Medieval Estonia and the 3 "C"s

Tallin, Estonia was one of my favorite visits. I didn't know what to expect but it is a clean, curvy, cobblestone town with a medieval back-splash. Tallin has an 800 year old history and has been occupied by Danish rule, Russian Tsars, Nazi Germany, the USSR and finally, in 1991, it became independent. 

Dan and I toured Estonia on our own (plus Lonely Planet) and our first stop was a little cafe to use the internet. I needed to register for my summer class which were causing me a little stress. Right as we sat down it began to downpour but soon cleared up allowing us to wander the streets and explore the city. 

I liked this cafe's decor incorporating astrology

My astrology sign

Dan's astrology sign

(neither of us follow our horoscope habitually but I thought it was cute!)

We only had a few hours so we tried to cover as much ground as possible but we did manage to pop into a few stores where some of the most intricate and beautiful hand knit sweaters were sold. Dan was also on a mission to find a soft pretzel but all of the cafes tricked us by having pictures but no pretzels.

Tallin was full of the 3 Cs- Churches, castles and cafes! I would have loved to spend more time there exploring and learning about the history. We stayed in the old town but apparently Tallin is the Information Technology capital of the Baltic and therefore, has a growing urban block as well.

St. Nicolas Church that doubled as a fortress 

Holy Spirit Church

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral

Toward the end we picked up the pace even more because neither one of us had a watch (dumb we know!) and the cruise captain made it very clear that they would not wait for stragglers. Plus, we wanted to make it back for the appetizers and cocktails on the ship!!

Maiden tower where they ironically imprisoned prostitutes

Ok, blogging was my way of avoiding Finance homework but I guess I should fit in a little. Goodnight!

*All photos are mine but the Maiden tower picture came from the Tallin visitors website since mine didn't turn out.*

http://www.tourism.tallinn.ee/eng