Hello, Estonia

Sun, Jul 14, 2024

Today is the day we leave Finland and start to explore Estonia. 

Some Finnish words:

Kiitos = thank you

Poro = reindeer 

Jarvis = river

Joki = lake

Hei = hello

Hei hei = bye bye

We went to the grocery store for breakfast. 

Then we got our bikes and headed to the Viking Line Ferry.... it started raining while we waited an hour to load onto the Ferry.

The ferry ride was 2.5 hours.  It was about 54 miles across The Baltic Sea from Helsinki Finland to Tallinn Estonia.

As we got closer to Tallinn, it quit raining. 

We got to the Hestia Hotel Seaport around 2pm. This is much better than the place in Helsinki and it's the same price and includes breakfast,  2 nights for $151.

Then we went to explore Tallinn Old Town. I bought a self guided tour for $11 which have me an activation code for an app called Navicup. When you get near a spot, it tells you about it.  It worked pretty well. 

We went into this church and were fortunate enough to hear an organist practicing for her Wednesday night concert.

We accidentally found this amazing overlook.

Then we stopped for dinner. 

My pasta with chicken was $14 and delicious! 

Then we headed back to the hotel. 

My brother, Raughnsen, was here with a Christian singing group called Continental Singers in 1985. That was when it was still part of communist Soviet Union.  He remembers it being very depressing and dismal with no color at all. Today, it is very lively with lots of tourists enjoying the sights and bustle of the city. I'm sure he would be amazed at how it looks and feels now. 

Tomorrow is another "rest day" that we will spend exploring Estonia.