When trip planning for Scandinavia, Estonia wasn’t on the list. In the guidebooks I was looking at, they all mentioned that Tallinn could be an interesting stop, but only if you had time. Perhaps that underdog/under-explored factor is what tipped my decision to convince J we should go.
More than a year later, it’s still the city I think about most, even though it was the only place we visited where we didn’t also spend the night. We took the 2-hour ferry ride from Helsinki through the Baltic Sea to Estonia’s capital city. We had done little research and were not sure what to expect. Again, that probably contributed to our continual state of surprise and delight.
By way of introduction, here are some Tallinn fast facts, largely thanks to Wikipedia:
Tallinn is Estonia's largest city, with a population of just over 430,000.
Even though it underwent quite a bit of bombing in World War II and lost 7% of its population (and another 10% to Soviet labor camps), its Old Town has been incredibly well preserved and has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It's charming, hence where most of the tourists spend their time.
As the birthplace of Skype and home to the highest number of start-ups of any European city, it's sometimes called the Silicon Valley of Europe.
It has advanced in a lot of other ways: is has free public transportation, it started online voting in 2005, and it has a literacy rate of 99.8%.
There are only 84 men for every 100 women, not so dissimilar from other post-Soviet countries where the men have left to seek opportunities elsewhere, and where the women live about 10 years longer on average.
While Estonians living in Tallinn are financially stable, the rural parts of the country still see high poverty rates (and is where I'd want to check out if I ever went back).
Estonia became independent in 1991 after being annexed by the USSR in 1940 and was the first ex-Soviet state to join the Eurozone in 2011. It was the first former Soviet-occupied space I'd ever been in.
As a person easily irked by crowds, we only stayed in the mob leaving the cruise ship up to the first stoplight. As they all headed across the cobblestone street straight toward Tallinn’s fairytale Old Town, we veered off toward a derelict hunk of concrete on the shore. There were a few people walking on top of what looked like a half-buried building. We discovered it was an old event/concert hall built for the 1980 Olympics, which the Soviets hosted.
Linnahall, as it's called, reminded me of Sutro Baths in San Francisco; looking at them both, you assume they've been abandoned longer than they actually have. It only stopped hosting events in 2010, and in that short time, graffiti and weeds have taken over. The city finally decided to renovate it, and it should be done sometime in 2019, but while we were there, it was free for the strolling and climbing. Located right on the harbor, you have the feeling standing on Linnahall's roof that the ocean wants to reclaim the half-buried hulking mass.
Linnahall, Tallinn, Estonia
From Linnahall, we skirted around the walls of Old Town to a bakery our guidebook said was worth checking out. It was. We visited again before we left. As we walked, we passed what looked like old tenement houses crowded together and in various states of upkeep. The streets were relatively quiet.
We turned a corner and came across Balti Jaama Turg, a large indoor market. It seemed new and was beautifully designed. It held antique shops carrying relics from Soviet-occupied days (it was all I could do not to talk away with a Russian abacus for my mom). It had a butcher shop, food stalls, clothing vendors, and entrepreneurs. I bought souvenirs for my baby nieces from Padamora, a sweet woman-owned business. Later that day, I stumbled into the shop where all the baby clothes were being made and screen-printed.
Adorable children’s clothing store in Balti Jaama Turg
Where Padamora makes its clothes
Telliskivi Creative City
We carried on, guided by J's hunt for Estonia's best third-wave coffee. Pro travel tip: Googling third wave coffee shops will always take you to the trendiest, most hipster neighborhood in whatever city you're in. We learned early in our Scandinavia trip that our happiness did not reside in church-gawking mobs, and so we had no FOMO passing by Old Town in search of coffee and artists.
Sure enough, J's map led us to Renard Coffee in the Telliskivi neighborhood. It was housed in a renovated limestone building and shared the space with an auto repair shop and barber. The space oozed a grunge-leaning coolness, and it also delivered one of the best cups of coffee on the trip.
From there, we continued to poke around Telliskivi. We walked through a lightbulb-hung corridor of pop-up restaurants living in repurposed shipping containers and food trucks. It was part of the Telliskivi Creative Center, which was pulsing with artistic energy and contagious entrepreneurialism. There were murals, installations, pop-up shops, event posters, hipsters, and artisan food and drink shops all over, balance by a fair share of still-waiting-to-be-reclaimed old buildings in what used to be a rail and factory hub. I was bummed it wasn't a Saturday when Telliskivi hosts a big flea market.
Scandi hipsters chilling in front of a renovated railroad car restaurant in Telliskivi, Tallinn
J waiting for the best cup of coffee he had the entire trip at Renard in Tallinn
Everything in Telliskivi dripped with cool, including Renard Coffee.
Art seeped out of every crevice. Telliskivi Creative City, Tallinn
Telliskivi Creative City, Tallinn
Telliskivi Creative City, Tallinn
Telliskivi Creative City, Tallinn
Telliskivi Creative City, Tallinn
Telliskivi Creative City, Tallinn
J getting in some poetry in Telliskivi Creative City, Tallinn
Telliskivi Creative City, Tallinn
Old Town/Historic Centre
After lunch in Telliskivi, we wove our way back to Old Town/Historic Centre and starting climbing the outer wall. It was clear this is what the 4 million+ visitors to Tallinn annually have come to see. There was a lower section for the historic underclass and an upper section, home to the gentry. We wove through the crowds, found our way out, and continued to stroll through the outer streets.
Tallinn’s tourist-packed Old Town
Tallinn Outskirts
We walked by the well-regarded Seaplane Harbour Museum, a renovated airplane hangar-turned-maritime museum. As we approached, we walked past police and dogs sniffing all around the exterior. We later learned that Tallinn was hosting an EU meeting, hence the heightened security.
We strolled past vacated buildings yet to be renovated, crumbling and eroding away in the sea air. A few locals fished, a couple of kids passed on bicycles, but overall, it seemed quiet. We made it back to the ferry and arrived in Helsinki around 11 pm. It was still light. I’d happily return to Tallinn, especially in another decade to see how the city has continued to transform itself and what the country holds outside of its capital.
As soon as you step outside of the well-preserved Old Town, this is the more common sight.
J on the crumbling pier
One last parting shot of Tallinn