I never thought I would feel the way I did about another after visiting Budapest in March 2016. Was I ever wrong? It turns out there was another city that was just as magical and beautiful as Budapest; that city was Tallinn.
Now I didn’t get to see much as I landed in the city that first day or make that night. Arriving late at night, I chose to take the taxi from the airport instead of navigating my way to the hostel on my own. Best decision ever! Checking into the hostel was a breeze …. And secure …. You receive a key to the front door and your room along with a passcode to get into the second door that lets you into the main part of the building. As you can tell, my first night in Tallinn was uneventful …. Couldn’t wait to wake up in the morning and start my first full day in the city.
So now where to begin? I guess starting at the beginning would be a great place to start. First things first, you should always invest in a good offline map. One that will calculate your route and work for you when traveling. The (first) offline map I downloaded didn’t work correctly …. Essentially, I had to wing it and hope I didn’t get lost. Maybe winging it wasn’t such a bad thing because I found Old Town by mistake. Turns out it was practically around the corner from Knight House Hostel where I was staying. From walking around Old Town, I found Revel Café. Again, by accident. Basically, it happened to be on the way to me trying to find my way to Toompea. If you don’t want to find places by accident and want the best way to get to them then I suggest downloading HERE WeGo which is the best offline map I have found for traveling. You will need to download which countries you will be visiting before you can use the map.
With all the walking I was doing; it was time to search for my all-time favorite pastry in all of Europe. What may you ask is my favorite pastry? Chocolate croissant where the chocolate is filled all the way to the end of the croissant. My mouth is watering as I am thinking back on it. But alas, the croissant I ended up getting did not have chocolate in it. Sad face…. But the orange juice was great! Before leaving Revel Café, I noticed American music playing in the background. Small things such as this that remind one of being home.
Thus, began my first day in Tallinn and my search for Toompea. My search for Toompea was futile at this point so I decided to take a break and look for a good lunch spot. Wish I had decided to order something different but had chosen the dumplings with meat and pineapple juice. All I can say about this meal is that I tried to hide the meat underneath the dumplings. It wasn’t one of my better meals that I had while I was there. Not sure what kind of meat it was but it wasn’t chicken. The meal is bad when you leave most of the food on the plate which is what I ended up doing.
After lunch, I made my way back to the hostel, so I could read up on Toompea. I figured it would give me some insight on where this mysterious place was located. I did find out that you can climb these set of stairs to get to the top for the best view of Tallinn, but it would be for a small fee. Upon leaving the hostel, I continued my search of these stairs; lo and behold I found them and the most fantastical view of the city. Well worth my search. Turns out there wasn’t a fee and I could see this view for free. Now you are probably wondering where Toompea was located. What you need to do is walk away from Old Town and it is located at the top of a hill. Mysterious huh …. Especially with my directions.
What is it about Tallinn that you love if you’ve ever visited the city? Is it the architecture that surrounds you as you walk around Old Town and get immersed in the history?
Is it the food you may have heard about and want to try while you are here? Just remember something may look good but then you try it and it isn’t as great as you thought.
Or you try something else and it is even better.
Is it walking along the cobblestoned streets and finding one surprise after another as you get lost. You know the best things in life are the things you least expect.
Check back later for part two of Passport to Tallinn.
