In Finland, there is a scheduled week off in October which is traditionally for tattie picking just like in Scotland. We decided to treat this holiday as an American "spring break" sort of situation and so we set up some travelling to Tallinn and Riga. We managed to have approximately two days in each city. We set off to Tallinn by ferry from Helsinki which was a relatively easy journey. The ferry took around three and a half hours and was a very smooth crossing. We got to Tallinn late at night and somehow managed to find our AirBnB. Day 1 in Tallinn - we wondered around the old town and sampled some of the local bars. The old town is guarded by city walls which helped us navigate whenever we got lost.
Our favourite bar was the Olde Hansa which was a medieval themed tavern. We also stumbled upon a Scottish pub and had our first taste of irn bru in months.
Day 2 - we visited the Kiek in de Kok and wondered through the tunnels that are beneath the city. The towers provided beautiful views of the city. The tunnels were rather spooky but very interesting as they were used as a shelter in WW2.
We then travelled to Riga by bus which was very easy and comfortable and found our AirBnB. Which was one of the most luxurious apartments we have all ever stayed in at a very low price.
Day 3 - We mainly spent the day wondering through parks, around the stunning old town and going into any open building we could explore.
We visited the Cosmos Illusion museum to escape the rain and had a lot of fun playing with the illusions. The food was great in Riga and we had lunch in a restaurant called "The Hedgehog in the Fog" where the staff were incredibly friendly and gave us all a free pint. We took advantage of the relatively low prices and treated ourselves to a steak dinner with plenty wine.
Somehow, this escalated to us clearing a local karaoke bar called "the funny fox". We can only assume it was because our singing was too good for anyone else to follow us.
Day 4 - we went up to the top of the Riga Cathedral for panoramic views of the city before heading to the central market hall beside the bus station. The entry fee for the tower also let us into an exhibition on the baltic way which was a peaceful protest.
The market hall was very impressive and was the perfect spot for us to stock up on any spirits before travelling back to Finland. We did the journey in reverse and got the bus back to Tallinn where we stayed over night in a hostel before we got the boat back to Helsinki the next morning.
Our time in Riga and Tallinn was unforgettable and we are all glad that we managed to squeeze this trip in around our busy schedules.
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