As promised, more about Tallinn and the many ways or should I say places within the old town that helped me fall in love with it. I mean, I wasn’t sure how I would feel about another city after visiting such an amazing one as Budapest. Tallinn …. All I can say is this city stole my heart …..
Now you are probably wondering how I chose this place. With me, there isn’t any rhyme or reason to how I choose my destinations. I guess you can say I try and find places I haven’t visited; places that are within my budget and go from there.
What is it about this one city that had me fall in love with it? What is it about this place that made it equal to how I feel about Budapest? It is hard to pinpoint any one thing. It could be many things from how walkable everything was from where I stayed to the amazing view from the top of Toompea.
Where to start on my journey through this amazing city? Or should I say the continuing journey through Tallinn?
As most of you know, when I travel I need to hit up a place that sells chocolate croissants. I mean, come on, who wouldn’t want chocolatey goodness….. Found a cafe near where I was staying called Caffeine. As I was ordering, the person behind the counter thought I was ordering hot chocolate. I had to rephrase it, so she would know I meant chocolate croissant. All you need to say is croissant chocolate when you order it. It was good but not as chocolatey as the one I had when I was in Budapest.
So, what to do on my second day in Tallinn? What do you think I chose to do on this day? As you might have guessed, I chose to visit a cemetery. I mean, they are full of all this history. Especially if you are in a cemetery with well-known names such as Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris that has Jim Morrison from the Doors and Oscar Wilde.
Now it did take me some time to get to Siselinna Kalmistu. You didn’t think I could find it on my own, did you? No, I had to use the GPS to find it; yes, I finally found it after a couple of wrong turns. It wouldn’t be me if I didn’t somehow get myself lost on my way to anywhere…..
It was nice being the only person in the cemetery. Besides, the groundskeepers, that is. It has the feel of a very old cemetery that has been around for hundreds and hundreds of years. Not one that has been around for twenty to thirty years.
One thing I noticed about this place is that it has a lot of moss around the gravesites. Other cemeteries I have visited do not have much moss around them. That is why it gives Siselinna Kalmistu that unique feeling to it.
The second thing I noticed is that some of the graves had photographs attached to them. Others might had had lanterns surrounding them; lighting them in memory of your loved ones’.
The third thing I noticed is that some of the sites had photographs etched into the grave itself which gave it this artistic design to it.
Walking through the cemetery came with it this sense of quietness amongst the noise when you leave it and find yourself back in the city itself. I think the tranquil feeling that washes over you sprinkled with leaves on the ground added to the beauty of it.
As I was leaving the cemetery, or should I say attempting to leave; wouldn’t you know it I got lost. I ran into a woman who was walking through where the entrance was located or where I thought it was. I will get to that in a moment….. Again, she was walking towards me. I spoke to her in English and she spoke back to me in Estonian. Somehow, we understood each other as I conveyed I was looking for entrance. I followed her towards the entrance and found it was the wrong entrance to where I needed to be. As you can guess, I went back inside so I could backtrack and find my way to the entrance I had entered when I first arrived at the cemetery.
One thing I can say is that it helps if you have a marker or something familiar to help you get back on track to where you need to go. For me, I had noticed some people playing soccer when I had arrived that morning. When I left they were on the opposite side of where I was located so I had to follow the trail to get on the right side….. again, got lost a few more times; again asked directions and started walking in the right direction.
Can I say how happy I was when I found my way to Old Town and my hostel!
As you can tell, it was an eventful day. One of tranquility, getting lost and finding my way….
Now let me leave you with these thoughts…. What is it about the places you visit that draws you to them? Is it the lost and found feeling of being in a new place and not caring if you get lost because it is only a matter of time before you find yourself. Is it the people you meet along the way that help you find your way even if there is a language barrier between you?
Ponder these thoughts and don’t forget to check back later for part three of Passport to Tallinn.
