Journey through the Baltics. Estonia
Advantages of the hotel:
- comfortable rooms;
- intelligent and attentive staff;
- quality room service;
- excellent sound insulation;
- delicious breakfasts;
- free safe in the room;
- the room has a modern hair dryer, as well as an iron and ironing board;
- free gym (sorry, we didn’t visit there);
- there is a sauna (free in the morning hours).
Hotel cons:
- far from the city center;
Once again, I greet dear travelers.
INTRODUCTION
Today, my dear friends, I will delight you with our trip to the glorious ancient city of Tallinn (n). In the original, it is written as Tallinn (translated as "Danish city, i. e. Taani - Denmark, linn - city"). As, probably, many people remember the good old Soviet times, then this city was written with one n at the end.
However, in the era of the Early Post-Soviet era, when it became fashionable to rename countries to all sorts of Belarus and Kyrgyzstan, another n was added to the capital of Estonia, and it became known as Tallinn. However, then the last letter n was lost somewhere, and the name of the Estonian capital returned to its former soviet spelling. So we will call this city Tallinn.
We rested there, by the way, from 31.12. 10 to 3.01. eleven.
SOMETHING ABOUT VISAS
So, 30.12. 10, the luggage is collected, on hand are the documents received the day before, among which are passports with Estonian visas, and not simple ones, but multiple visas, for a period of up to a year. However, do not rush to the Estonian embassy at once: according to other tourists from our group, they received the most common one-time tickets. Why were my wife and I given a multi? I don’t know, a possible reason is a large number of other shengvises in the passports, issued at relatively short intervals. I don't see any other reasons.
This time we traveled by train, which will be the subject of a separate chapter. Those who have traveled abroad by train more than once and know this cuisine well can skip this chapter with a clear conscience. In general, I used to think that only planes were charter, but, as it turned out, trains are like that too. They only run longer than the regular trains. Take a regular train here: it leaves Moscow at 18:05 and arrives in Tallinn at 8:27. On the way 15:22 (do not forget the time difference of 1 hour, i. e. if Moscow time, then the train arrives only at 9:27).
The charter train (No. 984A, and back No. 984) leaves Moscow at 15:20, costs hell knows how much at intermediate stations, and eventually arrives in Tallinn at 9:48 (local time). It turns out the travel time is 19:28. In general, for as much as 4 hours longer it goes.
However, this has little effect on the time of crossing the border: all the same, somewhere at 3 am, pass the Russian one, and at 4-something the Estonian one.
Yes, about half an hour after boarding the carriages, the conductors collected everyone's passports in order to compile some kind of lists of their own.
Someone once scared me that border guards and customs officers are just animals: they build everyone, shine a flashlight in the face, etc. I don’t know, in our case, at the Russian customs, a border guard just entered, didn’t shine a flashlight in anyone’s face, but simply turned on the light in the compartment, collected the passports, while waking up those who were sleeping (in order to compare the sleepy face with the one in the passport) and took the docks to stamp them.
Then a customs officer in camouflage came, asked the owners of the lower shelves to stand up, lifted the seats, shone a flashlight there, saw ordinary suitcases on wheels there, which, apparently, did not interest him, so he left. Then the same border guard came again and handed out passports to everyone. On this, the Russian part of the border was passed.
The Estonian border followed approximately the same scenario. One of the differences is that a dog came with a customs officer: he was looking for drugs, explosives and other bad substances. Then an Estonian border guard came and checked everyone's passports. He did not take them anywhere, but put stamps there right on the spot. He further warned everyone not to let anyone delay their stay in their country, that now the requirements have become tougher, “the one-day rule no longer applies, ” after which he disappeared into the night. And we went further, already on the Estonian territory.
The carriages themselves are well-mannered, they heat generously, there are biosorters, so you don’t have to be afraid of any sanitary stops. It's just a pity that there was no dining car. We, however, were already warned about this by the travel agency, so we had to remember the good old scoop. If someone doesn’t remember, then, as a rule, they took hard-boiled eggs, sausage and fried chickens on the road.
If you want a cup of tea, then, as in Soviet times, the guide will bring it, with or without a lemon. There is a glass of tea with lemon now 30 rubles.
ARRIVAL IN TALLINN
Upon arrival (at 9:27 or even a little earlier), we were met by a guide from the Dialog company, from which we, in fact, purchased the tour, and offered us a walking-bus tour. Anyway, the hotel was supposed to settle only at 15 o'clock. We went and looked at the house of the local president, some kind of improvised concert hall on the street, which people used with might and main for sledding from the hills, as well as several monuments. In the Clarion Hotel Euroopa, however, they still settled in before 15 o'clock - somewhere around 12 o'clock we received the coveted key cards.
The hotel staff is polite and helpful, everyone speaks Russian: some with a strong accent, some almost without it. Okay, about the language later.
To take the elevator to another floor, you must first insert the key card into the appropriate slot.
The room has everything you need: a free-coded chest, a flat-wall TV with a welcome screen, a mini-bar (notably, this mini-bar also includes a toy in the form of a lamb, which you can take away as a souvenir, paying for it pleasure chirp), Swiss-made hair dryer and iron. The plumbing is imported and in excellent condition, the switches are single-lever everywhere (I love it! ). An interesting feature is that the bathroom is divided into two parts by a glass partition. In the place behind the partition, the floor is sloping, and in front of the part behind the partition, there is a drain. It's kind of like a shower.
The room is warm, you do not freeze at night. To do this, just set the thermostat to full power.
The furniture is also quite decent, wooden, covered with transparent varnish. Another important point is good sound insulation.
And then, I remember, for example, in Spain we heard how neighbors make sounds of varying degrees of decency, in the Czech Republic we heard how people from Russia played the Plekhanovo group behind the wall. Here everything is quiet and calm.
Good number in general.
Taking a map at the reception, we decided to make the first sortie into the city. By the way, orientation in the city is not a problem, although the map seemed to us not quite accurate. After about 20 minutes of walking, we reached the center and found ourselves right in front of the gates of the Olde Hansa restaurant (by the way, the drivers there are very polite: they always give way to pedestrians). And since this place was on our list of recommended restaurants, we decided to have lunch there.
OLDE HANSA RESTAURANT
There were quite a lot of people there (as in all local good restaurants at such a time), but we quickly found a table for us (fortunately, the restaurant is large, 3-story).
The atmosphere is in the style of the Middle Ages, everything is illuminated with the help of candles, and even in the toilet (by the way, the toilet is also quite “ancient”: there are no mixers for you there - only a washstand in the form of a kettle that needs to be tilted, then water flows from the spout). A polite and friendly waiter spoke to us in Russian, albeit with an Estonian accent. From draft beer there were 3 varieties: dark honey, dark with herbs and light with cinnamon.
With cinnamon - so, nothing special, with herbs - nothing, but somehow bitter, but honey - that's it.
From food they took game, baked trout, and for beer - dried elk. Everything turned out to be very tasty.
After sitting in Olde Hansa, we walked a little in the center
By the way, opposite Olde Hansa there is another very cool restaurant - Peppersack, but I will talk about it later.
RUSSIAN LANGUAGE IN ESTONIA
Since I touched on the topic of the Russian language in the previous chapter, I want to dwell on it here.
If you remember, in the report about Latvia I wrote that “Do you speak Russian? ” is, one might say, a silly question. Of course, they will most likely treat this with understanding, but nevertheless, the question is stupid, because almost everyone speaks Russian there. Well, we did not meet a single person there who did not speak Russian. And many speak with a barely noticeable accent, and many more without an accent at all.
In Estonia, the situation with the Great and Mighty is worse: some speak very badly, with the transition to English, and some waiter in a restaurant, having addressed me in English and having received an answer in it, spoke to me in it in the future, although I heard that my wife and I spoke Russian among ourselves. But still, the vast majority speaks Russian, albeit with varying degrees of accent. I think Russian is spoken by about 90% of the population there. Or maybe more. I also saw a bookstore where they sold books in Russian.
AND SOMETHING ABOUT THE ESTONIAN LANGUAGE
Something I seem to blame the poor Estonians that they do not all know the Russian language. But someone can ask me a reasonable question: to what extent do you speak Estonian yourself? Well, alas, I have nothing to brag about. Well, I know how to say “hello”, “thank you” and “please”, I can say the names of me and my wife, where we live, I can ask for a restaurant bill, and I also know colors, numbers and some foods. I can ask an Estonian in his language if he speaks English (French, Spanish, Italian or Greek).
I can say that I am learning Estonian (however, this will no longer be true). I can also say that I have a cat. Here, perhaps, is all my Estonian. Yes, I can also say “in my defense” that I do not know Estonian words at the “parrot” level, but I know the rules of reading and pronunciation, as well as some simple rules for constructing phrases.
I also taught him before the trip, by the way. For what? And for the sake of sports interest, as always.
If you have read my previous reports, you will have noticed that in some cases I learned the languages of the countries I visited, and successfully. For example, I managed to master Czech (in a month; before that, I studied Polish for several months) and Greek (in three months) relatively well. In the case of Estonian, it turned out worse for me for the following reasons:
- we finally decided that we were going to Estonia only a month before the trip;
- the Estonian language belongs to the Finno-Ugric group, and this group is complex and not at all familiar to me (although Greek was also not familiar to me at all, but it will still be simpler);
- I haven't found really good Estonian textbooks;
- and, finally, the highlight of the program: I learned the language, as they say, go ahead. Well, I didn't have time to take it seriously this time. Maybe sometime later.
WALK IN THE CENTER
In the middle of the Town Hall Square (where, in fact, the Olde Hansa restaurant is located, as well as many others) there was a large New Year tree. There were also many "hen houses" with all sorts of things: hats, gloves, sweaters, other knitted and fur products. There were also all kinds of souvenirs, sweets and, of course, hot mulled wine (hereinafter - glinka). Meat, national sausages, potatoes and cabbage were fried there in a huge frying pan over an open fire.
The meat was, most likely, venison, judging by the fact that there was a pen with two oleshkas on the square. Oleshki, by the way, were tame - you could stick your hand into the aviary and stroke the horned cattle. They also seemed to be tired of the hay that lay in the paddock, so they begged for something tastier for themselves. We even wanted to treat them to cookies, but we were asked not to do this, because.
, they said, initially there were three Olesheks there, but the tourists had already managed to feed one, and they took him away. Only where they were taken - to the hospital or to the kitchen - history is silent.
A glass of clay in winter is such a thrill! True, it cost more than in Riga - 2.25 Jews. But on the other hand, in Riga there was only one type of clay, but here there were three: ordinary (2.25 Jews), strong (3 Jews) and “children’s”, that is, non-alcoholic (they were not interested in the price). In general, almost everything is more expensive there than in Riga. By the way, some local residents told us that this rise in price is precisely due to the transition to the Jews.
ABOUT THE TRANSITION TO A NEW CURRENCY
Oh, how convenient it used to be: in Lithuania - litas, in Latvia - armor, in Estonia - Estonians ...Just kidding, of course, crowns. : D So, we ended up in Tallinn just on the eve of the transition from "Ests" to Jews. At first we even thought about buying ourselves a little "Est", since they are still operating there for a couple of weeks after 01.01. 11, but decided not to bother.
And although the guide told us that the Jews there would begin to accept only the next day (i. e. , from 01.01. 11), but for now it would not be possible to pay with them, we all calmly paid off in Olde Hansa with Jews, leaving a small tip. The waiter was very pleased. Yes, and in the chicken coops, the Jews were quite respected.
NEW YEAR'S BANQUET IN "BEER HOUSE"
After the walk, we went to the hotel to prepare for the New Year's banquet, which was to be held at the beer restaurant "Beer House" (also near the Town Hall Square).
The banquet there started at 21.00, but we thought: what, in fact, is there to do so early? But on the other hand, all of a sudden all the good places will be occupied ...We wanted to go there by taxi. But the taxi driver who was on duty at the hotel began to chirp. No, in FIG such happiness, we ourselves will reach. In general, we pulled ourselves up there somewhere at 21.30. And then the evening was almost ruined: at the entrance, the guard asked me if we had tickets.
We presented a booklet with a discount card, but he said that it was not a ticket.
But then he asked that maybe we were among those invited. We said yes and he let us through. Then the aunts at the entrance began to ask us for a surname and look for it in the lists, and to no avail. Another guy in a jacket came, he looked like a director, they explained something to him in Estonian, and it was clear what they were talking about us. He, apparently, promised to resolve the issue. But just in case, I called the Estonian representative of Dialog and explained the situation. And almost immediately after that we were offered to go to the table.
Then the Moscow representative of Dialog called us back and asked what the problem was. I explained to her that, in fact, the problem seems to have already been solved. She told me something like excuse us for our sluggish Estonian colleagues and treat this as a New Year's adventure! A very good adventure, to say the least!
Then she called me back again to make sure that the problem was definitely solved. Such care is, of course, good, if at the same time I was not in roaming. : D
As a result, they put us at a table in one of the “separate compartments”, where there is a table, and 8 people behind it. In general, if someone had to go out, others had to let him out. And since beer flowed like water there (and hardly anyone thought to grab diapers), everyone had to go out with enviable regularity. The only thing that saved the situation was that some of the guests from our table hung out in the hall for a long time, participating in various competitions. There were quite a few snacks - both hot and cold.
Beer was 6 varieties, and 3 of them were poured for free. In the reviews that we read before the trip, many praised this beer, but I do not share the opinions of these people. I don’t even know how to describe this beer… You know, low-quality tea, in which there is a lot of dust, usually smells like a mop.
But here's how beer can give away with a mop ...However, by analogy with tea, such an impression is created. By the way, one light, one dark and one “red” variety was exhibited among the free varieties. I thought it was a sinful thing, they say, what did you want for free? Looking ahead, I will say that the assumption turned out to be erroneous.
There was also an entertainer in the masquerade costume of a major general who held all sorts of competitions. For example, such a special wooden spoon is taken, with a recess for the ball at the end. A ball is attached to it on a string. The ball must be thrown and caught, i. e. , it must fall into this recess. In total, 5 attempts are given, of which the ball must be caught at least 2 times. As a rule, no one succeeded, even the martinet himself did not always catch this ball.
I also decided to try. And even once caught this ball.
In case of success, there was a prize - a knitted hat, but for participation, the buffoon martinet gave me some kind of elastic ribbon around my neck. At least our cat will have one more toy.
Other competitions were also held there, for example, for the best song. Moreover, there was, in my opinion, no accompaniment at all. Nevertheless, someone like the first place took. And the martinet was the leader there. Then the martinet was replaced by Santa Claus in a modern interpretation: in leather shorts and dark glasses.
But they made pretty good money on champagne: the bubble cost the Jews 40. We didn’t fall for this scam, after all, are we in Bierhaus? Are we in the Beer House or not? So, with a clear conscience, we can rightfully replace champagne with beer, which we did. The New Year was celebrated 2 times: first, Moscow time (under the congratulations of the Russian prezik), and then in Tallinn (respectively, under the congratulations of the local prezik).
By the way, only Russian tourists celebrated NG in this restaurant - from various travel agencies.
In general, quite tolerably NG noted. By the way, this was not the only program. It was possible to order other programs, in other places, with singers and comedians. Whether it would be better or not, I don't know. But here's something we initially liked Birhouse more.
Returned "home" at 3 o'clock in the morning. There were a lot of Russians on the way, some of whom arranged boxing matches among themselves. True, we never saw a knockout, but there were more than enough knockdowns, because it was also slippery.
MORNING JANUARY 1
On the morning of January 1, breakfast was late (until 12 o’clock), but we skipped it safely, because we still wanted to sleep, but didn’t feel like eating at all: until now, what was eaten in Birhaus on New Year’s Eve was enough night. But according to the program of the travel agency, we are at 12.
00 should have already gathered at the Town Hall Square, where we were supposed to be met by a guide with a sign to take us on a tour of the old city. I wonder if anyone came? This is such a rhetorical question. Personally, we walked around the old city to our heart's content. And if you are interested in some information, say, about some building, palace, square, then you can always buy a guide.
In general, we left the “house” at about one in the afternoon, if not two. Where did they go? Of course, to the center, to the old city, where else can you go? It was necessary to have lunch somewhere, especially since breakfast was skipped. There was a bummer with restaurants that day: there was a queue in Peppersack, in the Pigsty (this is how we called one restaurant with a pig figure), too, in the Honest Restaurant (this is where all dishes are cooked with garlic) also broke off: there all the tables were booked. And then we went into one of the three restaurants seen in one advertising booklet. It was called, in my opinion, Maikrahv.
MAIKRAHV RESTAURANT
There is only one kind of beer on tap. Already by the color, I realized that it was analytical, and so it turned out in fact. There was beer and some black beer, but it was bottled. Also, it seems, there was some kind of non-alcoholic, but I don’t consider such (peep) as beer.
But I liked the chanterelle mushroom soup there. They cook delicious soups almost everywhere. We ordered a couple more local dishes such as roasts - we ate to satiety. After all, they also bring buns there - very tasty.
COFFEE HOUSE
After we took a walk and bought suede gloves for 15 Jews each (very warm, by the way) and a hat for our wife in chicken coops, we naturally felt cool (clay in the cold also somehow warms rather weakly), and we went to warm ourselves in one coffee house , using the same clay with cakes for warming, and I also took a tequila, because the thermal insulation in the cafe left much to be desired.
The fact is that one door there did not close tightly, and it constantly siphoned through it. And it’s simply useless to close this door yourself: it won’t take even a few seconds for regular visitors to open it again. Finally, we came to the conclusion that this room would be more suitable as a refrigerator than as a cafe, so we retreated from there.
By the way, they went to the hotel in a different way (just like the famous bald grandfather with his gang-watering can). But this path turned out to be less convenient. There was a lot of snow there. But we wandered along the old snow-covered semi-desert streets, decorated with huge icicles, which, in my opinion, if anyone knocks down, then only in summer. So it's better not to go there next to the buildings.
LOCAL SUPERMARKET
We also went to the local supermarket next to the hotel. We collected Vanna Tallinn liqueurs (they come in 40%, 45% and 50%, but there were none of the latter) and other Bukhara, which is 10-15% cheaper than in Moscow.
Mineral water was also taken (half a Jew for a liter and a half). Even in this supermarket, we were pinned by the fact that the names of many canned goods there were in Russian.
RESTAURANT-SHIP
When checking into the hotel, the guide showed us one ship next to the hotel, in which a restaurant was set up, saying that Jews over 50 in this restaurant for two can simply overeat. I specified:
- Is it with Bukhara?
- With what bukhara? - the guide didn't get it.
- Well, Bukhara - from the word "thump"!
- Oh, no, he says, it won’t work like that with Bukhara, it will be more expensive with Bukhara ...Hmm, Bukhara!
It was evident that he really liked this neologism.
So, we wanted to go to this very restaurant-ship, but it turned out to be closed that day, so we decided to move to the hotel bar.
In the hotel bar we drank tequilon (3.6 Jews per glass) and decided to go to the room. On this, in fact, the evening of the first day of the new year was over.
MORNING JANUARY 2. BREAKFAST
Finally, we got to a free breakfast.
Since January 2 was a day off, breakfast was served from 7.30 to 11.00. On weekdays, breakfast is available from 6.30 to 10.00. But on January 1, as I already wrote, breakfast was right up to 12.00. The breakfast is very even on the level, and you can also feel the proximity of the sea: red fish, herring with various sauces, scrambled eggs and just eggs, bacon, jacket potatoes, stewed vegetables, sausage and cheese slices (even cheese with mold was there), grained cottage cheese, cereals - oatmeal and some other, cucumbers, tomatoes, fruits.
There were also some pastries, jams, marmalades. Of the drinks, coffee, tea, as well as juices (apple and orange) are not freshly squeezed, but not “u-pee” either - just like in bags from stores. And this is not a complete list of products. All in all, a decent breakfast.
TOURIST PROGRAM FOR JANUARY 2
But since there was no need, we did not even come close to it. There are toilets in the shopping center itself. But they are ...paid! Moreover, they still accept only “ests”. Some trifle. There are also machines for exchanging large bills for this little thing, but they only accept “ests”! So I can't say when they will finally be Jewish.
Another topic that will not be covered is IP-TELEPHONIA.
So we didn’t buy a single card there and used roaming, since there was nothing at all. By the way, it is not so easy to find a pay phone there. Usually they are located at the entrances to buildings like shopping malls.
On the way to the restaurant we went to a souvenir shop and bought a few glasses with the symbols of Tallinn. This shop belonged to some pepper named Mohammad, who communicated with his saleswoman in English.
On the way to the restaurant, we came across a handmade glassware shop (if you can call it that). The glassblower right there at that time was blowing out quite beautiful painted goblets, but we decided not to take them. After all, they must be well packed so as not to split on the road.
PEPPERSACK RESTAURANT
In this restaurant at 20.00 the show starts - jousting tournaments. If you book a good table, you can enjoy this spectacle. We did not go there at 8 pm, but somewhere in an hour or two in the afternoon. There were no queues, friendly waitresses showed us to the place. And that's where we finally got lucky with a good beer. The beer there was semi-dark (“red”): “bronze” and “honey”. Both are really good beer, and not some kind of analyzes, as in other establishments.
They also took a piglet there, which is recommended to be taken for two. Aha! What's for two? For three at least. But we do not differ in skinny complexion.
In short, they didn't eat it. Most likely, not enough time has passed since breakfast. And, yes, we also took a plate of soup there, in my opinion, cheese. Tasty. We also wanted to book a table for 20.00 to watch the jousting tournament, but then we changed our minds.
ANOTHER COFFEE SHOP
Again we walked, walked, froze - went to the coffee house to warm up. That coffee shop turned out to be more civilized than the one that had been the day before. At least it didn't blow. We drank again clay with tequilon. Then we decided to try again to go to the ship, after going to the hotel.
This time we again decided to try to take a taxi and approached the first taxi driver in line. He announced no longer a chirp, but 7 Jews. We tried to bargain half a chit, but he didn't want to give in. Then we approached one taxi driver somewhere in the middle of the line, and he immediately announced half a chirp. Now that's a conversation! So we rushed with the wind. : )
RESTAURANT-SHIP, DOUBLE 2
This time the restaurant was open and we even got there. I ordered a tequila there, and then they brought us vodka as a gift from the captain. : ) It was, of course, superfluous, because I almost don’t remember what happened next. But it seems like they ordered eel and salmon there. The way back to the hotel was "long and thorny. "
MORNING JANUARY 3
Breakfast at the hotel that day was not included for the same reason as on January 1st. But we still had to vacate the room. In the suitcase, however, everyone left pretty quickly. I also drank a bottle of beer from the refrigerator. Not a Franciscanner, of course, but in such a situation it will do.
In general, at the reception paid for the bar, left the suitcase in the storage room and went on to walk around the city. We even decided to visit Bierhaus again.
BEERHOUSE DOUBLE 2
And we went there again in order to try that beer, which was not free on New Year's Eve. But it turned out to be no better.
My wife ordered another soup for herself, and even it turned out to be so-so, although soups in Tallinn restaurants are usually very tasty. I took some more sausages for my beer - nothing special, sausages like sausages. In general, it is not clear why this restaurant is so praised. Maybe advertisers? Or maybe honest visitors, the restaurant has just gone sour lately. In short, we do not recommend. Well, since we didn’t manage to drink a good beer here, we went back to PEPPERSACK, because we just wanted good beer.
Well, there the time of departure had already come, we were taken by bus to the station, and without any special adventures we reached the Moscow Lenvokzal.
In general, the trip was pleasant, but still there was not enough time. We'd rather hang out there for at least a couple more days. And the time of the trip was not chosen very well.
I think it would be more expedient to arrive there a little earlier - approximately during the same period in which we went to Riga last year, that is, somewhere from December 28 to January 2.
I remember that in the last days of December the city was busy, but after New Year's Eve it seemed to freeze, it became more difficult to find a decent place to sit. And, of course, it would be much more convenient to fly there by plane (unless, of course, this is the Domodedovo airport at the end of December 2010 : D): after all, a 2-hour night customs on the train does not contribute to relaxation.
So fly airplanes, drink good beer, go to organ concerts and be happy!