On Saturday, I woke up at about 9 and was barely sober enough to get myself moving to catch a boat to Tallin in Estonia. I had a small headache, wanted to sleep for another 4 hours, and had the song "I got a hangover, wh-oh!" stuck in my head. Still, I was excited for a day trip to a new country and I already had paid maybe 36 euros for a ticket there and back.
By the time I ate, got dressed, and walked to the boat, it was 9:55 am. I had 5 minutes until the boat left. I booked it, but I made it. Oops, no I didn't. I had be there a half hour early and watched the boat pull away as the check in attendant changed my ticket to the next departure at noon. That was okay. I got some anti motion sickness pills at the pharmacy and actually went back to the hostel to just lie in bed for a bit.
The boat was an Australian catamaran. Philipp said it went pretty fast, but it seemed slow to me. I got a window seat on the upper deck, but unfortunately lost my leg room to a couple from maybe Denmark or Holland. The only section open to the air was the smokers deck. On the way back it was fairly bumpy and people could NOT handle it. So many young smokers trying for the lounge just totally got knocked off their feet and nearly fell into sitting passengers laps. I saw perhaps the second solo girl traveler in 3 weeks on the trip out there. She had short schoolboy hair, big hips, a slim torso, kind of boyish features but pretty with some light light bluish eyeshadow on, and a general look of "leave me be". Definitely my type.
I wandered to the starting point of the self guided tour from my guidebook. I saw the girl there. I saw the broken line that was a monument for the over 800 people who lost their lives when a cruise ship sank recently.
There isn't too much more to tell other than the self guided tour. The town has an amazing old town and, consequently, there are quite a few tourist. No bother. I'm one silent, sexy, sleek soul, doing my own thing (that probably every one else was). I'll post a few good pictures from the old town.
This is the old town hall.
Here is the Orthodox cathedral. This looks almost fake!
I may prefer the brick color of the Finnish Orthodox cathedral in Helsinki, though (this picture was taken when I got back to Helsinki that night as the sun was setting on it).
Ok, back to Estonia. Here is a picture of some original fortress walls.
And here is a centuries old tower next to the royal apartments I think.
The old and the new.
The view from the top.
The self guided tour was great. It provided super digestible, interesting history about the various ancient structures I was seeing. Along the way, I ran into a woman probably in her late forties. She immediately asked if I was American. I said yes, and she got super excited. "Wow! What a coincidence! I'm half American. I have dual citizenship there and in Finland!" It didn't seem so crazy to me, so I kept my guard up. She got super excited when I said yes, I had come over from Finland. She said, "isn't that odd? Isn't that amazing?" I think odd might have just been the wrong word choice, but it still caught me off guard. I just kinda answered her questions and moved on when she got stopped by a guy bumming a cigarette. I thought the whole time a plea for money or help was coming just based on the way she aggressively accosted me, but she just said nice to talk to you as I moved along. I guess she really was that excited about our "coincidence"!
I finished the tour and had some time to kill before the boat returned. Naturally, I found a bar and ordered a Finnish Long Drink. My last one! Delicious. I hope to have one again. I consulted my guide book and decided that yes, I have time to walk to the royal gardens and then make the boat. It was a long walk and all I did was take pictures, but it was worth it.
I got freaked out that I would miss my return boat because the guidebook warned that you have to know the platform you're leaving on. The tourist office was closed, but the guidebook noted another office in the mall I had passed to get to the royal garden. I went in and asked the girl where Linda Line leaves. She said, "What do you want me to tell you?" I tried to explain that I wanted to make sure I knew where to leave. She was pretty rude (I'm not sure if it was a language barrier) but said something like "Maybe you should go back there, then." She explained she had never taken that boat, she was just the mall shopping information kiosk. Hahahaha, man, I felt dumb. It was funny.
Made the boat back no problem and who did I see getting on? Yeah! The boyish girl! Awesome, hopefully I'll get to talk to her and ask her about her day trip to Tallin that I took, too. It didn't matter than on the noon boat I saw her sweatshirt had big "09" numbers on it like the year she graduated from high school, we had something in common! I was just about 2 people away from her as we queued up to exit the boat. But alas! I was too tired and pansy to catch her and talk. Also, I'm sure she recognized me from the early afternoon, but made no facial expression whatsoever to suggest that. Just moved right over my face when looking around. Hahaha, just my type! I do regret not catching her, getting swept up in conversation, and having kebab in Helsinki with her. I'm sure that's exactly how it would have happened, too.
I got back to the hostel a bit before 10 pm. I was tired from staying up until 5 am two nights running. I probably only had about 9 hours of sleep those two nights and I had been walking around for three days. I went to bed at about 1030 pm and didn't properly rise for another 12 hours or so.
By the time I ate, got dressed, and walked to the boat, it was 9:55 am. I had 5 minutes until the boat left. I booked it, but I made it. Oops, no I didn't. I had be there a half hour early and watched the boat pull away as the check in attendant changed my ticket to the next departure at noon. That was okay. I got some anti motion sickness pills at the pharmacy and actually went back to the hostel to just lie in bed for a bit.
The boat was an Australian catamaran. Philipp said it went pretty fast, but it seemed slow to me. I got a window seat on the upper deck, but unfortunately lost my leg room to a couple from maybe Denmark or Holland. The only section open to the air was the smokers deck. On the way back it was fairly bumpy and people could NOT handle it. So many young smokers trying for the lounge just totally got knocked off their feet and nearly fell into sitting passengers laps. I saw perhaps the second solo girl traveler in 3 weeks on the trip out there. She had short schoolboy hair, big hips, a slim torso, kind of boyish features but pretty with some light light bluish eyeshadow on, and a general look of "leave me be". Definitely my type.
I wandered to the starting point of the self guided tour from my guidebook. I saw the girl there. I saw the broken line that was a monument for the over 800 people who lost their lives when a cruise ship sank recently.
There isn't too much more to tell other than the self guided tour. The town has an amazing old town and, consequently, there are quite a few tourist. No bother. I'm one silent, sexy, sleek soul, doing my own thing (that probably every one else was). I'll post a few good pictures from the old town.
This is the old town hall.
Here is the Orthodox cathedral. This looks almost fake!
I may prefer the brick color of the Finnish Orthodox cathedral in Helsinki, though (this picture was taken when I got back to Helsinki that night as the sun was setting on it).
Ok, back to Estonia. Here is a picture of some original fortress walls.
And here is a centuries old tower next to the royal apartments I think.
The old and the new.
The view from the top.
The self guided tour was great. It provided super digestible, interesting history about the various ancient structures I was seeing. Along the way, I ran into a woman probably in her late forties. She immediately asked if I was American. I said yes, and she got super excited. "Wow! What a coincidence! I'm half American. I have dual citizenship there and in Finland!" It didn't seem so crazy to me, so I kept my guard up. She got super excited when I said yes, I had come over from Finland. She said, "isn't that odd? Isn't that amazing?" I think odd might have just been the wrong word choice, but it still caught me off guard. I just kinda answered her questions and moved on when she got stopped by a guy bumming a cigarette. I thought the whole time a plea for money or help was coming just based on the way she aggressively accosted me, but she just said nice to talk to you as I moved along. I guess she really was that excited about our "coincidence"!
I finished the tour and had some time to kill before the boat returned. Naturally, I found a bar and ordered a Finnish Long Drink. My last one! Delicious. I hope to have one again. I consulted my guide book and decided that yes, I have time to walk to the royal gardens and then make the boat. It was a long walk and all I did was take pictures, but it was worth it.
I got freaked out that I would miss my return boat because the guidebook warned that you have to know the platform you're leaving on. The tourist office was closed, but the guidebook noted another office in the mall I had passed to get to the royal garden. I went in and asked the girl where Linda Line leaves. She said, "What do you want me to tell you?" I tried to explain that I wanted to make sure I knew where to leave. She was pretty rude (I'm not sure if it was a language barrier) but said something like "Maybe you should go back there, then." She explained she had never taken that boat, she was just the mall shopping information kiosk. Hahahaha, man, I felt dumb. It was funny.
Made the boat back no problem and who did I see getting on? Yeah! The boyish girl! Awesome, hopefully I'll get to talk to her and ask her about her day trip to Tallin that I took, too. It didn't matter than on the noon boat I saw her sweatshirt had big "09" numbers on it like the year she graduated from high school, we had something in common! I was just about 2 people away from her as we queued up to exit the boat. But alas! I was too tired and pansy to catch her and talk. Also, I'm sure she recognized me from the early afternoon, but made no facial expression whatsoever to suggest that. Just moved right over my face when looking around. Hahaha, just my type! I do regret not catching her, getting swept up in conversation, and having kebab in Helsinki with her. I'm sure that's exactly how it would have happened, too.
I got back to the hostel a bit before 10 pm. I was tired from staying up until 5 am two nights running. I probably only had about 9 hours of sleep those two nights and I had been walking around for three days. I went to bed at about 1030 pm and didn't properly rise for another 12 hours or so.
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