>Tallinn really is a nice town.
Absolutely! Jaa! Jaa! Tallinn IS a wonderful town with a remarkably well-preserved walled and narrow cobbled street medieval "old town." The central Raekoja plata does indeed have a German -- also Dutch, Danish and Swedish I think -- flavor to it and it has been a continuous marketplace since the Middle Ages. But of course merchants traveling from the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, and Germany up the Baltic Sea to Gdansk and further up did settle in these areas. The Toompea Castle and Gothic architecture is also magnificent.
I spent some time in Tallinn last June and did, in fact, take one of those "booze cruises" to get there from Helsinki. The cruises are definitely cheap and, well, so is the alcohol in Estonia. As a matter of fact, I did pick up some vodka and northern berry schnapps (linonberry and cloudberry) myself...as gifts :)...and a fabulous pair of shoes for myself that I'm still wearing.
The Finns and Estonians are truly wonderful people. I had an incredible time in Helsinki. The Finns are actually very big coffee (kahvi) drinkers -- I think the largest in the world. They drink their coffee with milk only and eat it with pastries and a scrumptious cheese bread called juustoportti that is a cow's milk (not aged) cheese baked in an oven. Finnish fish soup and smoked Lapland salmon and Baltic herring with parsley is the best in the world! Yes, indeed!
I was also locked overnight in the Helsinki train station (Finns were so kind and helpful) due to the strikes in France (needed to get to France) -- Cheminots en Greve! -- but that's another story :).
Diane
P.S. y'all...Haluatko kahvia?