town and various points bordering it. After spending my first day in all places but Old Town (aside from lunch and late night), today would be almost the opposite. And as I learned through my meandering, this is for good reason. The day started with my walking into and then through the old town, entering through the Viru Gate, getting a brief glimpse of their main town square, before I ventured up a slight hill to an elevated part of the old town containing two notable churches and two equally notable lookout sites.
The first church is the Alexander Nivisky Church, a Russian Orthodox church with many spires and minarets on the outside, and a cavernous main hall inside. Sadly, they didn't let you take photos inside, but it was quite a regal place. The second church was the St. Mary's Cathedral, a catholic church but same idea of not being able to take pictures inside. Not sure why that was an SOP for the first two places. Where you could take photos, though was the lookout taht overlooked the old town, with its red tile roofs and four or five towers with spires - along with the more modern parts of Tallinn behind it. From this view, Tallinn is just stunning. Even teh red tile roofs, which are fairly standard in Europe across a lot of places (notably so Spain or Portugal), are a bit unique here, with they being more varied in shape, size, height across the entire old town.
Back at ground level in the old town I went to lunch at Restaurant Retesaevu 16 (the name being the street address) which is a lovely restaurant in old town serving up modern takes on classic Estonian dishes, bordering between fancy and traditional. Their bread as a start was lovely, but even better was their duck fillet starter with chicken pate, and eggplant and thin ham-like slices of duck breast. Their main of a pan fried flounder with artichokes, carrots and a green sauce was great as well - the flounder being cooked just perfectly. Retaskaevu was a great, great lunch, and the place had a constant stream of new people coming in as well.
From there I decided to go try a third church, this one more a museum that did allow photos! It was St. Nicholas Church and Museum, the inside being an open hall showcasing old art from all various versions of the cathedral, first built in 1344, the best bit being a triptych from the 1500s, or a carved Jesus on teh Cross with Mary from teh 1400s. The other part of the museum was the use of their tower, with small exhibits on teh 2nd and 3rd floors (the bells of the church & the church's collection of silver objects) and then an observatory deck on the 4th floor, about 200 feet up. From there the city again just looked pristine. It was nice enough that St. Nicholas allowed use of photos but it also delivered on that.
From there I took a quick detour outside the old town, past the impressive Freedom Square (befixed with a building that had both the Estonian and Ukrainian flag draped over it - despite a lot of Russian being spoken throuhgout Estonia, they are very much anti-Putin and pro-Ukraine as a country, for obvious reasons. Continuing that thought was my next stop, the Museum of Occupations and Freedom, which detail the fate of the Estonian people starting with World War II and the takeover by Germany, through their history under Soviet Rule.
The museum was super informative and modern, with an audio guide that had some sort of GPS sensor that would switch automatically to the next bit based on when you walkeIt d into a new room. How they did it was interesting too, as each of the 5-6 rooms had a ~10min talk delivered by the audio guide, while you walk around and see some exhibits. Some of the audio guide was hearing people who had to flee Estonia, or people who had to rebuild lives when the Soviets finally left in 1991. What was actually quite interesting was this was maybe the fairest portrayal of Soviet occupation, as they were quick to mention that the living conditions weren't awful, at least in the final 15 years of occupation. But just there was no real freedom and everything controlled.
Heading to happier things, I went back into Old Town and finally meandered my way to the Town Hall Square, the large old town square at its heart. It is gorgeous, with the Town Hall building and Tower giving some heft, pastel colored buildings on each side, adn a large open space with sculptured and creative seating arrangements. I will say I was a bit dismayed by the restaurant options in the main square being fairly touristy / staid, but honestly that's probably true of any main square. My comparison point earlier on was Krakow, which has its own similar main square in its old town, Rynek Glowny, which in my memory I see as a better version, but I do wonder how that may have changed in the 10 years since I first went.
What I do love though about the Tallinn old town is how picturesque all the streets are within it - all the offshoots from the main square, and then buttressed by craft shops and cafes littering smaller alleys. This gave me my first time doing some souvenir shopping, picking up some random wares that probably aren't needed in truth. It's hard to avoid getting pulled in though when the setting is so majestic - the ceramic shop had their ceramic art studio just there in the background with a person working, and everything.
My final stop within the old town (for now, I'll be back for dinner + night) was more by happenstance but super fulfilling. There are a handful of random museums on specific topics littered around the old town. The Natural History one is probably teh most well known, but was closed by the time I get there at 5:05. Instead, I walked one alley over to the Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design. I think I noted yesterday that after half days in Finland and Tallinn, I am fully on board with Scandinavia being the design center of the world. This museum was excellently curated, with a floor dedicated to the more "Applied" part, with a series of exhibits on Estonian furniture, flat-ware, ceramics, radiators, etc. The second floor dedicated to the more design aspects, with sculpture, textiles, glassware, etc. It was all very beautiful, and quite easy to take in within 40 minutes or so. It was definitely a bit out of place in a way, a museum highlighting the modern sensibilities of Estonia deep within the old town.
The final pre-dinner stop (and where you can maybe tell by my verb tense usage) was at the Vaat Brewing Taproom, in the Telleviski neighborhood. Telleviski more broadly is known as the artsy neighborhood in town - think Portland warehouses with art galleries, craft shops, breweries, etc. And Vaat was the best reviewed of the four or five breweries in that neighborhood. It was a small spot but had some great beer on tap and some pretty cans of which I took a couple to take home.
Dinner was more rustic, intentionally so, at Restaurant Olde Hansa, a large mainstay within Old Town. The place is Medieval themed, from the get-up of waiters, the menu, the decorations, the music played every now and then. It wasn't like a Medieval times - there was no jousting or what not, but just great theme covering up also amazing food. The chef started at Michelin star places and wanted this not to just be a gimmick, and that worked out really well.
For a starter, I got the Olden Meat Platter, which ended up being a fantastic charcuterie. It had colked smoked deer with horseradish, beef tonge jelly, and a duck liver pate with onion jam. All cooked amazingly and presented well. You do get a quick view that the chef really does care that the food is good. That remained for the mains, which was a triplette of game medallions, in this case inner deerk, outer deer and bear. All three were excellently cooked medium rare and seasoned well, though I'll admit I had a fairly hard time discerning the different tastes between them. Overall, Olde Hansa is such a uniquely fun place with far better food than you would expect given location (center of old town) and concept, but it works really well.
By the end of the meal, it was close to 10:30 and the sun was finally starting to set, so I decided after taking some final photos in old town, to head underground to a speakeasay sitting just outside the old town walls. Whisper Sister's only real "hidden" element is being in the back door of a closed store - but if you call their phone number they'll open the door for you. Anyway, the place itself was whimsical, mystical and really nice. Their cocktails weren't the zaniest but just really well made and crafted. A great spot to spend a couple hours and take it all in - and I will say Tallinn is a strong economy, but these areas it still is priced below Western Europe, with cocktails at 11 - 13 EUR.
The final stop was Koht, which was as fun a vibe and brilliant a place as the night before. If I could describe my perfect late night drink spot, it might be Koht. Hidden in a back alley with cool decor. Knowledge barmen serving great beer, a wonderful mix of 12 tap options and endless supply of bottle options. People (including I) would go up to them almost as if it was one of those cocktail places where you describe your likes or moods and they pick something for you. Also they played a mix of 70s-90s rock, which hit perfectly as well. Truly, a "no notes" type place - much like Tallinn is as a city.
