Today was my day to explore Tallinn. I started off the day with a breakfast at 8 a.m. at the hotel. The hotel’s breakfast was a bit limited compared to the other three hotels that I had stayed at. They didn’t have orange juice or apple juice and instead had some type of pink juice which tasted somewhat like cough medicine. I opted instead for the water with lemon slices in it. I had scrambled eggs along with a ham and cheese sandwich. I had planned on eating toast but there was no toaster.
Really I had no plan for today. I had consulted the Lonely Planet travel guide which gave me a generalized route on where to go. But as I realized Tallinn streets are long and winding and it’s difficult to keep track of which street you are on in order to follow a path designated by the travel book.
I decided to head toward one of the designated places which they travel book had recommended. This was that Margaret which was one of the towers from the Medieval Time of Tallinn. After asking a Russian visitor to take my photo I decided to try and go to some of the areas which are high up and where you can see a large part of Tallinn according to the travel book. After exploring around I found the place where you could go up to a viewing stand and see the sites. Spray painted on the side of the wall Den stencil lettering it said “put down the camera and enjoy the view.” I thought to myself “how appropriate.” I did take some photos of the view and shopped at the souvenir stands.
I walk down to another part of the city and looked up against the city walls. I tried to find a way which I could walk along the city walls but I never did find a way except for a very brief area where a cafe along the wall is positioned.
I also made it over to the Orthodox church with the onion shaped towers. They were having a worship service inside and I knew not to have my hands in my pockets. I stood solemnly taking it in. Here I was an American on vacation and I was watching average Estonian worship their God. I feel for these people. They may not have known the biblical truth but they seem to be so sincere and saw them about it. I wish there was a way that they could have known the God of the Bible. After a while I decided it was time for me to leave because I had seen a similar Orthodox worship service before.
I decided now was a good time to try to get some lunch. I had tracked down where the nearest Subway was. It was quite a bit away from the old town but I managed to find it using Google Maps. The Subway server spoke perfect English. I joked with her that I had eaten Subway in the last four countries. She then wants to know if Estonian Subways were best. Had this Subway I found there was ice in the ice dispenser and unlimited free refills at the drink dispenser both the plus in my book.
Afterwards I walked around some more and decided I wanted to visit the Occupation Museum which documented Estonian life under Soviet occupation. Why was searching for the museum I came across a large square with a concert going on. There was a children’s choir singing which I videoed using my camera. I eventually found the Occupation Museum, but it was closed for today. The sun indicated that today was a holiday. This was a common theme today as many museums were closed.
I walked around some more and found an ice cream shop and bought three scoops of chocolate. It was somewhat expensive but I figured I was on vacation and needed to indulge myself.
I shopped around for some souvenirs.
I also found a church which was selling tickets to the tower. I knew my GoPro is completely out of battery there for us all the church briefly and then went back to my hotel to get a fresh battery for my GoPro. There were quite a few steps going up to the tower. Also I found that the area of walking around the tower at the top was designated as always going right. While I was there there were some people who were trying to go left that is counterclockwise and it made for some difficulty for them to get around me. I made some videos.
I also found myself at the large Guild which houses the history museum for Estonian history. There were many Interactive videos on it which provided for some interesting part of the day.
I had checked on an Irish Pub for supper but unfortunately their menu did not mention that they served fish and chips. At this point I was just getting really hungry and decided to head toward McDonald’s. At this McDonald’s they take your order and give you a receipt with an order number and then you wait in line for your order to be called from another counter. It seemed like it took my order forever but eventually I got my food. Here I was eating in the shadow of a tower at an American style restaurant. It seems like two cultures were clashing.
I headed back to my hotel room to relax. At this point I decided it was time for me to go and try to find my bus stop so that there would be no surprises tomorrow whenever I departed on my plane ride back to America. I found my bus stop without too much problem using Google Maps.
Tomorrow will be a long day for me but I am excited that I was able to spend a week in Europe getting to know the Baltic states.