Atlantica - 01.09.2007, Page 44

Tallinn
In just 15 years, Estonia’s
capital has transformed
itself from Soviet gray to
European cool—and not
just with a nod to its now-
dated 2001 Eurovision
Song Contest win. Just
three hours by ferry from
Helsinki across the Gulf of
Finland, Tallinn has earned
a well-deserved reputation
not only as one of the best
preserved Old Towns in
northern Europe, but also
as a hub for IT (Skype got
its start here and in some
nerdy circles, the country
has even been dubbed
‘E-stonia’) as well as for
its cheap booze and inde-
fatigable hedonism. What’s
more, no-frills airline easy-
Jet now flies to Tallinn,
which has made it a go-to
for binge-drinking bachelor
parties.
Despite being attacked,
sacked, razed and pillaged
for centuries, much of
the architecture from the
late Middle Ages remains
intact and the Old Town,
with its narrow, cobble-
stone, lamp-lighted streets
and watercolor buildings
trimmed with flowerboxes,
still stands. UNESCO
declared the Old Town a
Cultural Heritage site in
1997.
Historical must-stops
include: St. Olav’s
Church, which was con-
sidered the tallest building
in the world from 1549
until 1625 because of
its Gothic spire; the non-
descript no. 61 Pikk
Street, once the Soviet
police headquarters where
suspected enemies of
the regime were inter-
rogated before being
shot or deported; and the
Museum of Occupation
and the Fight for
Freedom (okupatsioon.
ee) that pays tribute to the
thousands of Estonians
deported to Siberian
gulags in the 1940s.
Tallinn’s bold and beau-
tiful can be found dining
leisurely on rabbit terrine
and wild boar at the ultra
hip Pegasus (restoran-
pegasus.ee), followed by
a long night of drinking,
dancing and grinding at
Club Privé (clubprive.ee).
But be gently fore-
warned: the ferry to and
from Tallinn is nothing
short of unsupervised
chaos. Think cheap discos,
cheap fraying turf on the
ship’s decks, and even
cheaper duty-free items
galore. A herd of people
in the waiting area narrow
into two single file lines
to enter and exit the ferry
and if you’re standing too
close to the top of the
escalator in Tallinn’s ferry
terminal on your way back,
you’ll inevitably be respon-
sible for a several person
pile-up at the top.
42 a t l a n t i c a
Scenes from downtown Tallinn.