Helsinki (Finland) and Tallinn (Estonia)

This month's Monocole magazine ranks Finland's largest and capital city, Helsinki, as the 5th best city in the world for quality of life (for all you guys at home, Sydney ranks 12th a little behind Melbourne ranked 9th. London doesn't even make the cut in the top 25 despite the fact the magazine head office is located here).


Geoff's been keen to visit Estonia for awhile, and I'm not sure where he picked it up but one can travel very easily between Tallinn (Estonia) and Helsinki (Finland) by ship (note: we frequently use Wikitravel, Tripadvisor forums and Wallpaper City Guides as key sources for insider information). So yes, one can take a ferry (between 90 mins to 2 hours) between Helsinki and Tallinn across the Baltic Sea.

In June this year, we stopped in Helsinki for one night, only because for some reason all hotels in the city were booked out on Saturday. We didn't get to see that much of Helsinki, but did manage to get out to Suomenlinna the fort island which protected Finland from Russian invasion.



And squeeze in some shopping at Finland's most famous design exports, Marimekko and Iittala. You might recognise this famous print by Marimekko.


In Helsinki we stayed at Helka Hotel, one of the most highly rated hotels on Tripadvisor. It was great, but not quite comparable to the Telegraaf Hotel where we stayed in Tallinn.

We took the ferry from Helsinki to Tallinn on the same day we visited Suomenlinna. We were due to catch the fast ferry, the Lindaline, but it was so windy the operators canceled the ferry and put us on a massive cruise ship. We were impressed with the bar and lounge areas.


And enjoyed the trip as the sun streamed through the front windows while the cruise liner drifted across the Baltic.


We spent three nights in Tallinn at the Telegraaf Hotel which was located within the city walls.


The area surrounded by the city walls, is called the Old Town and is a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site.


Our hotel was a stone's throw from the main squares.


And all of Tallinn's chic restaurants, cafes and bars. One of our favourites was the Italian restaurant, La Bottega and our hotel's own Tchaikovsky Restaurant. We were really surprised at how cosmopolitan Tallinn was having only gained independence in 1991, after spending most of its time under Soviet rule.


It certainly is an exemplar of rapid progress. Tallinn is polite, clean and safe city, which is also well known for its development of an e-government using the power of the Internet and IT for voting (in 2005 citizens voted via the internet) and government operations, such as the conduct of meetings.

The Old Town is not very big and we were able to visit its many sights during out stay. Here are some below.

Tallinn's Old Town city walls

The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral with noticeable Russian architectural influence

A view from the Kiek in de Kök ja Bastionikäigud Museum of the cathedral and city walls

St Olav's Church tower. The best (and cheapest) sight in Tallinn

At the top of St Olav's Church tower with views across Tallinn and its Old Town

Tallinn has a diverse cuisine, including medieval food and drink, such as honey beer

And as the town isn't very big we were given ample time to relax at the Telegraaf Hotel enjoying its pool, spa, saunas (which is very Finnish) and gorgeous Tchaikovsky Restaurant.


The service at the hotel was also superb. Anything we asked for was done swiftly without any problem. The hotel is part of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World collection, and we definitely didn't feel anonymous which can sometimes happen in bigger hotels.

We really enjoyed our time in Tallinn. I think we didn't know what to expect from this former Soviet Union (USSR) occupied country and city, but its progress in under 20 years is simply amazing. Tallinn is still a relatively cheap destination, and we noticed that while the Old Town was populated with very fashionable restaurants, cafes and bars, many of the tourists were much older than us. From just our observations, most seemed to be from the more Germanic and Scandinavian countries (of course being so close).

Helsinki was interesting. But we probably needed to stay another night to really get to know the city. But if you're really into your home wares, Finland is one of the best countries for shopping. We can't recommend enough what a neat trip one can do between Finland and Estonia. Both cities are so close, yet offer quite different experiences. We were enamoured by Tallinn. I think most for the excellent hotel and being pleasantly surprised by all it had to offer.

A weekend in Paris

After spending half a week with Mum and Dad in Paris this week, I was reminded that our Paris trip before this one, has yet to appear on the blog. In April we visited Paris for a weekend to meet up with the McLennans who were touring Europe, see Herlina and Damien (pre-wedding!) and to celebrate Geoff's birthday.


The weekend kicked off with breakfast with Herlina and the McLennans in the vibrant Marais area full of boutiques, wonderful eateries and markets. Despite filling up on omelettes and croissants we found room to fit in colourful macaroons Herlina had bought from Laudree the day before. We walked off breakfast with a visit to Herlina's local Boulangerie Julien to pick up "the best baguettes" in town according to the locals.


It was then off to Les Catacombs de Paris an underground ossuary that houses the remains of 6 million Parisians in the area called Denfert-Rochereau, where we have stayed once before with Geoff's parents (you might remember our Parisian Easter post in 2008). We were warned of long lines that twist around the roundabout (yes, in the middle of an intersection with cars zooming around!) where the entrance of the catacombs is oddly placed, but for some reason this Saturday there was a very little line so we didn't wait long.

The catacombs sound gruesome, but the white skulls and bones are stacked in a decorative fashion and after touring the labyrinth of underground tunnels one becomes pretty immune to it all! It was tricky to get pictures underground of the skulls and bones, but here's one of Christopher in a tunnel of the catacombs.


After the catacombs we went for tea and cake at Laduree Royale, one of the more quieter locations of the famous Parisian tea salon. Then it was goodbye and best wishes for the rest of the McLennan European tour as I was off to meet Herlina for a wedding dress fitting (you'll have to wait till we catch up on our blog to see the dress and wedding photos).

In the evening, Herlina and I met up with Geoff and Damien for a lovely walk through the courtyards of the Lourve toward dinner at a tiny Japanese restaurant near the Palais Royal. The sun setting over the Lourve courtyard featuring Pei's famous pyramid was simply stunning.


Back at Herlina's, Damien whipped up his special chocolate fondue recipe and even though we were really full from ramen we polished off strawberries, bananas and marshmallows dipped in hot chocolate.


The next day, was Geoff's birthday and we visited Chateau de Versailles. The chateau was the former centre of France's political power from the 1600's and residence of France's royal family beginning with Louis XIV and much later, one France's most famous figures, Marie-Antoinette. The chateau was beautiful and elaborate and its most famous room is the Hall of Mirrors.


The gardens weren't yet in full bloom, but still looked stunning.


In the late afternoon, we met with Herlina and Damien for a picnic in the park behind the chateau grounds.


It was then back to Paris to pick up our bags from Herlina's and say goodbye until their big day. It was also goodbye to Herlina's old apartment, where we have stayed at so times during our visits to Paris. You'll have to wait until we update all our travels to see the gorgeous view Herlina and Damien's new apartment has toward the Eiffel Tower.