Last Day in Tallinn

 Monday

2 September 

Day 64

32 to go

The alarms went off accidentally this morning, as I had forgotten to remove them, so we were awoken with a jolt. It was however, nice to know we didn’t have to be out in a hurry, in fact it was a lovely lazy morning and we didn’t leave the room until 10. 

We stopped in at reception, organising a taxi for tomorrow morning and then we were off to the viewing platform. There were a lot of tour groups about. We assumed a cruise ship must have emptied them on to the streets and sure enough when we had wound our way around to the platform, we could see the ship at the terminal,

The view from the platform was impressive, with a view over part of the old town, as well as to the waters beyond. We then made our way to the ground level via the zig zag stairs we had spied yesterday. We continued following the path to the Monastery Gate. The venue didn’t open until 11am, so we had 10 minutes to sit and watch the parade of students dressed in formal attire and wearing fancy school hats. There were bouquets of flowers being ferried about as well. We assumed the teachers were the ones filling their car boots with them. 

When the door opened for the gate, we entered, paid the 4€ and then began the steep climb up onto the wall. There wasn’t a large section to follow. We entered a tower, climbing again, until we reached just below the roof. Once back on the wall, we walked to another small opening and climbed up again. The space only just big enough for Paul to squeeze through.

Happy with the explore, we returned to ground level and began to wander back. Paul caught his tow on the cobble, ripping the sole of his shoe away. Being his hikers and needing them for Scandinavia, we needed to replace them. 

We returned home, regrouped and then made our way to a nearby shopping mall, we had noticed on the tram ride in, on our very first day. We both though it would be a bit of a mission, but we were pleasantly surprised to walk straight in, be faced with a shoe store and find exactly what he needed at a very reasonable price. They even water proofed them. 

Thankful it didn’t take up too much time, we returned to the old town, stopping at a little market and picking up a few items and then returning home for lunch and a chat with Jaden and Renee. Unfortunately, Rayah was asleep for her birthday call. 

After lunch, we headed out to St. Olaf’s Church. This church has a viewing platform 60m from the ground and I was keen to check it out. Paul was dreading the stairs. The church itself has a spire that is about 125m tall. We were able to enter the church and have a look around, but climbing was 5€. It was a slow process, with 232 steps. The passage is narrow and at times the stone stairs are quite deep. There is a rope railing to help pull yourself along and a couple of flat passages where you can catch your breath and allow others to pass. Before you reach outside,there is a final wooden ladder to climb, then you are exposed to a magnificent 360 view of Tallinn. It made the climb worth it. From here you could see all of the old town, the buildings and churches we had explored and the city walls. We even spotted the ferry terminal we will depart from. 

After walking all four edges along the narrow metal path, we descended the staircase, making it to the bottom in one piece. We then made our way to Pierre Chocolataire for a well deserved hot chocolate. When we had finished, we made our way back to the room for an afternoon rest. 

At 6pm, we ventured out to the Town Square, choosing one of the establishments for dinner. We had a burger and enjoyed the people watching, but not so much the people listening, as one patron obviously wanted to be the centre of attention. 

After dinner, we collected a jacket for Paul and went for one last wander. We walked to the Viru gate, did a quick food shop and then walked along the roads for one final time. We followed the old walls for part of it, before making our way up the middle, enjoying the pink glow of the evening sky. We stopped at the Bastion walls, passing the St Alexander Nevsky Church along the way and then winding our way back down into the town and back to our apartment for the final night.