Estonia

Little piece of home

Friday-  We took the train down to Stockholm in the snow/ rain in the afternoon.  We were going to go earlier but didn't want to tour the city in those conditions.  I also got a little sick right after I posted that previous post so that put a delay in my trip to Stockholm.  I was pretty determined to go so I wasn't going to let a stomach bug stop me.

Once we got to the city the train station was pretty impressive.  There was an O'Learys sports bar which is a Boston sports pub.  I had never heard of O'Learys but apparently they're all over Europe

Entering Tallinn

The metro was very simple figuring out once we found it.  Jesse got our tickets and we basically walked through security so being 20 wasn't an issue at all.  The ship was much nicer than I expected.  We paid $20 for the cabin so I was expecting to be roughing it but it was very nice.  The ship had multiple stages, dance club, restaurants, supermarket and a spa.  We watched a cheesy cover-band play and then some of my friends played black jack and ended up losing some money unfortunately.  The ship was rocking pretty intensely throughout the night.

Saturday-  Woke up to the captain advertising cheap alcohol 2 hours from port.  No taxes on the open water so they really try and advertise that since the taxes on alcohol in Sweden are ridiculous(35-40% more in Sweden).  The walk from the ship to the downtown area was pretty far, icy and cold. I also felt miserable so that added to the fun.  We walked through the industrial and modern part of the city then reached the very old town center.  A lot of the buildings were very ugly probably from the communist era on the outskirts.  There were a lot of empty brick buildings just like in Maine's old mill towns.  In the old part of town a lot of the buildings looked like they were ready to fall down.  The city was pretty dead, nothing like Stockholm.  Owners of the restaurants tried recruiting you to eat at their place kind of like in Mexico or any resort place.  You have to feel bad for them as they are trying but you just can't go everywhere.  The unemployment rate in Estonia is about 19% so their economy must be hurting.

Jesse and I (in the background) in the center of Tallinn

After we ate at an Italian restaurant we walked the city.  I talk about sidewalk conditions too much but they were AWFUL.  We saw an old lady go down unfortunately.  Makes you appreciate the city workers that clear the streets and sidewalks back in the states.

Russian architecture

There were dozens of old lady's selling hand knit scarfs, mittens and hats.  There was also a flea market in the freezing cold with a bunch of hand made items.  They were some pretty tough people in Tallinn.  The others went to the spa but I headed back to the ship since I wasn't feeling great.

Estonia was exactly what I thought it would be.  It was cold and it had a cold feel to it.  I enjoyed the city and learned a little about their way of life.  I have never been to a place like Estonia as it just had a different feel to it.  It certainly wasn't your typical stop along the Caribbean that's for sure.

*Here is a commercial Jesse and I saw on the boat.  For us it is absolutely hilarious because we can directly relate to the black sheep failing to pronounce any swedish word correctly.  Tele2 is a swedish company too so that is kind of funny.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-njkD4WUbs&feature=channel

Pictures:

Baltic Sea

Communist style architecture

Our ship