OK, not technically on the train, but needs must.
A few weeks ago, before the world went wobbly, I decided to make good on a long-standing threat of visiting friends in Tallinn. I would have liked to come on the train but time was limited, so I decided to fly from Paris instead.
Yesterday morning, I took a train to Paris, had lunch in a park, then took a direct Airbaltic flight from Roissy to Tallinn.
Today is Shrove Tuesday (Vastlapäev), and this morning I was taken to a nearby coffee house by my friend where I got the enjoy the traditional hörgud vastalukkel in all its sugary splendour. And there was coffee.
A vastalukkel is a round sponge bun, filled with one of a variety of delicious things, topped with chantilly and apparently traditionally eaten on Vastlapäev, just before the 40-day fast leading up to Lent. They make pancakes look just a little bit rubbish. I had three over the course of the morning, just to be certain and in case the fasting got too much to bear, and found the gracefully stuffing it directly into my face approach, foie-gras duck stylee, to be the most efficient method of consumption.
After breakfast we wandered around Vanalinn, the Old Town, looking for things to be done later and taking photographs of, well – stuff. It was something of a whirlwhind tour, with a swift visit to the oldest pharmacy in Estonian — the Raeapteek — but I have ten days to be able to take it all in at a slightly more leisurely pace. There has been some suggestion of a trip to Tartu.
Around lunchtime we ended up at Balti jaam — literally Baltic Station and not, sadly, a jazz curry house — where under normal circumstances I would have hoped to arrive or possibly even considered hopping on a train to Saint Petersburg. We walked around the adjoining Balti Jaama Turg covered market, a place that holds plenty more things to explore at a later date.
In the evening I discovered, as we walked past the free skating rink on Harju Street, that 1980s Britain was unsuccessful in its attempts to contain and halt the spread of Russ Abbot’s party horror, Atmosphere, which we heard blasting out across the square in Estonian, the locals blissfully unaware of the damage it can do. I thought I was hallucinating at first, and was glad to seek refuge in Vegan Restoran V for a couple of hours, but later research on the interwebs confirmed my worst suspicions.
The Freedom Square is illuminated at night by LED columns and the imposing memorial to the war of independence. At the moment, the columns are lit in blue and yellow. This is something quite new to residents, apparently; nobody knew until the Pope visited that they change colour.
Tallinn is lovely. We were blessed with glorious blue skies and sunshine which made going out in a teeshirt and jacket possible. The temperature dropped rapidly in the evening, but there was little wind so all is good.
I am practising tere (hello), palun (please), aitäh (thanks) and nägamist (see you soon).
