<b>September 1- Indulgencies</b>

It's less than a hundred miles from Helsinki to Tallinn, although during the Soviet occupation of Estonia it might as well have been a thousand - the invaders burned the fishing boats. Now there's plenty of choice, although I didn't pay much attention to the fastest, the Linda Line's catamarans, as the service is cancelled in rough weather. 

Between them, the other ferry companies offer an array of choices, with the price varying according to the time of day and the day of the week you choose to travel. The price from Helsinki to Tallinn goes up the closer you get to the weekend, when partying (and shopping) Finns head for the cheaper alcohol across the water. I opted for the mid-day Viking boat, although I would have saved money by leaving on Wednesday instead of Thursday. I would  also have saved money if I hadn't bought the buffet lunch, as there were other options available on board. Along with plenty of opportunity to buy alcohol, and to gamble.

Perhaps the rave reviews for the buffets on the ferries in this part of the world really apply to overnight boats? I wasn't overly impressed with this one, although as usual withbuffets I ate too much. The appetizers were the best part: I ate lots of salmon and shrimp. I appreciated the very tender beef, and the cheese I ate for desert, but the  veggies were very uninspiring. Maybe  if you drink enough of the unlimited wine or beer on offer, you may not notice any deficiency in the food. I thought I drank plenty, but I still noticed.

The 20-somethings at the next table certainly seemed to be drinking deep. Although I heard one of them mention working for the U.N., his companions were happily trying to throw food into each others' mouths, and call friends and family back home who were probably still asleep.

Solo travelers should be aware that although there are luggage rooms on the boat that are locked during passage, there is no watch on them when they are unlocked. The few lockers cost two euro and my carry-on size bag barely fit.

I was one of the first off the boat (not sure how I managed that), and noticed a sign for a free bus to the edge of the old town. this was definitely a first come first served operation, and I was lucky to get a seat. actually, since I had to trek all the way across the old town to reach my hotel, it might have been just as quick to walk the whole thing.

The Baltic Imperial has received some good write-ups here, but I was less impressed than I expected. I've posted a review on tripadvisor, so I'll just say I had issues with the location, the dim lighting, the shower, the lack of wifi in my room.... I did find the staff friendly, and I indulged in an excellent (and needed) massage. A warning to future guests: the small bottle of water on the desk that is NOT in the minibar? They will charge you one euro per bottle on check out. I consider that a scam.

Don't like the sound of the buffet on the ship at all...the clientele I mean. I did an overnight from Stockholm to Helsinki recently and saw none of that. We only had a buffet once, that was complimentary because the ship was late. It was good, but there was no booze apart from what we bought separately.
Hope it has stopped raining by now. Makes me wonder if autumn trips are often wet.

Had a mix of sun and rain in Riga (liked Riga). Am noow in Belgrade, where it's sunny and warm. Flight painful - wretched womaan with grating voice talked the entire trip. Can't remember the last time I was on a plane with propellers! Dead tired last night, maybe some updates today.

Correction: I should have said that Belgrade is hot!

<b>September 1 - 5 - Tallinn, in town</b>

I had arrived early enough to be able to spend the afternoon following the lower town section of a guidebook's recommended walk. Tallinn is divided between the government section up the (steep) hill, and the commercial section at the bottom. Commerce used to be the preserve of German merchant guilds, but these days consists of lots of souvenir shops. Luckily the medieval buildings, including parts of the wall and towers, can stilll be admired.

My second day I took in the upper town, which I found less interesting. The view points were worthwhile, and the interior of the Orthodox cathedral was more impressive than the one in Helsinki. Heavy rain drove me indoors that afternoon, to the Museum of Foreign Occupations. Unfortunately, the main sights here were videos, and I had trouble with the audio on most of them. It was pretty clear that the Soviets made themselves so hated during their first brief occupation in 1940, that the Nazis were initially regarded as liberators.

My last day in town I was luckier with the weather, and took a tram out to Kadriorg Park, where I visited the baroque palace built by the Russian tsar Peter 1. Reminded me of St. Petersburg, though of course on a much smaller scale. The immediate grounds included fountains and formal plantings, while the rest of the park consisted of woodland. I ate a meager lunch at the park cafe before wandering around, eventually crossing a main road to Tallinn's beach - a sandy strip apparently popular with the locals but not somewhere I felt like lingering. I took a tram back to town and returned to the cafe I had liked just off the main square on Saiakang, a place with excellent coffee and good open-faced sandwiches.

While alcohol was undoubtedly cheaper in Estonia than in Finland, food seemed to be just about as expensive, at least in tourist territory. I tried one recommended place for "local" food, and thought it way overpriced. I don't mind paying gourmet prices for gourmet food, but "Grandma's Place" offered pretty undistinguished fare. On the other hand, the high prices at Bocca, an Italian place just out of the center, were largely justified. I would have preferred my zabaglione without the almonds though, they spoiled the usually lucious texture.

Anyone besides gertie reading this? I just had a less than stellar solo dining experience and could use some human contact....

I'm here, thursday, poking around in search of ideas for our November trip and reading your updates. Sorry about your dismal solo dining experience. Tell us about it and maybe you'll feel more chipper. Please don't defect to the dark side and become an Azamarite!

Hi Marija - since my feet are still more or less functioning I think i'm safe from Aza-exile for a while longer. I'll write about dinner in Belgrade in Part Two, for now I'll just say to ignore everything Lonely Planet says about the Skardarska area, I should have taken one look and gone back to the empty Italian restaurant next door to my B&B.

Hi, thursday, glad to hear the sun continued some in Riga. It was lovely on Wednesday morning when we had to leave! ;-) Am enjoying your commentary on Tallinn and looking forward to hearing your overall impressions of Riga...as well as my (very) old stomping grounds in Belgrade, Novi Sad and Bulgaria. Don't give up!!

In Belgrade the best restaurants (decades ago) were places like the Cultural Workers Club and the Press Club. Don't know if there are similarly titled commercial ventures now? If so, there are no guarantees but perhaps check it out??

Still here, tho I fear you are asleep by now. Dining experiences sound altogether dire on this trip. Can't comment as haven't been to Tallinn, Riga or Belgrade, but hope to do the first two soon and will be checking your TR. On the bright side, at least Belgrade is hot and hopefully the booze is cheaper!

Just about awake and reading Bryson on Australia (the e-library took his latest back before I finished it). BTW, gertie, highly recommend my hotel in Riga, the Edvard, see my review on tripadvisor.

skibumette - the guidebooks recommend a place called the Writers' Club, apparently a "legendary institution" from the Tito period. Of course, they also recommended the place I tried in Skadarska.... The Writers' Club is at Francuska 7, if that helps you place it. Hope your event went off well and you made it home OK.

Yes, it was the Writer's Club that I was thinking of -- DH says the Press Club was in Sofia. And, yes, it was during Tito's time that I was there! <I'm dating myself a bit here!> The intelligentsia then had the good sense to hire the best chefs in town. Of course, those chefs are long gone...I guess I would resort to giving the menu a serious study before committing. It might be better for atmosphere than anything else?!

The Riga event was very nice, the trip home very long, and we arrived in the middle of a monsoon! We've had an earthquake, hurricane and now floods -- are locusts next?!!

<b>September 3 - Outside Tallinn</b>

While Tallinn is charming enough, at least off the main drag, it can’t keep you occupied for more than a day or perhaps two, plus I wanted to have a look at the countryside. Public transport to the National Parks looked problematic, so I opted for a tour. Based on a trip report on tripadvisor, I picked Estadventures, which, as I noticed when I signed up online, had also been chosen by Intrepid for their “urban adventures”.

Estadventures offered both urban and rural trips, and took me to Lahemaa National Park. And it was just me – I was impressed that the tour went with only one client – and I enjoyed chatting with the expat Australian owner/guide. I even got lucky with the weather: although rain threatened it held off until the drive back to Tallinn.

The way east goes through the “Russian” part of town, where low-rise apartment blocks are emblematic of the Soviet era. Our first stop was for a much older relic: Stone Age graves. The circular stone walls and the rectangular coffins they enclosed had stood in the way of the arrow-straight road built to connect Tallinn to St. Petersburg for the 1950 Olympics, and had actually been moved so that the road could follow its planned course!

Next up was a walk through a pine forest and along boardwalks laid above a peat bog. I spotted several mushroom gatherers at work in the forest, but the peat bog was what I had come to see. I do admit that some might find it less than exciting – it is, after all, a large, flat expanse. I, however, was fascinated to find just how wet a semingly sold surfce could be, and pleased by the cloudscapes reflected in the lakes, and by the mosses, always some of my favorite plants.

I benefited from a mushroom gatherer’s bounty at lunch, which we ate at a place close to Palmse Manor. I couldn’t resist the chanterelles in cream sauce, which were delicious. The fish dish that followed filled my need for protein, but was otherwise forgettable.

The manor was pleasant enough, with grounds equipped with greenhouse, icehouse, boathouse and both a brewery and a vodka distillery, but I preferred the outdoor attractions on this tour. During the afternoon we visited a couple of places on the coast, with plenty of erratic boulders left when the glaciers retreated, and a waterfall.

The second coastal stop was unfortunately memorable because suddenly my camera refused to turn off…. I had visions of trying to track down a Nikon repair store, or, more likely, having to replace it. I breathed a sigh of relief when removing and replacing the battery fixd the glitch. If you have your own transport a couple of nights spent on the coast could be worthwhile downtime, but I wouldn’t try it by public transport.

I always like waterfalls, and this one was impressively wide if not tall, and we arrived to find a wedding “train” in possession. My guide explained that after the ceremony the wedding party will set off on a tour of neighboring locations, where the couple will be required to perform tasks or answer questions. This particular train came with a man with a bullhorn and a photographer. I felt sorry for some of the female guests, who seemed to be wearing the wrong shoes for the location.

That evening I ate Indian at Chakra, a restaurant that my guide had recommended and that didn’t appear in any of my guidebooks. I enjoyed a good curry in relatively peaceful surroundings, which in old town Tallinn on a Saturday night was no small achievement.

I also went to the 'Grandma place' and was disappointed. Rustic food does not have to be boring and tasteless like what they offered in that restaurant and they weren't cheap either. How they got that popular is beyond me. What really bothered me was the service or the lack of it. The two women waitresses were soooo unfriendly and did not care to communicate. It was one of the worse dining experience for me.
I discovered a nice inexpensive cafe called 'Magic buffet' in the Viru shopping centre. The place is super clean and modern looking, the food is nice and the price is right. 10 euro bought me a salad and some decent pasta (I chose the ingredients and the chef cooked in front of me) and a drink. The cafe is on the second floor, great place for lunch, they are opened till 9pm or so. Next to the seating area of cafe is the bathroom, you'll need some change to use the facility. There is another good coffee shop called 'More' on the top floor of that center. I didn't care for their pasta so much, the soup was good and the dessert were to die for. I particularly love the the 'Rhubard filing with almond crisp' pie(without the crust). YUM!!!!!!!!!!!I went back there several times for that crisp. The tourist info booth is on the street level, there is a nice pharmacy/healthstuff store opposite (not directly) to the booth where I bought some organic herbal skin care stuff and sole inlaid for the shoes(very good), they were much less expensive then NYC. The supermarket is in the basement, I like their croissant a lot, they were warm and fresh from the oven every time I was there at different hours so they must be baked on the premise. They come 3 in a package for less than 1 euro and they are not very rich and buttery and flaky. Though all the fresh baked goods looked really good, I really fell in love the local dark bread. They are in the bread department which is in front and to the left . They are not warm but they are fresh and healthy tasting. Good to have them for the road (because they are filing)and they don't get stale easily(last for 3 days easy without getting too hard). Wine is available in that supermarket at good price. My NY neighbor told me to try Georgian wine but the ones I got were not good. i could have bought them from RIMI in Riga. She said the sweet white wine are outstanding but the ones I got were not that sweet. They were very inexpensive. The Viru shopping center is a block from the Radisson hotel where I was staying. The view on the roof is really great. I particularly like it during and after sunset. The pix I posted on my profile is taken from the window of my room. You can walk in without buying anything. Nobody asked.
I didn't care for the lido restaurant.
From Tallinn to Riga, I recommand the Hansabuss business line. The very comfy bus comes with a hostess. She offers cushions for neck and she serves coffee(1 euro) and snacks. The seats were huge and roomy. The toilet on the lower level was super clean. There were only five other passengers on the bus excluding me and Dl.
I'll write about Riga later.

I know people who have done a day trip to Tallinn from Helsinki. Maybe that's the way to see it as there isn't much there. It also has the reputation of a stag night place, maybe that accounts for the curry shop! Sounds like you checked out the food pretty well.

I am reading and enjoying. thanks for sharing!

How wonderful that the tour went with just you!

Hi Thursdaysd - I'm reading as well - have been reading your TR's since your sore foot days....these are places I probably will never go but still find them interesting to read about...nice that you had a solo tour outside Tallinn - sorry about so much rain - enjoy the rest of your trip!

Further correction: it is VERY hot in Serbia. In the 90s!

Mara - would you believe I have unhappy feet again? Not as bad as the sore foot tour, at least not yet, but I currently have my right foot propped up and resting against icy beer cans from the minibar.

Since I also have a cold I'm not enjoying Serbia so much! At least the stuff the pharmacy sold me yesterday (principle ingredient paracetamol, cost about $2.30 US) knocked down the fever and seems to be drying things up a bit. Am currently in Novi Sad, still hope to do a day trip to Subotica tomorrow (more Art Nouveau), then I break the journey south to Sofia with an overnight in Nis.

<b>September 5 - Riding to Riga with a Russian</b>

I had considered the Hansabuss line recommended by mohan, but the schedule for the Lux Express suited me better. While I had to fetch my own coffee it didn't cost anything. I didn't check out the onboard toilet as we made a brief stop at the halfway point. I would have been more cmfortable if my seatmate had moved into one of the empty seat pairs, but at least she moved her seat sideways, which made typing easier, although the seat-back tray tables were useless.

Actually, having a seatmate who spoke English, as well as the wifi (which worked better in Estonia than Latvia) was an advantage as the scenery was pretty boring - mostly dead straight road lined by pine trees. While the pine trees were nicer than the ones I saw too much of driving aross South Carolina (in-laws in Savannah) four hours is a long time....

The young woman sitting next to me was coming off the generous three years of parental leave mandated in Estonia (part paid, part not, but your job is guaranteed) and was headed to Riga for job training. We were a good way into the trip before I learned that she was Russian, or at least that she identified as Russian. She was a third generation immigrant to Estonia, but said that she spoke better English than she did Estonian. (Her English was quite good.)

As I had discovered on my trip out to Lahemaa, the Russian community lived a largely segregated existence. It had also successfully lobbied for Russian-language schools after Estonian independence. While I am obviously just an ignorant bystander, I can't help wondering what they think the long term situation will be. I understand elderly first generation immigrants having trouble with the language, but surely it would make more sense to have the third and fourth generations taught in Estonian? They'd learn Russian at home.

Presumably the Russian community doesn't expect the majority Estonian community to suddenly adopt the Russian language and customs associated with a hated occupation? Do they perhaps think that Russia will reclaim the Baltic states? Wouldn't that make them some kind of fifth column? I didn't express those thoughts to my companion, but I did wonder what languages her daughter would speak in 20 years time.

I had chosen to stay outside old town Riga - it sounded like a noisy, party place, and I preferred to be closer to the main Art Nouveau section - so I was pleased that the Lux Express dropped me at the Radisson near my hotel instead of taking me all the way to the main bus station. This was the Radisson Blu Elisavete: there are at least two others. My hotel, the admirable Edvards (see tripadvisor for my review), was just a short walk away.

While I was too early to check-in, the hotel kept my bag and sent me down the road to the Flying Frog for lunch. The food was fine, but the prices were higher and the environment smokier than I expected.

thursdaysd: waiting to hear about your experiences in Riga...before moving on to Part II (Belgrade and Bulgaria)! Did you make it to Sigulda?

Hi skibumette - if the train to Sofia had been the nice, comfortable Intercity I was hoping for (but not necessarily expecting), I might have written the first Riga piece this afternoon. But it was an unwelcome leftover from the past... Will see what I can do - my journal is almost up to date, so that's the most important thing. Didn't make it to Sigulda, I thought Riga deserved more time. BTW, best thing about Serbia was Subotica, but unfortunately that was more Hungarian.

Interesting use for cold beer.....hope your feet appreciated it and you're doing better....