! Who goes to Estonia?Well, our roaming correspondent John Walton does and, all this week, he's been filling us in on what's up way up there in this world capital on the Baltic Sea.
It's almost time, sniff sniff, to leave Tallinn, and we're kind of heartbroken. We've come to love this tiny city in the far north, but before we go, let's go for a walk along the fascinating Kultuurikilometer—Tallinn's 2.6km-long Culture Kilometer, a walking/biking path that links up a set of nifty things to see and do towards the northwest end of the city center.
Most of the area was a military restricted zone during the Soviet period, since it was a strategically important area on the Baltic Sea. Since Tallinn was European City of Culture in 2011, there's all kinds of awesome stuff scattered along the Culture Kilometer, from murals to art exhibits to random cafés and hipster hangouts.
Part of the joy is just walking westwards from the centre of town and happening across things, but we found the Patarei prison particularly fascinating, mostly because it hasn't been staged into a museum. It pretty much looks as it did in Soviet times, and even on a warm summer's day (for Tallinn, of course) it's grim and cold inside.
Special note to Instagrammers, especially fans of the Earlybird filter: don't miss the medical wing, which has all kinds of crazy stuff spilling out of rooms. Like old broken Cyrillic typewriters.
Further away from the center of town is the Lennusadam (Seaplane Port), which is also the Estonian Maritime Museum. Which is awesome, fantastically dark, atmosphereic and indoors (great if it's raining or cold), and contains a submarine you can walk around. There's also an old icebreaker ship outside if that's your thing.
Don't feel macabre that the park called Kalamaja Kalmistupark is an old cemetery razed by the Soviets in 1964; the Estonians out walking, running or playing in the park certainly don't. It's a lovely, leafy place, with a few old gravestones in the surviving bell tower.
Top tip for somewhere to eat: fabulous Chinese teahouse and restaurant, Cha Dao, on Suur-Patarei 2. The best Chinese food we've eaten since we were in Hong Kong, seriously.
Comments