I am officially insane. I really wanted to stay at Hostel Satakuntatalo in Helsinki. It has a sauna. I really really wanted to use that sauna. Also, it's right in the center of town, near all the trams, etc. Unfortunately, I tend to procrastinate and by the time I went online to reserve my bed at Hostel Satakuntatalo ("a Summer Hotel"- that's what the sign says), it was full for August 19th, the day that I arrived in Helsinki. However, they had an opening on August 20th! Now, any sane human being who wanted to visit Helsinki, Finland and Tallinn, Estonia before going to St Petersburg, finding her first choice in hostels booked, would have stayed at a different, albeit lesser hostel in Helsinki, taken the ferry to Tallinn, and from there taken the very cheap train to St. P. (Tallinn to St P is about a 1/3 the price of Helsinki to St P due to the relative strengths of the Euro vs. the Estonian Kroon. If they charged the same price, very few Estonians could afford to go!
As I said, that is the plan that a sane person would have followed. Well, a sane person would also probably have kept her job and continued contributing to her 401(k) and her brokerage account. God looks after children and idiots. I decided to go straight from the airport (10am after a 7 hour red eye) to the port, buy a ticket for a ferry whose precise schedule I was ignorant of, get myself to Tallinn, and take a taxi to my hostel. Not exactly a leisurely way to deal with jet lag, but it got the job done.
I slept about 4 hours on the plane, with the help of my friend diazepam (thank you, Peruvian over-the-counter pharmacy). After customs (the easiest I've ever been through) and baggage claim, my first stop was for coffee. Then, I discovered that the cost of a cab from the airport to the port was a bit prohibitive. 45 euros to be precise. Ouch! Despite my lack of sleep, I decided to err on the side of thrift and stumbled out to the bus stop. Stop number 21 produced bus #615T which got me to the train station. On the bus, I ran into 3 Italian guys who were also going to Tallinn. Luck! I decided to tag along with them and they produced the information that from the train station, the #4 tram would get us to the Viking line ferry terminal. Woo Hoo! We were in business!
Of course, the hypothetical, sane Christine would have been more prepared and would have known to take the 1.5 hour hydrofoil for 30 euros rather than the 20 euro 3 hour cruise ship, Rosella. Oh well, my fight to stay upright was helped by some great lounge acts (slight sarcasm there, but the old folks seemed to have fun on the dance floor); and by the conversation of Ricardo, Stefano, and Marco, my new Italian friends. We had a great discussion about why Italian men have such a bad reputation. We finally docked at 3:30pm local time, and I bid adieu to my chums and headed off to Vana Tom Hostel.
I had a bit of fun finding the place, but got checked in to a dorm room occupied by 4 hungover men and reeking of booze, cigarettes and male musk. Apparently, there'd been quite a party the night before. I was too exhausted to even think of requesting a different dorm assignment. I unpacked my toiletries and jammies; took a quick shower and was horizontal within about 15 minutes. The next thing I knew, it was 3 hours later, and I slowly became aware of a conversation between two of my bunkmates, Justin and creepy Scottish guy. I decided not to waste my night in Tallinn, and reluctantly rejoined the vertical world. It was 8 by the time I left the hostel, and I was starving. Well, I got coffee and ended up having too much fun to think of food for the next few hours. I had wandered for an hour or so when I ran into Justin from the hostel. He had just met a friend for coffee and was at loose ends until another friend got in on the midnight ferry.
It turns out that Justin has been living and working in Copenhagen for the last 4 years for a Danish hedge fund company. I am so jealous! He's been to Tallinn a time or two before and shows me around to some of the highlights I might of missed. As one of these highlights entails an uphill hike, I probably would have missed it. At one point, Justin finally asked me why I was walking so strangely. Damn you, Cheetah! (apparently the name of the crazy squat instructor at my sister's gym) I was still in pain 4 days after the class. I'm glad that I had Justin to force me to the upper town.
There are actually two medieval walled towns in Tallinn. One was for the nobility and occupies the high ground. The other was for the plebs down below. The view from the high old town down to the poor'ld town and the port and city beyond was amazing! Also, I had the joy of discovering that the Embassy of the Netherlands to Estonia has a trampoline in its courtyard!!! Hah!!! Why am I not Dutch? Will someone (i.e. my parents) please tell me that???
It didn't even get dark 'til around 10:30, and we were having so much fun that it was 11 by the time we got around to looking for dinner. At that point, the restaurants are closed. The pubs are full. By "full", I mean jam-packed with serious drinkers. One pub wouldn't serve us 'cause they had too many customers for the kitchen. Finally, we found an English breakfast (me) and bad Thai curry (Justin) at "The Pub with No Name" - seriously, that's the name of the bar. Replete with eggs, baked beans, and potatoes, I toddled off to bed and Justin went off to pursue a wild night on the town in Tallinn.
On a sidenote - bars in Tallinn typically show fashion videos on muted televisions, while blasting 90s American music and/or bad techno.
To see pictures, visit: http://picasaweb.google.com/christine7world/FinlandEstonia
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