My host sold the place I was staying and bought a new one, so I had to switch for my last few days in Tallinn. The new place was in the up-and-coming neighborhood where there is TONS of construction going on, and I was staying in one of the new buildings. Like, so new that they are doing another one right next to this one and it’s not even close to finished. But it’s much more modern, has a little enclosed balcony with a view of the sea, and it’s just a few steps from the seaplane harbor and old soviet prison. Extremely convenient if you like hanging out at defunct prisons or fly seaplanes.

Last weekend I decided I needed to get out for a bit, so I took a bus to the seaside town of Haapsalu. Pretty quiet given the temperature and time of year, but I walked around the little town a bit, saw the castle, and wandered along the water. I also stumbled into a coffee shop where apparently all the attractive girls in Estonia congregate. I felt like Sir Galahad walking into that castle in Monty Python (sans any attention, of course), and as much as I would have liked to fulfill my knightly duty to sample as much peril as possible, I kept it to a day trip.

Speaking of castles, they had one, so I wandered around it a bit. Although, it was a rather sad-looking castle.

I climbed up a little tower which gave me a better vantage point to look at some reeds and water. Mainly, it just made it colder and windier.

And then I took a lovely stroll along the promenade. There were like two other people walking around, as most of the restaurants and hotels were closed down and empty. But I mean, in theory I can see how it would be kind of nice if it weren’t so freezing.

Right by the bus station was an old train station and museum. I walked in an old train or two, and wandered around the deserted platforms while waiting for the bus. It was cool looking, so I took a couple pictures.

And I did promise a couple more pictures of the Old Town area, so I’m here to deliver on that promise. First, there’s an underground bar (a lot of the restaurants here are literally underground) that served Estonian craft beers and some snacks – PORGU. It was cozy down there, good wifi, so I just hung out there for a couple hours.

And here is the old town area.

On my walk to the bus station, I went past a cat cafe. There were like 3 cats just sitting there staring out the window, much like cats do everywhere else in the world I guess. Too bad I didn’t find that place earlier.

I also discovered a Wok place with a rice and tofu stir fry, which made me extremely happy.

In the end, I don’t really know how I feel like Tallinn. The Old Town area is nice enough, but the city overall feels kind of small and limited. It’s growing a lot in that new neighborhood, but I’m not sure that’s for the better either. Inevitable, I guess. But I also felt like I was a long ways from everything out there. Probably would have been better if I was staying more than a couple days and could stock up and hibernate.

I was getting a bit restless, and it’s cold, so I decided it was time to leave. So I grabbed a bus to Riga, Latvia for a few days and I’ll decide what to do from there.