Day 4 Tallinn / Day 1 Helsinki
I've got a midday ferry to Helsinki today so I just sort of faff about in the hostel for the morning.
I did go to the post office and mail some souvenirs and things I wasn't using home so I've got a nice bag with plenty of space at the moment. The girl at the post office was very helpful. Though she did put them in these envelopes rather than a box so I hope everything survives the trip.
Check-in for the ferry was painless ... I do like these countries where everyone speaks English.
The ferry itself was huge! Got there early enough to see the ferry unload all its passengers from the Helsinki->Tallinn route. THere must have been over 100 cars and trucks in that thing. They were pouring out of the ferry for about 15-20 minutes in a constant stream.
I managed to get a seat right at the front windows on the main entertainment deck so I could watch our progress. Unfortunately the cruise line decided to put some entertainment on for the 2 hour trip. First up was a terrible house band who were playing what I can only assume were Finnish or Estonian pop songs. They were pretty bad.
Following them was a terrible magician. He reminded me of Gob from Arrested Development (good tv show - check it out if you haven't seen it). Terrible outfit, terrible music and a terrible cheesy grin. Hell - maybe Gob was his inspiration - I dunno. But he was pretty bad.
Both the band and not-Gob got a polite smattering of applause from a few people but clearly nobody was interested in what they were doing.
Otherwise the ferry ride was totally uneventful. Nice weather, flat water and a quick trip.
Helsinki is not a spectacular port to arrive in ... it's no Vladivostok. But it was clean and the terminal building was new and modern in clean Nordic style.
Weirdly they didn't check my passport when we disembarked. I know I was travelling within EU countries but it's still weird. And after Russia it was doubly weird not to have to put my bags through any sort of metal detector or go through a security station anywhere.
Jumped on a beautifully clean and modern tram to get to the hostel. The hostel I'm staying in is really nice. It feels pretty new, the dorm rooms are big and spacious with comfortable beds, has a nice kitchen and wonder of wonders the bathrooms are great! Hail Odin for the Nordic nations!
As is normal I stash my stuff then go out for a big walk around the city to try and get my bearings and a sense of the place. It's a nice city. It's a definite removal from the Russian cities. There are a number of old and beautiful buildings and but there are fantastic modern buildings mixed among them that definitely have a Nordic character to them.
I didn't really stop anywhere ... just walked. Eventually it started to get a bit cool so I went back to the hostel via a market and picked up some food for dinner. Sat in the common room for a while eating and doing some research when I ran across a recommendation for a local bar that supposedly had live music on every night. I was a bit bored and not tired so despite it being about 10pm I rugged up and went out to check it out.
Unfortunately the place was dead and there was no band playing so I just kept walking. Played a bit of ingress then went back to the hostel about half an hour later.
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