- We never seem to remember that people in European apartments must not use top sheets on their beds. They use fitted sheets on top of the mattresses, but they put duvets directly on top of the fitted sheet. We always find this interesting and it always takes us by surprise.
- Washcloths must not be widely used in households. This is our 6th apartment, and I don't think we have ever been provided with washcloths for the shower. Maybe, they just consider these to be too personal of an item, so they expect you to bring your own. Not sure. Again, just an interesting difference.
- I love being able to have open windows in European apartments to hear the street/neighborhood noise. There is just something so cool about hearing the restaurant across the courtyard washing its dishes or the neighborhood church playing music. Of course, there are always sounds you would rather not hear at times, but there is no way we could consistently keep our windows open in the heat of summer at home, so the novelty is great.
Ok...moving on from European apartment generalizations.
We walked to the Metro station a few blocks away in Copenhagen and took a Metro (subway) to the airport to board our flight to Tallinn. After an uneventful flight and a quick cab ride, we arrived at our hotel. I was so glad that Dan chose a hotel just outside of the Old Town, so that we would get a taste of the real Tallinn. The hotel was about a 10 to 15 minute walk from the Old Town. Here are some views from the hotel. You can see the Old Town section with the church spires in the distance.
Estonia is such an interesting country. Prior to WWII, it was occupied by Russia for a short period of time. Then, Germany occupied it for several years during WWII, resulting from a non-aggression pact with Russia. Russia re-took the country during WWII and occupied it until Estonia's independence in 1991. Due to its many years under Communist Russia rule, parts of Tallinn still maintain a very Russian feel. Primarily, its citizens speak either Estonian or Russian, but most people we encountered spoke English when we approached them in English. On our walk to the Old Town, we passed through Politseiaia Park, which means Police Garden Park. Here is the description of the park on the park sign, as it was written in both Estonian and English. "In the 1930s, before the establishment of a town park, the area was divided into small plots and used as a vegetable garden by the families of police officers. In the 1950s, the vegetable garden was replaced by a town park. As was customary to the period, the park was given a Stalinist, systematic and very clear structure and nature. At present, due to the growth and densification of the city centre, the Police Garden has become the most actively used park in Estonia." This park has a skate park, a dog park, playgrounds, fountains, table tennis and a running area, all within one city block. Here is a picture of the fountains that run the length of the park.
Of course, our kids loved the playground. It had our favorite type of climbing structure that I like to refer to as the Eiffel tower ropes course.
The most interesting part to me, however, was that it didn't contain any kind of jungle gym, slide, etc. The other playground equipment was all grown-up type equipment that you would find in a weight room in a gym, but scaled down for children. Our kids absolutely loved this. They wanted to play on it forever.
We eventually tore them away from the equipment and continued on our trek to the Old Town. As is typical with our family, someone needed to use the restroom about half way there. We were in front of a large department store, Kaubamaja, so we thought we could just run in there and find a WC (as they are called overseas). They did have a WC, but it was a pay toilet! You had to deposit 20 Eurocents into the machine before you could advance the turnstile and enter the restroom. Luckily, we were able to scrape up enough change before anyone had an accident. We have since encountered these all over the place.
While in the department store, we decided to ride up the elevator to the toy department to see what a toy section looks like in Estonia. The kids posed for a photo opportunity in a giant Hot Wheels car.
We noticed that American movies are running about 9 months after they ran in the States, which is typically what we have found in Europe. Trolls and The Secret Life of Pets must be all the rage right now, due to the toy selection.
We eventually pulled ourselves away from the toys without making any purchases and continued toward the Old Town. Here is one of the many entrances to the Old Town.
The Old Town is divided into an upper and lower section. We wandered around the lower section during our first evening. The buildings date to the 15th and 16th centuries, as this section was a Hanseatic trading center. Every time you turned a corner, you discovered such beautiful streets and buildings.
After a bit of walking around, we were getting quite hungry. We stopped by several places, which promptly told us there would be an hour and a half wait to get your food after you were seated. Now, we were hungry and cranky. Luckily, we found the restaurant Trofe and were able to sit outside for dinner.
Dan and I had both read that a local Estonian specialty was garlic bread, so we wanted to try it. It was on every menu that we perused as we walked around. It is not the type of garlic bread you expect in the States, but a really dark bread that is coated in garlic. I don't want to know how it was prepared, because it has to be bad for you. It was so delicious!
After dinner, we walked around a bit more before heading back to the hotel. Here is a picture near the Town Square of the Old Town. We will spend more time in the Old Town tomorrow. I am so glad we decided spend two nights in Tallinn!
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