Last day in Tallinn - return to London

 On the last day, we took it easy and saw the last few things we wanted to see.

We found yet another tower. I like to think that it's Fat Margaret, but I can't be sure. Actually, no, now I think about it, it's Kiek in de Kök.

We also found the monument commemorating the independence of Estonia, which is very striking.

We went up onto the city walls. It was a surprisingly good vantage point. Looking along the wall, I could see: a spire that I couldn't possibly name (it might be Oleviste, but surely that was downhill from there); the local eyesore: Hotel Viru (urgh); looking uphill, the Nevsky cathedral flanked by Niguliste and another unnamed spire; and a handy little roof terrace with garden furniture and trimmed bushes.

Inside the tower was old stone, and new shiny timber - it was an interesting space, with what looked like play areas for kids.

With little left to do for the day, and the weather being miserable, we headed for the poshest restaurant that Dan could find - Gloria. The ultimate in pre-war decadence, with reputedly the best wine cellar in the Baltics. The house wine was amazing. It was plush, and each booth had curtains. We were the only people there for a Monday lunch.

And while we were dining finely, the weather cleared up. Yay!

Even Essex put on a beautiful sunset for us when we got back to Stansted.

The end.

More exploring in Tallinn

 The next day we went out exploring again, beginning with Town Hall square (Raekoja plats). There was a dinky little train called Toomas doing the rounds that Dan was particularly fond of.

After more wandering, we came across a pretty waterfall with a statue of a deer in a green park. We went to the Russian markets, which was full of tat but interesting in its own right, and bought Nik a very cool present (an old video tape of something or other). We then started in the direction of the old prison. After a time, we started seeing some old wooden houses. And then things started getting very dilapidated indeed. Upon reaching the sea, we saw the old prison, which is boarded up, and surrounded by barbed wire and graffiti. The shore was littered with old blocks of concrete and wire. It's like this part of Tallinn has been completely forgotten - it was like looking at a piece of history.

We walked around a little port as the sun came out to a large, low-built, graffitied concrete structure. I felt sure that it was the famous song grounds, in which hundreds of thousands of people had begun the singing revolution. Unfortunately, I was grossly mistaken. It was in fact the Linnahall (City Concert Hall), which was built for the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Dan thought it was a good idea to follow some people with guitars on their backs into the bowels of the building. Seems like there was a recording studio of some kind in the dim tunnels.

We were about to leave when Dan spotted another staircase and we went down it. At the bottom was a little old man who didn't speak much English and insisted that we leave. Oops.

We kept walking around behind the ferry port (you can get a boat to Helsinki), past the expensive tourist-trap shops, and through some pretty uninteresting bits of town with nowhere to eat. Finally, we came out in some nice parkland next to a proper beach, with a long foreshore stretching ahead of us.

We came across the beautiful Russalka memorial halfway along. The statue of an angel is pointing to the site of a shipwreck.

The only place we found to eat lunch along here was in a burger joint. Weirdest hamburger I've ever had. The crinkle-cut chips were good, though. While we were inside, the weather took a turn for the worse. It was suddenly horribly windy instead of being just grey and indifferent.

From this vantage point, we could see the contrasting aspects of Tallinn's skyline: modern tower blocks, ancient spires, and big ships. We went as far as the Soviet war memorial, which itself is fairly unexceptional, and decided to turn back.

Finally, and sort of by accident, on the way back we found the Song Grounds (Lauluväljak) by walking up to what we thought was a modern stadium. Dan made friends with the huge seated statue of Maestro Johann Voldemar Jannsen. 

The Song Grounds were built in 1959 to house the national Song Festival, and can hold 15,000 singers on the stage. In 1988 it was the scene of the Singing Revolution that led to the overthrow of Soviet rule. It was very atmospheric, with a huge shell, and a vast expanse of green grass. There was also a menacing looking tower beside the shell.

I only later saw that Metallica had played there, and Madonna did a concert there for 72,067 people in August that year. Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:XXV_laulupidu_(3).jpg. All we saw were some people rolling down the hill inside a giant plastic ball.

From there, we went into Kadriorg park. It was beautiful and green after the other things we'd seen that day. And within Kadriorg Park is the palace of Peter the Great, built for Catherine (Kadri), his empress. The grounds were extensive. I think we went inside the palace, but can't remember.

On the way back to the city (the short way, this time), we passed a fountain. It was pink. Then it was blue. Then it was green. Then it was orange. Exciting.

That night, we went to by far the worst place we ate at while in Tallinn - Peppersack. We were intrigued, but just don't even consider it. Not unless you REALLY LOVE PEPPER! It was in an old raftered building, which had plenty of character in a pub sort of way, the service was fairly bad, too. The one saving grace was that there was no pepper in my dessert. I was half expecting it, though.

Arrival in Estonia - first impressions of Tallinn

 Upon arrival in Estonia, we got the bus from the airport to the city, and followed the hostel's useful instructions (i.e. 'follow the crowds to the old town') to our hostel. We immediately went back out for food, choosing a traditional restaurant called 'Olde Hansa' for the authentic Estonian experience. It had pots around the tables containing an assortment of herbs. I assume you were supposed to help yourself to season your meal.

Our lunch was a plate of medieval fare, and I suspect it's from a time before they worked out what actually tasted good. The plate contained bitter, nasty berry things, spelt, pickles and other scary vegetables soaked in vinegar or something, a fairly tasty baked cheese thing, wild boar, and sauerkraut. It was interesting, but definitely not enjoyable.

Outside the restaurant, people dressed in medieval garb were selling almonds rolled and roasted in a delicious combination of spices and sugar. Very tasty.

From there, we walked up the hill through the grey day to Town Hall square (Raekoja plats), where, unsurprisingly, lies the Town Hall. There was an awesome beastie attached to the Town Hall. It had TEETH!

We kept walking uphill in search of excitement. On the way we found the Niguliste church, which is a bizarre mix of styles and colours. It's apparently a concert hall. Shame we didn't go in actually. It has a big tower.

We finally found ourselves up in the Toompea area, which is the seat of the church, government and rich people. We went into the much-talked-about Alexander Nevsky cathedral - a Soviet relic that the locals aren't terribly keen on. Inside it has some very strange red, white, and blue candy stripes running up the walls. I wasn't allowed to take photos inside. We saw the houses of parliament on Toompea Hill, with Tall Hermann Tower keeping watch over them. And in the distance, the sea, the TV tower (that you can no longer go up), the Soviet war memorial, and something that looks suspiciously like the Brandenburg Gate ('it's Germany', says Dan).

We called in briefly at the Tallinn flower show. We couldn't work out why someone had recreated their bedroom in their garden . . . The flowers were pretty but unimaginative

And then visited Oleviste church (St Olaf's). There was a fantastic photo opportunity looking straight up to the vaulting through the chandelier, and I took advantage of it. This church spire was the tallest building in the world from 1549 to 1625.

That evening for dinner, we visited a restaurant called Tchaikovsky that had caught our eye from the beginning. It's the restaurant of a hotel, but the service and the food (and the port) are phenomenal. For dessert we had a souffle *inside* a crepe. It was perfect and amazing! And they had very pretty serviettes in the shape of swans.

Brussels to London

Despite the best efforts of daylight saving and the clocks to confuse us, we set the alarm for 9am (sleep in, since we’d seen everything the previous day) and had showers, then went down to breakfast. Sundays are special at the B&B – we had coffee and croissants and pain au chocolat – mmmmmm! James and I packed up and went downstairs to fix up the bill with Cathy. Another guest was arriving, so we made a quick exit, and wandered down to Josaphat Park to see what was down there. We saw lots of birds (weird geese, a pigeon tower, and swans), some soggy grass, and a lake, but not a lot else. So we walked back up the street of the B&B, past the kissing sign (had to get a photo), and to the Bienfaiteurs tram stop (time for another silly photo in the mirror). A 25 tram thankfully came quite quickly, and we changed at Rogiers to a 3 to Gare du Midi. By now we were experts at where to go, so found our way to the Eurostar bit easily. We’d meant to get food, but ended up a little pushed for time, so made do with what we had.

We checked in, and had a short sit before boarding was called. We took a short cut up a travelator and found our carriage easily. I was on the window again, and this time the train was nearly empty. James listened to his mp3 player, and I wrote my diary and watched the world go by. The scenery wasn’t terribly impressive, but it was a nice journey. James and I set each other listening/watching homework – he has to listen to Abbey Road, and I have to listen to an assortment of modern stuff and an episode of Dr Who. We stopped at Lille, then again at Ashford International, and then we were at St Pancras. We made the dash for the underground, and caught the Piccadilly line to Hammersmith to watch (or stand near people who were watching) the Boat Race.

Atomium, Mini-Europe, and Bruges

Alarm at 8pm. Same breakfast (though there was a new guest), and we left just after 9am. Under James’s direction, we walked to a tram stop on the far side of the park, and got the number 23 to the Atomium. On the way, James pointed out some Chinese and Japanese temples in a large park that he wanted to go to. The weather was foul, but we got some photos of the Atomium, and James’s camera broke after the photo of us taken from the fountain. We went into BruPark and paid our €12.80 to go into Mini-Europe. There was absolutely no one around in such dire weather. We were accosted by an orange turtle just inside the entrance and had our photo taken with it.

We made our way around, taking some funny photos (James’s camera luckily fixed itself) and video, and avoiding some noisy kiddies, and by the time we left, the sun was out, as were many other people. We decided against lunch there, so I ate my muesli bars and apple, and we walked over a big road to a tram stop, getting a shiny number 4 to Lemonnier, where we got booted off due to a person on the tracks. So we walked to Gare du Midi, in more rain, alongside the disgustingly stinky station. The machine I tried to get tickets from inside the station told me that they were stupidly expensive, but we asked a nice lady at the info desk, and she sold us two tickets to Bruges for €13.80 each. We found the platform easily and got the 2.05. The trip was comfortable, if a little uninteresting.

At Bruges, we walked into the city, past many bikes and through a park (which James ran across at speed for some cool photos). We turned right and found a little shop selling yummy food – we got calzones (mine was a bolognaise and cheese wrapped in bready stuff), and walked with them to sit on the wall of a church. James spotted the chip shop immediately opposite, and got a massive plate of chips with mayonnaise as well. We walked quickly with them to the Grosse Markt, where we saw a bunch of people in green shirts making a human pyramid to the accompaniment of drums and what I think were bombards. We took some quick pictures, James posted his postcards, and we went into the belltower in time for the last entry. After a little bit of queueing, we walked up the 362 steps, which got increasingly narrow, and (seeing the cool bell keyboard on the way up) admired the view of Bruges from above.

Back at the bottom, we had a look in the courtyard and at the carillon concert poster, and I decided against paying 30c to use the toilet. We then walked around the streets looking for things of interest, finding the canals and some brave tourists going on boat tours. We walked past a market where a stall keeper was just packing away some interesting brass instruments. I realised I should have paid the 30c, and started looking for a toilet. We walked through a pretty park with a lovely bridge on our search. I thought that James should use the pissoir that we saw, but he didn’t realise what it was. Instead, we found a posh toilet inside a bar complex that cost 50c to use. Oh well.

We walked to the Burg square and looked at those buildings (James did another run-by), and then on to more streets, and a big green space beside a lake, and then into a Leonidas shop to get some chocolate. Then we went on to another square with good toy and chocolate shops and a lot of horse-drawn carts. The horses had poo catchers strapped to the back of them – ingenious! But smelly for the driver. We had a look at the swans beside the canal, and because I was cold, I wanted to sit somewhere and eat or drink something. I think James was a bit annoyed, but he went along.

We went into a crepe place that I’d noticed, and just started with drinks. I had my first framboise, which was extremely yummy. James became happier again, then we had a little argument over where we thought the waiter was from. I was sure that he was a native Brit, but James thought that his accent was so strong that he was a continental European who’d picked up English. I think James ended up relenting and deciding that he was West Country. I ordered a bacon and egg crepe, which was OK. Can’t remember what James had. He ordered the dark version of the Grimberger, and managed to raise the waiter’s eyebrow (apparently he expected everyone to order the light version). My second beer was that light version of the Grimberger. While we were there, James found the review of the restaurant in his guidebook, and it said that it was a bit of a romantic haunt. Wups!

We headed off, and James was keen to find a pub, though I wasn’t. We walked back to the Grosse Markt, led very definitely by James and his amazing sense of direction. The aim was to enjoy the pretty lights at night, but they were really quite disappointing. In the Grosse Markt, I spotted a cool toy shop with lots of bouncing stuffed toys, and James spotted a Tin Tin shop directly opposite. We decided to find an establishment that served dessert and beer and kick on for a little while longer (I’d found my second wind by now). We didn’t really find anything ideal, so went into a place straight off the market with reasonable prices. I ordered another framboise and some crepes with just sugar – James had chocolate and something else with his. The rain was pouring down while we were in there, but we were staying dry, so couldn’t complain.

We finally left, and walked back to the station, getting cash on the way. The train came on time (just after 10, I think) and we got back to Gare du Midi without fuss. I was nodding off for most of the trip. At the station we managed to get a little lost once again, and ended up standing on the metro platform rather than the tram platform. We fixed ourselves up, then did our 3/25 tram combination back to Bienfaiteurs. Walked back to the B&B, bed about midnight (though later in practice, due to the advent of daylight saving).

Exploring Brussels

The alarm went off at 8am. We went down for breakfast, and the sun was shining through the skylight. Breakfast was Richard’s yummy blend of tea (incl Earl Grey), rolls, cheese, ham, spreads and yoghurt. We left the house at 9am and walked to Chazal bus stop at the end of the park. The area was actually really nice. Got a 64 bus to Place du Luxemburg and had a little wander around the outside of the European Parliament building and nearby park and lake. James took photos of the crows.

We went into the EP reception and met James’s friend Richard. We signed in and had our photos taken for our day passes. He took us into the hemicycle where they were setting up for a Greens presentation. Then through various corridors, into a meeting room, and then into the Mickey Mouse bar, which until recently had mouse-ear-shaped chairs. Richard had some coffee and James had juice. Richard talked about how small the city was and how parliamentary assistants mostly know each other. I kept an eye out for Brian, but didn’t see him. Richard recommended some things to see and arranged to meet us that night.

We left and headed to Cinquantenaire, where we saw the arc and the giraffe catcher trees. We then walked to Place du Frere Orban and went into a lovely church called St Joseph’s. We kept on, across some very busy roads, through Parc de Bruxelles, then to the museum of musical instruments. We checked our coats in, bought a €5 ticket, and went straight up to the top floor to the restaurant, where we got a table with a good view of the city. James ordered a Hoegaarden and wok of the day (scampi – prawns), and I got a Kriek and pasta (pâtes) of the day (tortellini with aubergines). It was reasonably priced, and very good. While we were there, I texted Claire to let her know that I was drinking Kriek, and she replied to let me know that the Reporter editor job was up for grabs.

We worked our way down each floors’ display, seeing and hearing various instruments on our headphones. Highlights were cornetts and massive bassoons and amazingly intricate brass. There was a crystal flute too. Back outside, we headed to Notre Dame du Sablon – an amazing church with gorgeous windows, and petit Sablon across the road with lots of statues. We went to Chapelle, but decided not to go in, because it was chav city and there was a nice pitta van and skate ramp outside (hmmm), so we zig-zagged downhill, past the first of the chocolate shops, in search of the Mannekin-Pis. We found it eventually, and it was thankfully not dressed in silly clothes, but still thronged with tourists and the associated shops. We got a huge waffle from nearby (I had a banana and chocolate for €4) and James bought some postcards. We walked the short distance to the Grand Place, and James saw a man kiss a statue, and he took a photo of it, because apparently it’s good luck to touch it. The buildings in the Grand Place were beautiful, particularly the Hotel de Ville (Town Hall), though we couldn’t climb the tower on a Friday. James did a talk on all the buildings from his guide book. It was very informative.

After we’d seen enough, we found a supermarket and stocked up on snacks and chocolate, and then walked around the nearby streets, looking for St Nicholas church. We went in briefly, but they were about to start a service, so left fairly quickly. We then went in search of the Jeanneke-Pis, finding the touristy restaurant street on the way, and not getting harangued too much. The Jeanneke-Pis was very amusing, and just a little obscene. It was about 5pm by now, so we walked uphill to Brussels cathedral, and reclined on the long seats in the sun, looking at the York Minster-esque cathedral front, and strange cow structure, and listening to the very interesting bell melodies every 15 minutes. It got a little cold, so we went up into the cathedral and sat in the warm for a while, admiring the glass and listening to the organist practise. We moved on again, walking to a war memorial with an eternal flame and a column commemorating the establishment/independence of Belgium. We walked the short distance on to the botanical gardens, but they were closed, and what we could see of the gardens from the street was not in flower anyway.

Because we were so close to the B&B, we chose to walk back along Avenue Rogier. It was like Little Turkey, and James was a little bit uneasy. I went online at the B&B to look at the Reporter job, learnt little, so emailed the contact, but, being Friday evening, I didn’t expect anything back until Monday morning. I also spoke to Dan briefly to see how he was.

We headed out again to Chazal bus stop, but no bus came, so we walked to Vaderland to get a tram to near the Chapelle. It was 9.30 p.m. by this time, and thankfully a tram came relatively quickly. We got off and started our search for a restaurant. There were some nice-looking ones there, but expensive, so James got out his guide and found the recommended list, which led us to La Grande Porte – it was just beside us, literally, and the prices were good too. The service and the food were great. I had a glass of house red and lamb skewers with Roquefort sauce and chocolate mousse for afters. Delicious!

We were supposed to be meeting Richard for drinks, but he was running late and we were running late anyway. James and I paid the bill at about 11pm, and decided to head straight back to the B&B. We found a bus stop and got a bus to Place du Luxemburg, and changed buses there to get back to Chazal. Bed at about midnight.

London to Brussels

Got my ticket from the machine and met James at St Pancras station with no problems. We went through security (which was pretty lax – they let me get through with a pair of scissors) and passport control (including French border guards on the other side of the barrier!), and then sat on the comfy seats for a while until boarding was called. I told James about my redundancy and started texting people. And ate my scotch egg. At the precise minute that James decreed, we stood up and went up the escalator to the platform and found the right carriage. Getting on, we stowed our luggage at the end of the carriage and found our seats – I had booked the window seat. We had a little wait before the train left, and the carriage was very quiet. That didn’t stop James and me from chattering away, and singing.

The train eventually pulled away, but it was too dark to see what we were passing. A lot of it seemed like tunnels. The trip was fairly smooth, and we were out on the French side of the tunnel before I knew it. Dan sent me a text to say that Flemish is a stupid language. On the train, the three languages of their announcements varied in order depending on where in the journey we were.

We arrived at Gare du Midi at about 9.30 p.m. European time, and walked down into the station. We had a little trouble finding the right platform, but bought 10 tickets and eventually found the number 3 tram. We caught it to Rogier, where we changed to the 25, and took that to Bienfaiteurs. With our maps, we found the B&B with no problems, in the rain, and discovered that the neighbourhood wasn’t anywhere near as bad as we thought it would be. Cathy and Richard let us in, and made me a cup of tea and chatted to us for a while about what we’d do while there. I asked them about the tortoises, and they said that they hadn’t come up from hibernating in the ground yet. This was a little disappointing. The house was fantastic: absolutely massive and beautiful. We walked up four floors to get to our room at the very top. The room was great, with a massive bathroom and a separate room with a toilet and computer. I had a shower and we went to bed at midnight. The room was very hot and I didn’t sleep well.