Tallinn

For Leigh's 21st we headed over to Estonia for 3 nights. We took the train to Helsinki then got a ferry over the Baltic Sea to Tallinn, the country's capital. The ferry itself was quite an experience, the water was fairly choppy and I felt a lot sicker than I anticipated, however we had our own little cabin on the ship so after a quick wander around we headed there and had a nap in the dark until we'd reached the shore!

As it was well after 7pm when we arrived, it was too late to do much in the city so we spent some time in the hostel's common room, before going out to a few bars with some fellow travelers - one of whom shared Leigh's birthday! The next morning we got up early and went for breakfast in what turned out to be Tallinn's oldest cafe, before having a good look around the 'Old Town' parts of the city.  The architecture in this part of the city is amazing - a weird combination of Medieval buildings and Russian influences. The evening consisted of a VERY intense game of Jenga in the hostel before heading out again, this time to a karaoke bar with the hostel staff!

The next day consisted of another cafe breakfast, and browsing around some museums and galleries. We also walked along the top of part of the city walls which are still intact, which gave really nice views over the town from a good height! We decided to spend our last night in front of the TV, as we had to be up early the next day to catch the ferry back, although the selection of programs was definitely worth it!

The hostel was amazing; really friendly staff and atmosphere, good facilities, clean rooms, and literally in the centre of the old town (plus it was less then 10€ a night!). The only real issue we had was most museums, galleries etc are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays (the only 2 full days we had in the city). This was a bit of a bummer cause it would have been really interesting to see many things that we didn't get a chance to.  Maybe we can come back again some day...