Hello! Well, our story left off with our heroine (everyone should get to be the hero of their own story) having a virtuous, early bedtime, with the intention of getting oot and aboot bright and early the next day. Luckily, I actually slept in 'til after 8 and didn't hit the town 'til a quarter to 9am. I say "luckily" because nothing opens in Tallinn before 9 o'clock. and most places are still closed until 10. People were drunkenly singing in the street until after 6 (my room faced the street, with a large open window), and this sort of late night frolic does not encourage early rising.
Deprived of breakfast and of an internet cafe with Skype, I wandered the streets. I found a little gem of a church; a girl selling postcards, stamps, and postal delivery on the street (they're all over Tallinn); a supermarket (yay, fruit!); and the city outside the walls of the old town. All in all, an excellent use of my time.
Finally, the internet cafe opened (the ONE internet cafe in old town - WiFi is killing the internet cafe) and I was able to get my Greg fix. After that necessity was taken care of, I meandered back to my hostel to check out. Curious thing about Tallinn's old town. It is apparently close to impossible to get lost. I wandered all over the place with neither a map nor a clue and I never had a problem getting back to my hostel. Strange. I really think that it is the magic kingdom.
Anyhoo, I got repacked and checked out, then went out for a second breakfast with Justin, my chum from the previous evening. We took a second ramble around the town together. While searching for rumored secret tunnels, we stumbled across Kiek in de Kok tower. Hah! Best name ever for a giant phallic symbol! Actually, the translation is "peeping in the kitchen", strange, but I strongly prefer the English meaning.
We continued our walk down a little secret way, not so secret judging by the used condoms and hypo we saw on the ground, to a lovely courtyard. There, I settled in with my book, The Egyptologist by Arthur Phillips, author of Prague - very very odd - while Justin went off to meet another friend.
Then, it was back to the good old Viking line. For this crossing, sans Italian conversationalist, I passed the time asleep on a bench and arrived refreshed in Helsinki three hours after leaving Tallinn. I splurged on a cab to my hostel, since I had absolutely no clue how to get there. Good call. There, I waited a good half an hour to check in (long lines), and then dropped off my bag, picked up a Brazilian dinner companion, and was off for Finland's version of Mexican food.
Fernanda has been living in Oslo for two years, working as an engineer. She just finished her contract (they love employment contracts in Scandinavia) and is considering whether or not to sign on for another 2 years. The money is fabulous, the winter is abysmal. Wait... wouldn't 'abysmal' imply hot? OK... the winter is friggin cold!!! For a girl from Rio, not exactly what she's used to.
After dinner, we swung past the train station only to find the ticket office closed. This was a great example of 'Scandinavian time'. The office is only open from 10-6. Fernanda said that often, she'll go to a store, or even a bank and find it closed at 3pm or so - not for a holiday or even summer Friday early closing. Just for the hell of it. The American work ethic seems slightly less than natural when seen through a global perspective. Of course, this opinion might change after I see some working conditions in China. :)
Back at the hostel, Fernanda went to queue for the free internet and I prepared to sneak a sauna. The hostel's sauna, for which I had thrown my travel plans all out of whack, had set hours. 4-6 for women and 6:30-8 for men. I checked in at 8:30. I was not going to be deprived of that sauna. I reconnoitered and discovered that the sauna was unlocked and unguarded. Sneaking past reception with a load of laundry to hide my towel and bikini, I put my clothes in the washer, and ducked into my private, heated world. All of the pressures of the last couple of days melted away. Not to mention the lingering muscular soreness from that ridiculous exercise class!
I was duly punished for my illicit use of the premises by discovering that there was a 3-load waiting line for the dryer. Ouch. I was up 'til 1:30 finishing my laundry, but it was still worth it!
The next morning, I had an amazing complimentary breakfast at the hostel. Normally, that'd be toast and coffee. Not in Helsinki! They served 5 different types of bread (rolls included); 4 types of cereal, including muesli; eggs; fruit; potatoes; juice; coffee; sausage (yuck, but still); and a selection of cheeses. WOW! No wonder the place is booked solid.
Next on the agenda was buying my train ticket to St Petersburg. I still was unaware of the timetable, and was getting a little nervous about not having a ticket. At the ticket office, one takes a number and waits for that number to come up. As I reached to get my number, two Arabic speaking men literally shoved me aside to get to the dispenser first. Nice. However, they got a quick kick from fate after discovering that they had accidentally grabbed a number for the domestic queue rather than for the international queue. So, I still ended up ahead of them. Hah! Take that, you unchivalric jerks!
The nice lady in the office sold me a ticket for the 3:27 train. That was at around 11:30. I had 4 hours in Helsinki. The obvious first step was to hop on the number 3 tram that loops around Helsinki. It's a hop-on public tram that stops at the major tourist spots, and only costs 2 euro! As soon as I hit the harbor (and the farmer's market), I was off like a shot. There were people everywhere, music, great smells, just a perfect day to be alive. I ambled up to Senate Square and heard a choir singing in front of the Cathedral. Cool. Then wandered a bit more and hopped back on the tram.
By pure chance, while enjoying the view, I happened to see the bus stop for bus number 24. That's the one that goes out to the Seurasaari Open Air Museum. It's a preserved area with buildings dating back as far as the 17th century. An amazing look at Finnish culture outside of a stuffy building. Irresistible! Well, it was 12:30, I decided that a 1/2 hour on the bus, 1.5 hours at the site, a half hour back, and a half hour to pick up my pack and get to the station with another 1/2 hr to spare was more than enough time. Yippee!
I made it out there, and had a WONDERFUL time wandering around. Those buildings are amazing. There are also strangely friendly red squirrels. If you make eye contact with one, it will come bounding up to you to interact/be fed. If it was 400 years ago, we'd be having squirrel stew for dinner. The island is beautiful and so peaceful. It's laid out with walkways and abundant foliage. I felt alone most of the time. Finally, it was time to head back. I'm a smart cookie to have budgeted that spare 1/2 hour, 'cause that's how long I waited for the bus. Argh!
Well, it all worked out. I made it to the station and onto my train with at least 5 minutes to spare before it rolled out of the station. :) Seriously, I'm so glad that everything worked out the way that it did. After all, who wants to sit around a dirty train station for hours anyway?
To see pictures, visit: http://picasaweb.google.com/christine7world/FinlandEstonia
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