My first time in the former USSR

One of my days in Helsinki was devoted to a day trip by ferry to Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, which for 60 years belonged to the Soviet Union. That was going to be the first time in my life I was going to take a ferry and my first time in the land of the Soviets as well. However, due to political reasons, all Soviet reference has been removed from Tallinn and even the former KGB headquarters have no evidence of their former use.

In the ferry, I could feel myself as in Titanic, since the ship was huge. Views of the city, with sea wind in my face, as we were approaching were terrific; one of the best in these five days of August. Traffic between Tallinn and Helsinki is quite intense and it was relatively easy to watch other ships from my ferry. In the return trip, Tallinn-Helsinki, most of the Finnish were taking with them a lot of alcoholic drinks, what also caught my attention.
Tallinn’s Old Town has remained unchanged from the medieval time, with small updates and adjustments, such as sewer system. What lies behind it are the City Walls, which have been protecting the city from attacks for centuries and have helped to save the medieval old town. The streets are with paved stones, what made my ankles suffer too much. Going for a walk there makes us go back in time and forget about our XXI century commodities.

I recommend a visit to the Dominican Monastery. If you have read “The name of the rose”, you will feel like Fray William of Baskertville for a few minutes. The visit is not very expensive and even the guide is “peculiar”. The monastery dates from the XIII century and has not changed much since then.

Estonia, although member of the EU, does not still have euro as currency (but Estonian kroon). Therefore, I expected to get some coins but I was disappointed because there were no “kroon” coins; they even have 2 kroon (approximately 13 cents) notes!

To sum up, visit Tallinn too, if possible by ferry.