Chapter V / In which the rain robs Tallinn of its chance to shine

One hour after arriving in Tallinn and still at its modern airport, I was not enthusiastic about my visit in Estonia. Whether it was the 30 minute wait for the airport-city bus, only for the doors to be closed on me since it was 'full', the grey brooding skies, or simply the fact that it was my first stop in which I wasn't visiting anyone, I was grumpy and mumbling curses under my breath like Mutley the dog. 

Fortunately, taxis in Estonia are very good value, so after a quick 20 minute, eight euro drive I was checking in to my charming room in a hotel in the old town. Undoubtedly part of its charm was imbued in the three flights of slightly creaky, irregular stairs at lay between it and the reception (when i asked for directions to the elevator, the receptionist pointed sardonically to the stairs), along with its lone small square window, located in the bottom left hand corner of the far wall. I decided that I was grateful for the novelty of sleeping in an authentic example of the 'Estonian attic style'. 

Having not slept as much as i would have liked the previous night, I decided to take a middle-of-the-day nap. After waking just after 1pm, I realized that was not only indulgent but also a bit foolish, since the clouds' brooding was now more sinister and threatened to wash out the walking tour of the old town I had planned. I set off nevertheless, along the cobbled streets and squares which reminded me of Belgium where I spent a semester living and studying in 2008. I had lunch at a delicious crêperie cafe off the main Vanalinn square, then ventured outside the walls of the old town where I saw a very impressive monument to a terrible (and relatively recent) tragedy:

The rain arrived in earnest in the mid afternoon, and since I had left my umbrella in the attic on the other side of town I followed two young people down a succession of ever-narrower lanes to the 'cool and untouristy' part of town, where I took refuge in the deep comfy seats, hot tea, free wifi and rich chocolate brownie of an excellent coffee shop. Whilst there I read in the local tourist magazine that Tallinn is "Europe's party capital" and boasts many excellent nightclubs. I carefully selected four for that evening but in the event, by 10pm the clouds were absolutely unloading rain onto the streets, and since it was a Tuesday, I figured this would probably dampen the locals' enthusiasm for going out in the same way it had dampened mine. So after an earlier-than-expected night, I awoke early the next morning and returned by taxi to Tallinn airport, to return to Helsinki for a proper look around.