Trip to Tallinn

Got back from Tallinn last week. Estonia was great and I'd recommend it to a friend. Sadly (unless you're Estonian) its not a cheap city any more and tourist prices are about 10 percent less than London suburban - beer about £2.50 a pop, a good meal is about £20-25 a head. Here are a few pictures I took on the mobile. When I can be arsed I'll post some picture of the soviet style flatblocks I took on the proper camera.



Charge your battery with an Estonian Red Bull clone. Not a bad representation of a Duracell-esque cell.


The view from our hotel. Enhanced a wee bit on the Mac, but quite a nice colour palette I reckon.


The ornate, and somewhat gorgeous pink Russian cathedral in Toompea, the hill at the centre of the Old Town, a prime qualtiy bit of medieval real estate, though the church dates from the early 20th century.


A view of the lower town from the top of Toompea


The centre of the old town - Town Hall Square. Fan-bloody-tastic architecture and postively bursting with atmosphere. This has to be the most photogenic city we've been too, other than maybe Krakov, which I've possibly spelt wrong.

So what was Tallinn like? Different, espensive, surprising, not so much ex-Eastern Europe, but more up-and-coming Nordic/Scandinavian. If it weren't for the housing developments on the outskirts whcih comprise at least 200 tower blocks, then you could almost be in olde worlde Sweden or Finland. Worth a trip before it gets even more expensive and EasyJet certainly don't overcharge - I think we paid £60 return each, so a wee bargain.

We stayed at the Metropol Hotel, a 3 star. Comfortable without being luxurious and missing a few basic staples which I'd expect from a hotetl of this class - no coffee making facility or shampoo/soap in the bathroom. Beds get a high mark though and the room itself was about the same as a Premier Travel Inn. Bang for buck ration was fair though we've done better (I'd recommend the rather wonderful communist throwback for anyone travelling to Krakov, known as the Start. Walls stinking of cabbage, as though they had absorbed years of stinking condesation, but clean, cheap at £8 per night and with coffee machines too). A basic but very comfortable place if you don't mind a 20 minute trip into the centre by tram).