Hello again, everyone. From the previous post, where we took you on a trip to Helsinki, Finland, how are you all doing? The natural beauty of Finland is truly remarkable, isn't it? Well, for today's post, we're going to take you to a second country. We'll be heading to Tallinn, Estonia, which is a neighboring country to Finland.

You can follow the previous thread

EUROPE first time part 1 '' F I N L A N D - Helsinki '' from http://pantip.com/topic/35253737

Tallinn, Estonia: A Fairytale City

Tallinn is the vibrant capital and chief commercial port of Estonia. With a rich history dating back to the 12th century, this picturesque city has witnessed its share of conquests, having been ruled by the Danes, Swedes, and Soviets. This diverse heritage has left an indelible mark on Tallinn's unique character. Located just 80 kilometers from Helsinki, Finland, Tallinn is a popular day trip destination for visitors to the Finnish capital. The most common way to reach Tallinn is by ferry.

So today we will take a ferry from Helsinki, Finland to Tallinn, Estonia. Starting from

1. The ferry tickets were booked from Thailand through Tallink silja line from the website http://www.tallinksilja.com/en/web/int/book-a-cruise. We chose to travel for 2 days and 1 night (staying in Tallinn for 1 night), so we bought roundtrip tickets on the superstar ferry. The price of the ferry varies depending on the time of travel. You can choose. In addition to sitting for those who do not want to stay overnight, there are also one-day tickets for sale. The price is cheaper, but the duration is relatively short. Anyway, you can check the details on the website provided. Once you have booked, please print out the confirmation and keep it. You will need to present it to exchange for a card to board the ship. Alternatively, you can purchase ferry tickets from the counter.

2. We booked our accommodation in Tallinn through expedia.com. We stayed at Oldtown Munkenhof Guesthouse - Hostel, Tallinn for 38 euros per night, which is approximately 1695 baht per night.

The boat tickets are booked. The accommodation is booked. Please bring your passport with you. Your bags are packed. We are ready to go. We will start our journey around 1 pm.

• We started by leaving our large suitcase at our accommodation in Helsinki. They were kind enough to store it for free. We then traveled to Tallinn with just a backpack. From there, we took tram number 9 from Kamppi to the Helsinki West Harbor. You can find more information about the harbor here: http://www.tallinksilja.com/en/web/int/helsinki-west-harbour. Be careful not to go to the wrong harbor, as there are many of them.

- Upon arrival, you must exchange the printed confirmation sheet for a boarding card at the counter before presenting your passport. The white card will contain your name, travel date and time, and Wi-Fi code. Then, wait for your departure time.

Example of a card to be used to board the ship

Then it was time to open the gate. It was quite a walk, haha. Then we went into the ship. When we first saw the ship, wow, it was so big! I was so excited because I had never been on such a big ship before. Once we were on the ship, we could be anywhere we wanted. It was up to us. Let's go see the atmosphere on the ship.

What does each deck of the ship consist of?

Let's take a walk around the ship. On the right side, you'll find the duty-free shop where you can make purchases.

Please go upstairs and see what's there.

Wow, there are so many cabinets! We decided to try them out for a bit. 55

Walk out to the stern of the boat. This is also beautiful. It's a glass sunbathing area. 55

Or if you want to sit and enjoy the breeze and sunshine outside, you can do that too.

This class is full of celebrities.

Anyone who is hungry can order food and drinks at the bar.

This angle works well.

I heard the person next to me say that the french fries were delicious, so I ordered a plate to try. They were okay.

Red Bull's work is also here 55

I walked around the ship, exploring every nook and cranny. I ate, I slept, and in the end, I only sat still for about 45 minutes. And then, 2 hours passed.

The ship docked at Tallinn - Estonia. We walked off the ship, the green one we were on.

The bottom of the ship also carries cars to cross to Tallinn. Look, wow, wow, wow, the ship opens its mouth, wow, wow, wow.

We just walked along the path. There will be a sign saying "Enter the city".

We have just landed in Tallinn. But it is raining heavily, so we have to wait in the terminal until the rain stops.

See those green peaks over there? That's the old town where we're headed. It's not far from the pier.

Once the rain stopped, we walked straight ahead to the old town. Along the way, there were cute shops on the side of the road.

Walk past the small boat dock.

We just walked on and on, crossed the tram tracks, and kept walking straight. Then we came to a fork in the road and didn't know which way to turn. We couldn't go on, we had forgotten to bring a map. We only had a map of our accommodation, which we had printed from Google, and it wasn't very clear. We didn't have internet either. Haha! Then we met a friendly-looking woman and asked her for directions. Lucky again.... ^^ She said, "I'll go with you." Oh, thank God! Because it was about to rain again. As we talked, we found out that she was an employee of the boat we had taken. She was so lovely, and we loved her too. She was so kind. ..........

We've now entered the Oldtown area.

If you walk in and see a road made of interlocking bricks in the shape of a caterpillar, it means you have entered the old town correctly.

We continued walking and chatting with him.

As I walked in, I started to get excited. The place was full of beautiful shops.

And finally, we arrived at our accommodation. It's located right in the old town, so it's very convenient for sightseeing.

Wow, your brother is so kind!

Check in now

I'm already impressed with this place. The people are nice and the city is beautiful. I'm going to take a break to rest before I go out and explore the old town. ............. . . . .. . I'll come back and see what's interesting in the Oldtown ^^Here we go! Let's continue. After resting, we started exploring the area. We were getting hungry again, so we asked the owner of the accommodation, who looked like a teenager, haha. He took out a map and showed it to us. We asked him if he could recommend any local restaurants. He said yes, this restaurant is recommended. Let's go! Where is it on the map? I'm relieved. Let's go find the restaurant. La la la .......

Map of the entire Old Town

The restaurant that they recommended was called III Draakon. The first time I saw the name of the restaurant, I thought to myself that it must be amazing (this restaurant is also marked as "recommended" on the map). Location of the restaurant: The restaurant is located under Town Hall Square. According to the map, it is number 1. We walked along the map and then we arrived at Raekoja Plats (Town Hall Square), which is the central square of the Old Town. In this area, you will see restaurants all around the square and almost all of the staff are dressed in traditional costumes.

Around Town Hall Square

This shop is the oldest pharmacy in Europe that is still open. It has been selling medicines since 1422 and is located opposite Tallinn Town Hall.

Where is the III dragan shop located???

Turning around, we found ourselves facing Tallinn Town Hall, the only remaining tower in Town Hall Square. As we approached, the delicious aroma of food began to waft through the air.

Looking from the outside, I didn't dare to go in. It was very dark. Come on, let's try.

As soon as we entered the shop, the seller asked, "How many bowls of soup do you want?"
We replied, "Two bowls and two apple pies."
The seller opened the lid of the pot, and the aroma was amazing. It smelled like pork bone broth that had been simmered for a long time. (I couldn't wait to try it.)
We asked, "What kind of soup is it?" (We didn't know what kind of soup it was, but we followed the seller's recommendation. We're so easygoing. 55)
The seller pointed to the ceiling. We looked up and gasped. A huge pig's head was hanging there. Oh well, let's try it. We have to give it a shot.
We took the bowl of soup hesitantly. We shouldn't have asked. But the smell was too good. Let's just pretend it's pork. The first bite was amazing. From then on, we enjoyed eating and finished the whole bowl. It was okay with pickled cucumbers.

The owner is very hippie.

It has a clear price tag and is also cheap.

When I opened the lid, the frog jumped out and broke the screen.

Pickled cucumber elf soup and apple pie

Seeing the table next to us downing their soup, we decided to follow suit. The cool air and the warm soup were a perfect match.

In addition, Tallinn Town Hall is also open to the public. Inside is a museum about the history of Estonia. There is an entrance fee. You can check the opening hours at this link: https://www.visittallinn.ee/eng/visitor/see-do/sightseeing/pid-174683/tallinn-town-hall

We continued walking until we came across Olde hansa, a shop that immediately caught our attention. The staff were dressed in traditional Estonian attire, the women were lovely, and the men were handsome. They were roasting almonds, which smelled amazing. We went in to try some, and we loved it! It was delicious, so we bought some to take with us.

The front of the Olde hansa store

The Olde hansa stall sells roasted almonds.

This is a spicy sweet almond. They have many flavors to choose from. Sweet leading, slightly spicy, mixed with cinnamon scent :9

Inside the Olde hansa shop, you'll find handmade items that perfectly complement the city's atmosphere.

Spices from Estonia

Guess what? >> It's soap! The way to use it is to hang it and rub your hands on it. It's like a bar of soap. They say it's a concentrated moisturizer. You can buy it as a souvenir.

After finishing at Olde hansa, we walked and ate the almond. It was so delicious that we finished it in no time. - -*

As I observed, the signs in various shops are mostly made of perforated iron, hanging out in this manner to indicate the type of business. For instance, this shop is a barbershop, as indicated by the vintage-style scissors image. Lately, I've enjoyed strolling around and admiring the designs of these shop signs.

Chic, isn't it? It's a restaurant.

That's right.

Tallinn's iconic doll

Let's take a walk through the tunnel and enjoy the view from above.

This translates to:

You can see the view from the back like this. Young people like to sit here.

And before we knew it, it was about to rain again, so we had to hurry back to our accommodation. >>>> Tomorrow we will start walking around Tallinn. Tallinn will have a guide to take us to various places in the Olde Town. The guide is a student here. They will take us on a free tour. So let's follow along to see where we will go. ^^ It's morning already. We showered and got dressed. Today we will walk around the Olde Town. Tallinn has a free walking tour service. The guide will be a student, some of them are undergraduates and some are postgraduates. They will take us to see various important places and tell us the history of each place. You can check the tour schedule by contacting the Tallinn Tourist Info Center, which is located at the corner of Harju and Niguliste streets.

Map of Tallinn Tourist Info Center to contact for free walking tour

In front of the Tallinn Tourist Info Center and is a meeting point for tours

Once we knew the tour time, we took a walk around on our own while waiting. We started from Viru Street (if you look at the map, it's the street above number 9). The sides of this street are lined with beautiful flowers for sale, making it a refreshing sight.

The entrance from Viru Street is marked by the Viru Gate, a pair of fortified towers dating back to the 14th century. These towers served as the main entrance to the Old Town.

The interior of this street is lined with restaurants and souvenir shops.

Along Viru Street, there is a street on the left called Müürivahe. It is a street along the preserved wall. There are many clothing stores in this area, all of which are beautiful. So we got a hat.

We also walked past Niguliste kirik (St. Nicholas's Church), which is currently open as a museum and can be visited.

Then we walked up the hill to the viewpoint.

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, the largest domed church in Tallinn, is an Orthodox church built in 1900 when Estonia was part of the Russian Empire. The architect who designed the church was Mikhail Preobrazhenski from St. Petersburg. It was built to be dedicated to Prince Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky. On top of the church there is a large bell tower with 11 bells, including the largest in the city, which weighs 15 tons.

Continuing along Toom-Kooli Street, you will see Toomkirik Church (Cathedral of Saint Mary the Virgin), also known as the Dome Church. It is the oldest church in Estonia. Inside, there is a marble tomb of the lover of Catherine II. There is also a small garden on the side of the Dome Church, which is a beautiful viewpoint.

Viewpoint 1 Piiskopi aed sinv Bishop's Garden

Map of viewpoint 2 Patkuli viewing platform

Patkuli Viewing Platform, the second viewpoint, offers panoramic views of Toompark and the Tallinn skyline.

After enjoying the view from above, we continued walking along the path.

The restaurant sign is beautiful.

Let me take a peek.

Take a look in the kitchen

Outdoor music stage

Tallinn Town Wall is a restaurant and museum where you can enjoy a meal while taking in the sights.

The guide then led us down the hill to the Vabaduse Väljak Monument, or Freedom Square. This monument commemorates Estonia's independence from the Soviet Union. It was a truly impressive way to end our tour.

If you ask me about Tallinn, I would also give it a 10/10 score. If I had enough time, I would also like to take a car ride around Tallinn. However, due to limited time, we had to return to our accommodation to collect our luggage and board the ferry back to Helsinki to board the cruise ship to Stockholm, Sweden.

If you're not tired yet, please stay tuned for Part 3. We will be sleeping on a cruise ship for 1 night and will review the exclusive things on the ship in Part 3. ^^