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Rick Steves' Best of St. Petersburg, Tallinn & Helsinki in 9 Days Tour
We're Off!
Celebrating the beginning of another great Rick Steves adventure with some prosecco!
Grammy and Grampy (affectionately called "the G's") met us at the airport - their flight landed just before ours did. We took a quick cab ride into the city center to find our hotel, My City Hotel Tallinn. Checking in took a bit longer than expected because we had such a great time chatting with the folks at the front desk.
As with all of the hotels we've experienced in our Rick Steves adventures, we especially loved the hotel's location (short walk to the Old Town), breakfast options (yum!), and the friendly staff!
Tallinn: Image
Tallinn: Image
Let's find some food...
After a long day of travel, we were all ready to eat and then hit the hay. We settled on Von Krahli Aed, a health-conscious Estonian restaurant near the Old Town Center. We had our first taste of the delights to come and started to get a feel of the architecture and well-preserved sights ahead. Dinner was locally sourced, organic, and delicious - and it was easy to find gluten-free options for Grammy (check out my Extras tab for info on GF eating in each of these 3 cities).
We decided to share a few plates - including an appetizer "tour of Estonia," some fabulous duck, and our first introduction to sea buckthorn, a berry that would make many appearances throughout the trip! One of our favorite things to do is experiment with food when we're traveling - that being said, sometimes the family style meals save us from some more adventurous choices. Not here! Everything was delicious and fresh, a great way to kick off our Estonian experience after a long day of travel.
A leisurely stroll back to the hotel and it was time for lights out. Well, more like eye masks out and on, it only gets dark here for a few hours in June. The eye mask suggestion is pretty important if you're a light sleeper like me!
Tallinn: Image
Tallinn: Gallery
We awoke ready to explore Tallinn - especially the sights that wouldn't be included in the tour itself. Shake off jetleg AND explore a new city? Win-win!
We decided to kick off our adventure touring the museums in the city center - we left it to Grampy to navigate us to our destinations. The Museum of Estonian History was our first stop. Before this trip, none of us could have found Estonia on the map!
Housed in the Great Guild Hall on Pikk street (a stop on the RS walking tour, no less!), we learned about the 11,000 years of Estonian history. The museum was surprisingly engaging and we were enthralled by the history of this tiny country. Estonia's ideal physical location made it attractive to the empires surrounding it - throughout it's history Estonia has tussled with German crusaders, Sweden, Russia, even the Danes! No wonder the exhibit was titled "Spirit of Survival!"
Next up was a quick lunch - we went with Mekk, another fresh Estonian restaurant (sensing a pattern with our food choices?) Per the handy-dandy RS guidebook, we went with the weekday lunch specials. What a treat! Perfectly portioned and reasonably priced. GF options too!
Tallinn: Image
Next up was the Tallinn City Museum. After a morning of soaking up the history of this intriguing country, we decided to hone in on the history of this port city.
The museum included everything from Tallinn's medieval past and trading days to rooms from the early 20th century and Soviet period. Tallinn was a member of the Hanseatic League, think of it as a free trade agreement for Baltic heavy hitters. The Baltic Sea helped Tallinn punch above its weight in the global economy. The ornate green door below is the old headquarters of the Brotherhood of the Black heads, a Hanseatic fraternity, if you will. The museum also boasts replicas of trading ships and a room dedicated to merchant wealth - fascinating to see!
We particularly enjoyed a model of Tallinn from the early 1800s. Tucked away in the corner of Europe, Tallinn emerged physically unscathed from the World Wars. However, the country was under Soviet rule from the end of WWII through 1991 (this date will come up again later on). Not that you would ever know about this chapter of their history in the Old Town - the effects of communism (and communist architecture) are remarkably hidden. Later on in the trip we will explore the impacts of communism through a sobering museum.
Before syncing up with our group for our introduction meeting and orientation walk, we decided to pop into the grocery store tucked away in a huge mall, Viru Keskus Mall, only a few steps from our hotel. One of my favorite things to do in foreign countries is to explore their local grocery stores! I feel like you can learn a lot about people (and economies) by what their grocery stores look like. Plus, I get to try local snacks (or pack some for souvenirs for friends) and the goodies we don't get in the states (don't get me started on full fat creamy yogurt... a girl can dream). I was AMAZED at the size of the vegetables - seriously the beets and carrots were larger than my hands (and cheap as heck). This is also a great place to stock on up gluten free basics (think muesli, bread, etc) for bringing to breakfast or restaurants with limited options.
Tallinn: Text
Tallinn: Gallery
Time to join our group! We were delighted when we found out that our guide was George Farkas. George was our guide in 2018 when we did the Prague and Budapest tour (a choice my sister and I pushed hard for after seeing our friends' study abroad pictures, swoon!). Our whole family loved that trip and appreciated George's insights, recommendations, and thoughtful planning.
We did group introductions and learned that a lot of people joined this tour to check off Russia as a bucket list stop, me included! We picked our buddies, booked some extra Russian expeditions (more on those later), and headed out for an orientation walk and dinner in the town hall square. What fun!
Tallinn: Image
We started off our day at the Viru Gate, which marks the edge of the Old Town (indeed you can see the peak of the town hall from here). From there we explored the Sweater Wall (exactly what it sounds like, plenty of knitwear to purchase) and Katariina Kaik, featuring the more interesting glassblowing, weaving, and pottery shops. The painted signs above the doors let you know what types of wares are featured inside and the cobblestones make it easy to imagine yourself shopping here hundreds of years ago. I was amazed to see tombstones along the wall - they are from the Church of St Catherine of Alexandria and belonged to the members of the Magistrate of Tallinn, the Brotherhood of Blackheads (remember them?), the Great Guild and others. The best preserved tombstones are displayed here. One of them shows the oldest known depction of a Tallinn lady on a tombstone - from 1381!
Next up was the apothecary (aka pharmacy). The Town Pharmacy is one of the oldest continually working apothecaries in the world - first mentioned in 1422. So interesting to see modern medicine next to glass cases of tinctures of yore!
We continued our adventure down Pikk Street - stopping to admire the Great Guild hall (which houses one of our museum adventures yesterday) and the Church of the Holy Ghost. The Great Guild hall is so striking because of its width - back in those days, properties were taxed based on their width. So to have a building this wide was quite the statement! Across the street was a stunning outdoor clock - originally designed in 1633.
Tallinn: Text
Tallinn: Gallery
We climbed a steep hill, luckily taking a snack break halfway up! We got our first peek of the Alexander Nevsky cathedral, an imposing reminder of Tallinn’s Russian history. Built in 1900 (I was amazed!), it was an example of Russia “flexing its cultural muscle” as Rick says in the guidebook. We popped inside for our first look at a Russian Orthodox church, remarking at the glittery interior and iconostasis. The placement of the cathedral also makes a statement - immediately across the street you see the Estonian Parliament, dwarfed by the cathedral.
Tallinn: Image
Tallinn: Gallery
We headed down the hill, passing Tall Hermann, the tallest tower of the castle wall. Estonians are quite proud to see the Estonian flag flying proud up there these days after years of the Soviet flag staring down at them. As an aside, I get quite a kick of naming architecture with human names, you just met Tall Hermann and then later on I’ll introduce you to Fat Margaret!
We also passed a monument to Johan Pitka, Commander of the Estonian Navy during the Estonian War of Independence. The history of this small country was so fascinating, especially since I essentially had no knowledge of it before embarking on the tour (something I hadn’t really experienced in Western Europe). The monument also included a replica of the first armoured car in the Estonian War of Independence.
Our next stop was the Museum of Occupations, a sobering look at life in Estonian under the Soviets and Nazis. Before our guide left us, she shared a very personal and emotional story about her grandmother’s experiences with the regime. I won’t share details here to respect her privacy, but I will say that the personal touches from locals give you a better understanding than anything you could ever read in a book. We continued through the museum, which was heavy on personal interviews (I found this very moving).
Tallinn: Image
Tallinn: Gallery
We grabbed a quick lunch to eat on the run and met up with the group choosing to do the KGB museum. A series of a few rooms, this ‘museum’ is more like an insider's view into the Soviet ‘big brother’ surveillance. This place was bugged to high heaven. After the Singing Revolution, the KGB essentially abandoned their surveillance posts, leaving plenty of detritus showing how they surveilled the hotel’s patrons.
Holes in walls, microphones in rooms, false-bottomed ash trays and plates, it was like walking into a James Bond movie. Not many people stayed here during the Soviet period - Estonians couldn’t afford to and most foreigners had no reason to visit the city. The view from the top was stunning!
I couldn't resist a picture of the playful sign in the elevator - some things are universal!
Tallinn: Image
Tallinn: Gallery
Sometimes the Rick Steves book is more engaging than your happy hour companions!
We stopped at a tourist trap restaurant in the main square for a beverage and a cheese plate. While in general we love to try to stay off the beaten path, sometimes hitting the easy button is also just plain ol’ fun. The four of us sauntered around the city, taking in the sights and browsing at the Sweater Wall, and then made our way to Lieb, another delicious pick! The vibe was so fun, it was like eating in the secret garden. The locally sourced, in-season food was delicious. I snuck an aperol spritz too, my signature summer cocktail!
We found Fat Margaret, a truly huge tower, and then popped by a coffee shop for one last nosh on chocolate cake before we headed for bed. A few more Estonian sights on the docket for tomorrow and then we head to Helsinki!
Tallinn: Image
Tallinn: Gallery
Our first stop of the day was the Song Festival Grounds. This was the location in 1988 when over a third of the Estonian population gathered to sing to protest the Soviet occupation. In the end, the Estonians gained their freedom. On the grounds there is a statue of Gustav Ernesaks, a choir leader and composer. He was deemed the Father of Song by the country and he was the general leader of the song festival movement. Our group was touched by the idea of 300,000 gathered here singing. George led us in a rendition of Tavaszi szél vizet áraszt, a Hungarian love song (funnily enough a song he had taught us on our tour in 2018). A quick google search comes up with a video of Freddie Mercury singing it at a concert in Budapest.
We passed on to Kadriorg Park, a summer royal residence built (err, paid for) by Peter the Great. It is so cute and small (relative to other palaces, that is), it could’ve been a princess’s doll house. Easy to imagine the Romanovs strolling around during a summer escape.
With that, we said good-bye to Estonia and made our way onto the ferry to head to Helsinki. Finland, here we come!
Tallinn: Image
Tallinn: Gallery
Tallinn: Text
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