Turku to Helsinki to Tallinn
Trip Start
Aug 31, 2008
1
11
37
Trip End
Oct 05, 2008
Tallinn,
Estonia
Sunday, September 7, 2008
I woke this morning feeling a bit ill. Could be tiredness etc but I think it might also possibly be the different water - I've been drinking quite a bit of water yesterday. Estonia, Latvia & Lithuania have not yet achieved "acceptable European standards" for sewage & for water quality, so as of tonight, we'll be drinking bottled water or other drinks.
Anyway, as I say, I felt sick this morning. We packed up ready to leave the hotel (in Turku - gosh that seems a long time ago!) & then I begged a bread roll from the breakfast room to eat before driving. The plain carbohydrate helped (plus some more water though).
I did all the driving in Finland - well almost all. David drove the car up the street from one car park to another. But I mostly felt OK driving the manual car (on the right side of the road), even in the cities, & David is a much better navigator.
Anyway this morning we had around 180 kms to drive from Turku back to Helsinki. (All told we drove 668 kms in Finland.)
We left around 8 am from Turku, stopped to get petrol & then drove to Helsinki. We stopped at the Sibelius monument. That was frustrating because there were various tour groups who thought nothing of stepping in front of us while we tried to take a photo, or standing together as a group right in front of the monument - and of course they all had their own cameras to take that group photo!
We went for a walk beside the water opposite, and then drove to "Finland's most popular beach".
Sibelius monument, Helsinki
Gosh it looked bleak this morning! There was even a lifeguard's high chair, but other than that it looked anything but inviting.Next stop was a church hewn out of rock. Sunday morning it had services and so was closed to tourists - there were a LOT of tourists, climbing all over it. We took a couple of "discrete photos" and tried to dissociate from the "inconsiderate tourists".
I should say that pretty well everything is closed in Finland on Sundays - well petrol stations were open, but not much more. David directed us down a route running alongside the Baltic, and we drove to where we'd be taking the ferry later in the day, and dumped our luggage in lockers.
Then we drove past the markets - the open-air kauppatori markets were open & there were a couple of cruise ships in, so lots of tourists. We drove to the place where we were to return the car, wondering if we would be able to find a "legal" parking place, as the rental car place was only open on Sundays if a car was due out right then. Fortunately that was the case for us, so I was able to pull up and double park & just leave the hazard lights on, while we went in & handed over keys etc.
Then we walked back down to the markets. It was kind of nice that this was familiar and we recognised roads and routes.
David suggested we separate in the markets & arrange a meeting place. Normally I would be anxious about that, however I realised that I had a better chance of looking around if we weren't staying together!
These Helsinki markets are considerably more expensive than those at Turku, as well as much more set up for tourists.
Vanha old city church, Helsinki
There were LOTS of tourists. I bought a couple of jewellery things - a pair of inexpensive ornate ear-rings that could each be the focus of a pendant, a piece of calcite wrapped in silver that was on a leather thong, but would look pretty as a pendant...I still wasn't feeling great so thought I ought to eat conservatively - I had a plain crepe for lunch. David had 2 bratwurst of sorts. We were sitting opposite where 3 girls were tap dancing for busking. It wasn't particularly difficult what they were doing, but they did it well.
We still had some time before we needed to be at the ferry. We had hired the car around our original booking for the 12.30 ferry, but that had been cancelled, so we were now booked on the 3 o'clock ferry. Hence some spare time in the markets after the car was due back.
Anyway we walked again across to the island where the orthodox cathedral is located. We walked down to the water & wandered around a bit before going to check in (with passports) at the ferry.
Our "ferry" was in fact a Nordjet line, jet boat (catamaran?) It passed slowly while in harbour & surrounded by islands, but then powered up when in open water in the Baltic.
I felt quite anxious yesterday when reading at the Maritime museum about the Baltic being "a dangerous waterway", however it was very still today. Our crossing took 1 hour 40 mins. As I say, there were island at first, but then we passed quite a number of other ships and yachts going in the other direction.
When we reached Tallinn we deliberated about whether to walk or taxi to the hotel.
Finnish seagull
In the end we decided to taxi, but it was only about a km, so we could have walked.We checked in to the hotel & then went out walking, towards the Old Town.
We were surprised that, unlike Finland, everything was open. In one shopping centre, which had a bus station in the basement (next to a supermarket), there was even a tourist office (open 9-9 7 days).
Prices here are much closer to Australian prices (unlike the much higher prices in Finland). In the supermarket we bought a few necessities, like water bottle, elastoplast...
Then we walked to the Old Town. Talk about stunning! Inside medieval walls, it is very very pretty. We made our way to the central square & then decided to find somewhere for dinner. Our guidebook recommended a place we'd just walked past, called Olde Hansa.
This medieval style restaurant has waitresses in medieval garb, and researched traditional recipes. Some musicians moved between the 3 floors - a lovely atmosphere. Both David & I had salmon, mine was smoked with roe & David's salmon was not smoked but in a mushroom sauce. Being traditional, there was no rice or potatoes - but there was a lovely barley and hazelnut mix & a pickled salad (which I left). We each had a juice as well as a glass/ goblet of spiced sweet wine.
It was good food as well as atmosphere. A number of tour groups filed in (to higher floors) while we were there. The restaurant has been in place for 15 years, but everyone was wanting to buy the medieval items they saw in the restaurant, so there is now a medieval shoppe next door. We enjoyed looking in there too.
Anyway after that we staggered back to our hotel & settled in. We have 3 nights, 2 days here, and I'm looking forward to seeing Tallinn in daylight.
Today had apparently been quite warm here, and I was thinking I might finally be shedding my coat. But tomorrow is forecast to be max 15 so I'll rethink that.
I'll upload this shortly, if that suits David, and hopefully not be too late to bed.
Love from Kerry & David in Tallinn, in Estonia
