After being together for five months with my girlfriend Kristi, we decided to arrange a holiday. Kristi is Estonian and was already planning to return to her country to see family and friends. We thought this would be the perfect stepping stone to visit the Scandanavian countries, and so made plans.
 After a few hiccups at the airport we arrived in the morning having had no sleep the previous night. Obviously we were rather shattered, and once Kristi’s mum had taken us back to her place, we went straight to bed. After around four hours sleep we roused for some food and decided we were awake enough for Kristi to show me round Tallinn’s old town.
Surrounded by huge walls dotted with red tiled turrets, Tallinn’s old town is cut off from the modern sites and sounds of the rest of the city. Walking through the main entrance does make you feel like your walking back in time, which is only slightly spoiled by the Mc Donalds sign hanging over the first building you pass. The old town streets are great displays of medieval combined with classical 18th century architecture.
As we walked up the main street it opened out into a small square. Up ahead was Olde Hansa, a restaurant we would be dining at later. Outside were women dressed in traditional medieval garb and a small stall selling sugar spiced roasted almonds. I managed to resist the tempting aroma this time, but upon our return I gave in to the lovely smell. We made our way through the winding streets up to the Russian Orthodox church. This is a beautiful building that, with it’s obvious Russian origins, very much stands out from it’s surroundings. From here we walked over to some of the view points that look down upon the rest of the Old Town and took in the great views.
 Later that evening we returned to Olde Hansa for dinner. Two of Kristi’s friends joined us as we sat down at the tables outside. One thing I loved about this place was how everything was set out in a medieval style, from the menu, goblets and cutlery down to the waiters and waitresses dress. The food was excellent and interesting too, with some unusual combinations. Defiantly a place I recommend you do not to miss if you visit.
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