Tallinn: A Beautiful Medieval City In Enterprising Estonia

Estonia today

More Scandinavia than Eastern Europe, Estonia is just across the water from Helsinki. Being a small nation right on the Baltic made it ripe for occupation by those who wanted ocean access. Estonia has a violent and oppressed past and so its people very much appreciate the freedom they have now. They appreciate it so much that they play the national anthem every day from the Parliament building in celebration of the fact. The country is determined to be part of a modern Europe.

Estonia’s Prime Minister is Taavi Roivas who, at only 36, is the youngest head of state in Europe. He is married to pop star Luisa, who was the runner up on Estonia’s equivalent to Britain’s Got Talent and they have a daughter called Rhianna. Estonia is very much keeping up with the times!

Other interesting facts are that Estonia has quite a radical parliamentary system and is always run by a coalition. It is also one of the countries with the lowest participation in organised religion (14%) in the world. Most Estonians are atheists.

Touring around Tallinn

There are a couple of really good ways to get an overview of the city. The open top ‘hop on, hop off’ bus tour is a good option, and it allows you to see beyond the medieval town walls. The tours each lasts about an hour and there are three routes to try, although there is some overlap between them. The open top bus tour is 19 EUR or 21 USD and your ticket is valid for any of the tours over the next 24 hours. After a bracing bus tour, you could then lunch on some local delicacies, such as dumplings, or gigantic cherry pancakes or perhaps elk soup, and pickles from the barrel at the medieval pub.

The best value-for-money activity in Tallinn by far, is the free walking tour run by Tallinn Traveller Tours. It is free but donations are asked for at the end of the walk. The two-hour tour sets off at midday every day from outside the Tourist Information Centre and it is extremely entertaining and informative.

Our guide was Heli, a typical blue eyed blonde Estonian - almost everyone is blonde and blue eyed here. In fact, there are only about 1 million ethnic Estonians, which makes this a pretty small population.

Heli was an exceptional guide and the stories she told really brought the city, the country and its character to life.

She explained that the Russians had tried to bomb Tallinn to bits but the city had been helped by the Finnish, who had captured some Russian planes and followed the first bombers back to the Russian base. They then took out the Russians’ radio contact and so the rest of the raid never took place. Happily, this saved the city and its beautiful buildings.

The Hotel Viru and the KGB museum

Estonia was not so long ago firmly hidden behind the iron curtain of the Soviet Union. The hotel Viru was built in 1972 to impress the world with the Russian way of doing things. Its 23rd floor was also home to the listening devices of the KGB, the security agency of the Soviet Union, which tuned in constantly to the conversations of visitors to see if they were saying anything anti communist. People were told not to go to the 23rd floor as ‘there is nothing there.’

The KGB left this place in a hurry after the fall of communism and the rooms have been left exactly as they were and it has now become a museum. Old radio and taping equipment and typewriters and telephones were left as they were used then. Papers and records are strewn about the room and KGB uniforms hang on the walls. One phone is especially heavy as it was a secure line, and there is a red phone with no numbers on it which was a direct hotline to the communist HQ in Moscow. You need to book in advance to visit the museum.