Tallinn was intriguing from the get-go. On the flight from Oslo, I made friends with my seat buddy, and we decided to grab a beverage in the Old Town after checking into our respective accommodations. It was oddly quiet in the city for a Saturday night, and the bar he had recommended was closed, so he started poking his head in other options and one was a nondescript bar downstairs. As soon as we hit the landing, I thought, "I don't think this is what we are looking for … or at least what I'm looking for." The corset-clad bartender saw my friend's perplexed face and said, "We're a strip club." At that, I just started laughing and said that I didn't know about him, but I was going to keep looking. Alas, we ended up closing down an Italian restaurant, drinking wine without any dancing entertainment. I also did find out a couple days later that the reason it was so quiet that night was that there was a music festival outside of the city that most locals had flocked to.
My accommodation was outside of the Old Town but walkable in a great, trendy neighborhood. It was close to the Telliskivi Creative City, right off the train tracks. It's an area where the long-abandoned industrial buildings are now becoming artistic urban spaces. This area includes everything from working spaces to cafes, clubs, concerts and food festivals. To my understanding, everything is privately owned here, so it's all about the locals, which I love. You'll find no whiff of a Starbucks here!
I didn't have too many days in Tallinn, so I decided to do one of the free walking tours through Old Town. Doing a free tour is a bit of a compromise because they generally have no maximum number of people who can join - and for the guides, bigger is always better because they only work on tips. So we had quite a large group, which was obnoxious, but luckily all the locations we visited were outdoors with enough space for the group to sprawl out and not feel claustrophobic. We saw both the lower and upper areas of the Old Town and the intersection of historic and modern. The Old City walls and a few of the towers are still standing in certain areas. In the main Old Town square, you can also find the Town Hall Pharmacy. The city claims that it's the oldest operating pharmacy in Europe, dating back to the 1400s. I'm not sure if it truly is the oldest, as I've heard some conflicting claims throughout Europe, but I think we can all agree that it's still impressively old. Walking inside, you get a bit of a time-warp feeling as parts of the pharmacy show exhibits and mementos of pharmaceutical apparatuses and concoctions going back hundreds of years. Even the main counter reflects a worn, dark, thick, natural wood, and wooden shelves still stand behind the counter, stocking medicines. Eat your heart out, Boots and Walgreens - this Tallinn pharmacy exudes history and character.
Walking through all these cobblestone streets in the medieval city, I was also surprised and impressed to hear how technologically forward Estonia is. The majority of all its public services are accessible online, and that includes tax filing. Taxes can be completed 100 percent digitally in less than five minutes. Umm … as an American, can I say how green with envy I am?? Every year, I dread the horror of tackling my taxes … I would rather spend the day stuffed in a dentist chair, getting my teeth cleaned while being lulled by the sound of a drill. It's a wonder how Uncle Sam can still function so archaically.
Estonia's flourishing technology industry is also not contained to just digital experiences. You better put the phone away crossing the street, last summer they had a self driving bus running through town. As I was crossing the street I didn't see the bus, but I did see a strange sign for it? Yes, question mark. It wasn't until I looked up the self driving bus online that it made sense. The sign alone in the road, with no bus, was a bit perplexing and humorous at the same time (see gallery below for a picture). Tallinn's got a bit of a competitive streak to it!
My tour guide also mentioned how there is a bit of a rivalry between Tallinn and Riga (in Latvia) in regards to the largest Christmas tree. There seem to be a lot of semantics in these besting claims, but it appears that maybe one city has the largest tree and the other has the largest decorated tree? I'm honestly still a bit unclear, but I think the only way to come to a personal conclusion is to visit both cities again in December to evaluate their Christmas markets, mulled wine and, of course, the Christmas trees. I'm definitely coming back!
