Postcard from Estonia: Tallinn, The Medieval Gem of the Baltic

Hi everyone, welcome to my new post! Today is the first day of November and I think that this is more than enough reason to continue our adventure in Northern Europe and thus start this November with a new travel story, you will also learn more about the capital city, one country of Baltic States – Tallinn.

Now I can officially welcome you to Estonia. Estonia is one of the three Baltic states located in the northeastern Europe. The term of the Baltic states stands for the three former Soviet Republics, now the independent republics of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. This year is very important for Estonia, because this year represents 100 years of the Republic of Estonia.

It was one early morning in Helsinki, I’d better admit to you that we did not even get to sleep at all, because we were expecting cruising to Tallinn in the early hours of the morning. I decided that it would be better for me to get something sweet to bite a little and finish the editing of the pictures of Helsinki, so I did not have a hard time for those few hours without of sleep.

With the late night chit-chats, laugh, snacks and a lot of work, we were up in early morning hours, so we almost got late for the first morning tram which led us directly to the harbour, luckily we all arrived on time at the end! When we arrived at the port, I did not get the impression that I was in front of the harbour , but I thought I was at the airport. Modern, straight lines made of glass and metal, the main harbour in Helsinki at half past six in the morning was shining in its full shine like a diamond.

We have checked in at the counters of Tallink, which is one of the friends of this project #MyHelsinkiResidence and I am pleased that they have provided us their support and enabled the realization of this wonderful project.

Two hours of journey, how much this trip usually lasts between these two “siblings” cities for me was very exciting, first this is my first cruise and just at an entrance of the modern version of the Titanic I realized it will be amazing and unforgettable. The first thing we noticed on the map of the ship is that there is a mini shopping mall and a supermarket on the cruise. The photographer and I were surprised, so I even had to get my glasses to make sure I read it well.

Yes, it turned out that is true… Star, one of the first Tallink cruisers with shops and a supermarket… We could not wait for breakfast, but we immediately went to look for shops, just to be sure that is true. We missed breakfast, but I bought chocolate in supermarket! As I wrote a while ago, time passed and the little Marko arrived in Tallinn. We arrived so quickly on the main square and you can see on the photo above my first reaction and fascination with this medieval city in the modern 21st century!

Our first task was to find the office of the Tallin’s Tourist Board – Visit Tallinn to take over the special Tallinn cards that will help us to visit the sights and museums.

How to get to know Tallinn? Where to start your adventure? – These are questions that almost all tourists are thinking about!

When I want to meet and “feel” the city, I first find the marked sights on the map and select the one that, according to the description of the sight itself, can best “tell” the story of the city. Tallinn is an unusual city, the city’s core has some special energy, which radiates some values that were more appreciated in the Middle Ages, while the periphery is completely modern and urban. It’s amazing how a bus ride can be interesting! My warm recommendation is to start a tour of Tallinn with the Estonian History Museum, located in the very heart of the city.

Time travel can be very fun, who knows, maybe you will learn something new and interesting that you did not know before. The museum is divided into several parts, as a fashion blogger, I’m sure that you all immediately assumed that my the most favorite part was that historic fashion corner. In a special exhibition of clothing you can see how fashion has developed in Estonia from the past to the present modern history of this Baltic country.

I will just say that I am thrilled with fashion development in Estonia, I think you will learn a lot of things about culture and lifestyle of Estonian people. Their culture is magnificent, so please take your time and enjoy. I’m sure you will love it! You also have an interesting part of museum which is interactive and you can “write” your own Estonian history, I tried something, but as I had just few hours in Tallinn I just run to see more sights in Tallinn. Use your time wisely! 🙂

Do you know that the Estonia Spirit is still alive? No?! You must visit him in Estonian History Museum! He is so silly! I’m sure he will make you laugh. Try to chat with him, maybe he will some interesting answers for you, try… You really don’t have anything to lose. 🙂

You will not spend a lot of time in the Museum of Estonian History, but you will learn a lot of new information you did not know about Estonia. After the museum, I suggest you visit the Tallinn’s City Hall, which is the oldest Town Hall in the Baltic region. Because of its uniqueness, it is on the UNESCO list of protected cultural heritage as well as the Tallinn city’s center. If you want to know more about architecture in Tallinn, you absolutely need to read this story.

Walking in the main streets of Tallinn will tell you a special story, enjoy the beauty of the cobblestones and the music of street performers. Souvenir shops, Medieval themed restaurants are just a small piece of puzzle that makes this city so fabulous. Believe me, walking around in the centre of Tallinn is really wonderful, but unfortunately we did not have more time to enjoy in it! 🙁

As we walked through the streets, my photographer heard that many tourists ask the locals for the cathedral of Saint Alexander Nevsky, I was not lazy, so I tried to connect to the WiFi internet network of a nearby café and I realized that we should not miss this beauty. The church is located on a hill, initially you will have the impression that it is far away and that the approach of the church is difficult, but it is not. If you already decided to visit this lovely town, please make sure not to miss this spiritual beauty.

In the next post you will see my fashion combination which I was wearing during my visit to this city. I hope you enjoy in my fashion story, some of the most beautiful photos were made near this temple.

The photographer reminded me that we did not have much time left and that it was time to slowly return to the city so that we would not be late for the bus that directly drives us to the Tallinn’s harbour. I have to admit, the time has just flown and it was not easy for me to just forgive myself why I’m in Tallinn just one day…

As we slowly descended to the city centre, I do not know how, but at one point I noticed the ad with a picture of a beautiful royal orders of Knighthood. First I checked which time it was, the photographer just said: “No way! We’ll be late, you know how much we have to be before boarding, I repeat, there is no chance! “. It would not be me if I did not look at the ad again if I could use the Tallinn card to enter this museum, when I saw a little red sign with white letters written word – Tallinn, I knew it! It was meant to be!

I just took out the card from my backpack and headed towards the entrance to the Museum of Orders of Knighthood, the photographer was outraged… I thought he left me, but he appeared after 5 minutes with the words: “You have 20 minutes, not a minute more!”. For me it was moment of happiness just to see the Royal Orders, I always loved sparkle, things that glitter, and even if it was transparent plastic, I am fascinated by the sparkle! ?

The curator of the museum saw my love for shiny things and showed me with great pride the Royal Order of the highest degree during the rise of the Kingdom of Russia … I must admit that the Russians, apart from the Spanish and the Italians, had a sense of aesthetics… and for sparkle things as well! Diamonds…

The Curator proudly spoke about their special royal orders collection, which has about 700 original pieces. After a short story about the museum, the lady asked me where I from and when I mentioned the word “Serbia”, she took me to another room where she showed me the Order of St. Sava. I remembered my father’s story that this is the highest order in Serbia and that it was given only to extremely prominent people.

The photographer was around all the time and he did patient shooting of the photos, he was trying to be just a observer, but he showed me all the time with mimics how much time left… I do not like one day trips, I can not easily achieve everything… Of course, because of all glitter and shine of the orders and all those shiny diamonds I forgot on time, so I again “break through” the schedule of our trip and now it was really time to go back to Helsinki.

We were in hurry, so fast cardio last walk through the main streets of Tallinn we reached the station of the bus that took us to the harbour. This is the last picture I managed to make in that hurry, because all of those souvenirs made of wood were interesting to me, so I wanted to share it with you. If I had time, I might have bought a new cutting board, but almost because of the diamonds I stay in Tallinn without hotel! It would just be an adventure!

My dear travellers once again we have come to the end of this second special travel post from Northern Europe. Time just flies so fast when you are having a good time! Don’t worry in a couple of days I will publish a new post where we will continue together to enjoy the charms of traveling and we will continue our adventure in Finland and Italy as well.

This one-day trip in Tallinn was successfully completed, we entered in our Megastar and I secretly waved to Tallinn with the desire that we will see soon again! Tired but lucky Tallink Megastar cruiser took us “home” to Helsinki.

At the end of the post I would like to thank the kind staff of Star and Megastar Cruisers that made our journey pleasant on board, although I’m not a swimmer and I have a mild fear of water I felt very safe. If by any chance you decide to visit Helsinki, make sure you will take the opportunity to visit Tallinn, for more information about ships, departures and prices visit their website.

Also, if you are a museum lover and would like to visit a greater number of attractions in Tallinn, take advantage of the special Tallinn tourist card that you can buy at any information tourist center in Tallinn and this sales points. By purchasing a card you get the right to enter certain museums completely for free and for the duration of the card, depending on whether you are purchasing a Tallinn card for a period of 24, 48 or 72h, you have the right to use the transportation completely for free.

As an economist, I always look to save as much as possible; the card is worth paying if you take  only one entry into a museum and a ride by tram or bus, even if you visit two or three museums, or if you have some other landmark, you will understand the real savings that this card provides to you.

How do you like this post? Have you ever visited Tallinn? Did you have chance to enjoy in the magic of the Medieval Gem of Baltic? I would like to share with me your experience! If you have a question, comment, suggestion or message for me, you can write me down in the comments. Of course, as always you can contact me via mail or social media, which you can find on the CONTACT page.

As I promised we’ll see again in a couple of days, so if something new and interesting happens to me, I promise, I will write to you!

Best,

Mr.M

This post is sponsored by Tallinn Tourist Board, Helsinki Tourist Board – My Helsinki, Visit Finland and other respected partners of project #MyHelsinkiResidence which I will mention in future posts. Also I would like to say thank you to Tallink for wonderful collaboration and for amazing opportunity to feel the beauty of travelling with their Star i Megastar cruisers.

For all these beautiful photos, I used Sony Alpha 7r Mark II.