Peculiar travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God. – Kurt Vonnegut, Cat’s Cradle

One evening while having dinner at Taverna in downtown Fort Worth, we asked our waiter – who obviously was European – where he would go if he were to take a vacation in Europe. He replied, “Tallinn or Riga.” I have to be honest. While they sounded vaguely familiar, I couldn’t have told you on a bet where Tallinn or Riga were. This is Tallinn:

Tallinn is the capital of Estonia, which sounded sort of like the location of a Marx Bros movie. The young man we were talking to was pretty definite about thinking that it is a very cool place. And that it is. Among other things, it is (according to our server and several other sources, including the Economist) a world leader in technology. Not to mention that it’s stunningly beautiful.

So, in 2015, during a trip to Stockholm and St. Petersburg, we decided to take in Tallinn and Riga, as well. We were only able to spend a day in Tallinn and this post is about that day.

Our cruise ship arrived in Tallinn around 11 in the morning and we made our way from the dock through charming cobblestone streets to the main square in Old Town, figuring we’d get our bearings and start wandering.

The square – and the whole town, for that matter – is reminiscent of Brugge or Lille but the architecture is more varied and, although you can’t tell from this pic, it’s hillier.

I should mention that because of our time restrictions, we only were able to explore Old Town. Tallinn has a modern section, as well, with contemporary architecture. We’ll glimpse it in a little while.

The center of Old Town is up.

Old defensive fortifications surround it. It’s a steady climb but not too steep.

And there are plenty of opportunities for distractions along the way.

We visited a couple of churches in town, including one with a spiral staircase up the center of its tower. Naturally, we had to go up. It was about 150 steps but each one had a rise of a foot or more, making the climb a little taxing. The views were worth it.

You can see some of the more modern buildings in Tallinn’s business district in the background.

In a bit, we’ll see more of the beautiful Russian Orthodox church in the background. Along the way, though, we encountered a knight checking his email.

It seems like every turn presents another charming, peaceful view.

We stopped for lunch at a lovely little place with an outdoor seating area. I apologize that I didn’t make a note of its name.

Debra’s meal was a pork shank wrapped in a layer of pork rind and deep-vat fried so that it became like a big cracklin’ with a juicy meat center. You can see it below, along with the vegetables and apple dumplings in their own little crocks.

The pork shank wasn’t really to her taste, so we switched; I gave her my pork chop with mushroom gravy. We also ordered the “national dessert of Estonia” – called (I think) kalam – which is a vanilla mousse with lingonberry compote (sorry – no picture).

Later, as she almost always does, Debra found a wonderful antique shop.

One of the benefits of traveling as much as we do – apart from the fun, broadening horizons, cultural and historical education, and adventure – is the opportunity to see different housing, decorating, and architectural styles. Antique shops and home furnishings and decor stores – and flea markets, can’t forget flea markets – are a big part of that. But another big part of it is simply noticing things like doorways. Here are some (and a really cool wall clock) from our wanderings in Tallinn Old Town:

We spent the afternoon just walking around in the glorious weather. We did stop into a museum of Estonian history, which was interesting, but didn’t stay as long as we might otherwise have because we wanted to be back outside.

We came upon what appeared to be a girl’s school and spent some time watching the children play.

We visited the Russian Orthodox cathedral that you could see in the photo at the beginning of this post.

Debra lit candles for our boys, as she always does.

And we wandered on, taking in the architecture and soaking up sunshine.

I don’t believe that there are subways or light rail lines in Tallinn – at least not in Old Town – but we found a darling little trolley

and visited some of the booths along the square

All too soon, it was time to leave. There are so many wonderful places to visit in this world but Tallinn is on the list for a trip of its own, someday. We easily could spend a week or so enjoying the Old Town and I’d really like to explore what the business district has to offer. For now, though, we’ll walk through the old city gates and say goodbye.

I’ll close with a last shot that I particularly like. I think it evokes the feeling of the day.

I hope you enjoyed coming along on our Tallinn Day Trip – and we hope you’ll keep sharing our adventures. Next up – back to Hildring House progress!

Thanks for coming along With the Barretts!