It was travel day, meaning that our bags had to be packed and set outside our hotel rooms by 7:30 a.m. so that the hotel porters could pick them up. Today the ferry we rode to Tallinn was more like a cruise ship, with multiple decks and restaurants. Operated by Tallink Silja, the ship had a capacity of 2,800 passengers and took two hours to sail the fifty miles from Helsinki to Tallinn. Our Gate 1 group had a designated section to ourselves.

Of course, I made my way to the Duty-Free Shop on board and was impressed by these giant rolls of Mentos!

The first thing we did upon arrival was to go on a walking tour of Kadrioru Park. Everywhere we go we see beautiful and colorful flowers.

We then visited the grounds of the Estonian National Song Festival, something I’ve heard about previously, but really didn’t know anything about it. Since 1869 it has been one of the largest choral events in the world, with 30,000 choristers and 80,000 in the audience. (Our guide told us that 100,000 were in the audience, but Wikipedia lists only 80,000.) Choirs must audition to participate in the festival, and then must learn a set repertoire of music and attend rehearsals.

Since 1923, it has been held every five years. It was last held in 2025, meaning that the next festival will be in 2030.

Our guide also told us about the peaceful protest on August 23, 1989, when two million people formed a human chain spanning 420 miles across the three Baltic capitals of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The event marked the 50th anniversary of the Molotov Ribbentrop Pact and protested illegal Soviet occupation.

We next visited the Old Town of Tallinn, a medieval town with 800 years of history. It is filled with government buildings, merchant houses, historic churches, and of course, cobblestoneT streets.

Finally, we were able to check into our hotel, the Hyatt Place. Everything seemed so super modern, in contrast to everything else in this medieval town! We’ll be here for three nights.

Bill Potter and I decided to treat ourselves to an elegant dinner at the Riva restaurant next door to the hotel. He had the perch and I had risotto with duck breast and mushrooms. Surprisingly, it wasn’t as expensive as you might think. As our guide said, “In Estonia you don’t have to take out a second mortgage to go out to a nice dinner!”