Views from Tallinn Old Town Wall in Estonia

The view from Tallinn Old Town Wall is wonderful!  The wall was originally 2.5 km in length, but isn’t totally intact now.  Along a road called Müürivahe, you can enter a wooden door, and for a small fee, climb the stairs and explore the top of the city wall.

DSC_5507

Originally, I was going to climb to the top of St. Olaf’s Church to view the City, but because it was a holiday, they were closed.  This view was quite spectacular also!

DSC_5499

There are other viewing platforms around the City for outstanding and picturesque views of the City!  Our Airbnb was located on the outskirts of Old Town on the Western side and the viewing platforms were only a 10 minute walk away…

DSC_5543 Continue reading

Kadriorg Palace & Park

Kadriorg Palace was built in 1725 by Russia’s Peter the Great for his wife Catherine I.  When Estonia gained its independence in 1919, the Palace became Estonia’s Art Museum in 1921.  During World War II, Germany occupied the Palace and then the Russians.  Finally, in 1991, Estonia became independent once again!

After years of renovation, the Palace was reopened in 2000 displaying foreign art.  The Palace, gardens, and park are lovely!

We walked over 2 miles from our Airbnb to the Palace…

DSC_5378

There are plenty of park benches to relax on and enjoy being in nature.

DSC_5370

DSC_5374

The Palace is quite colorful and we had another beautiful day for sight-seeing!

DSC_5381 Continue reading

Tallinn’s Architecture

We arrived to Tallinn, Estonia’s harbor after a 2 hour ferry ride from Helsinki on June 21st and took a taxi to our Airbnb.  The taxi ride was quite odd because initially the taxi driver said he knew where the address was (which was only about 1.5 miles from the harbor), but then drove past it and when we spoke up and said we think he passed it, he assured us he was on the right path.  A few minutes later, he realized his mistake and took us back to the Airbnb.  I told him I wasn’t paying any extra for his mistake and he didn’t try to cheat me.

There was also a mix-up with the Airbnb host, but she eventually arrived and gave us a partial ride to a grocery store located 15 minutes walk from the lodging.  The Airbnb was in a great location, within walking distance of Old Town.  We were spending three nights here, so after returning from the grocery, we explored Old Town Tallinn and its amazing architecture!

DSC_5350

According to Wikipedia: Estonia was founded in 1248 but the earliest human settlements date back to 3000 years BC, making it one of the oldest capital cities of northern Europe.  Often dubbed as the Silicon Valley of Europe, it has the highest number of startups per person in Europe and is a birthplace of many international companies including Skype.  In 2011, the city was a European Capital of Culture.

DSC_5321

Some of these photos were taken the following morning when I went out exploring on my own…

DSC_5334

Continue reading