26/01/2012 Riga, Latvia to Tallinn, Estonia

We caught the bus back to the airport without any problems and checked in with plenty of time to spare. The plane was tiny (roughly 20 seats) which was nerve racking in the snowy icy weather! We flew over more spectacular white scenery and landed ok after another quick flight (around 40 minutes!). We caught the bus into Tallinn – had a lovely driver who told us where to get off and how to find our hostel then dropped our bags off before exploring. We stayed at Nut’s place which was another brilliant hostel, very clean and modern (more like an apartment) and even had a sauna! The staff were great, gave us a map and showed is where to go and what to see so we set off and explored the old town. It was a beautiful clear blue sunny day, around -12 degrees. The medieval  old town was amazing, we wanted to walk up to a good vantage point for views out over the city while the weather was good so we walked to the main square then up to Toompea which gave a great view out over the town as the sun was setting. We found the Alexander Nevsky church which was amazing (and good for thawing the toes), saw the flag being taken down at the castle then walked backed down to the old town. From there we found an ice skating rink and went ice skating outdoors which was awesome fun! We walked back to the hostel via the supermarket and stocked up with food and cider and went back to the hostel to thaw out. After dinner we went back into the old town to try and find somewhere for a few drinks but weren’t hugely successful so went back to the hostel and called it a night! 

Departing Riga

Departing Riga - more snowy scenery

Departing Riga

Riga from the plane

Between Riga and Tallinn

Between Riga and Tallinn

Arriving in Tallinn

Tallinn

-7 degrees on arrival in Tallinn

Exploring Tallinn's medieval old town

Exploring Tallinn's medieval old town

The gates to the medieval old town

The gates to the medieval old town

The gates to the medieval old town

The gates to the medieval old town

The gates to the medieval old town

The gates to the medieval old town

Markets in the old town wall

Exploring Tallinn's medieval old town

Exploring Tallinn's medieval old town - the old town wall

Exploring Tallinn's medieval old town

Exploring Tallinn's medieval old town

The town square

The town square

The town square

Alanna and I in the town sqaure

Alanna and I in the town square

The town square

Exploring Tallinn's medieval old town

Exploring Tallinn's medieval old town

Exploring Tallinn's medieval old town

Exploring Tallinn's medieval old town

The view from the Danish Kings courtyard on Lossi Plats  

The view from the Danish Kings courtyard on Lossi Plats 

Alanna and I on the Danish Kings courtyard on Lossi Plats 

The view from the Danish Kings courtyard on Lossi Plats  

The view from the Danish Kings courtyard on Lossi Plats  

The view from the Danish Kings courtyard on Lossi Plats 

The view from the Danish Kings courtyard on Lossi Plats - more town wall

The view from the Danish Kings courtyard on Lossi Plats  

The view from the Danish Kings courtyard on Lossi Plats 

The view from the Danish Kings courtyard on Lossi Plats 

The view from the Danish Kings courtyard on Lossi Plats  

The view from the Danish Kings courtyard on Lossi Plats  - from the town wall

The view from the Danish Kings courtyard on Lossi Plats 

The view from the Danish Kings courtyard on Lossi Plats  

The view from the Danish Kings courtyard on Lossi Plats 

Me exploring the town wall

Alanna's shots of the view from the town wall

Alanna's shots of the view from the town wall 

Alanna's shots of the view from the town wall

Alanna's shots of the view from the town wall

Alanna's shots of the view from the town wall

The view out over Tallinn from the town wall

Looking out to the Alexander Nevsky church from the town wall

Me on the town wall

The view from the Danish Kings courtyard on Lossi Plats 

Looking up to the Alexander Nevsky church from the town wall

The town wall

The town wall

The Alexander Nevsky church

The gardens near the Alexander Nevsky church

The gardens near the Alexander Nevsky church 

The Alexander Nevsky church 

Another church in Toompea, containing lots of medieval memorabilia 

Alanna and I in Toompea

Alanna's cool shot in Toompea

Looking back down the wall to the town square

The view from the top of the hill in Toompea

The view from the top of the hill in Toompea - looking out over Tallinn

The view from the top of the hill in Toompea

The view from the top of the hill in Toompea - looking out over Tallinn

Toompea

Toompea

Toompea

Toompea

The Alexander Nevsky church on the way back down

Toompea

Toompea

The Alexander Nevsky church

The Alexander Nevsky church

Walking back down to the main square along the old town wall

Walking back to the main square

Walking back to the main sqaure

The main sqaure

Alanna and I in the main square

Alanna and I in the main square

Walking through the old town

Walking through the old town at night

Walking through the old town at night

Walking through the old town at night

Walking through the old town at night

Walking through the old town at night

Walking through the old town at night

Walking through the old town at night

Walking through the old town at night

Walking through the old town at night

Walking through the old town at night

Walking through the old town at night

Walking through the old town at night

Alanna ice skating outside!!

Alanna and I ice skating

Me ice skating with 5 million layers (and still can't feel my feet...)

Pretty fairy lights

Alanna inside our hostel room

Venturing back out into the cold... -12 degrees!

The old town at night

Alanna's amazing shot of the old town gates at night - red fairy lights turned pink by all the snow on top of them... unreal!!