So Good to See you Tallinn

#rick #tallinn

It felt great to be back in Tallinn. I have really fond memories of spending time in a place that feels entirely separated from regular day to day life, which provides a unique ability to relax. I think it is the combination of the walls and towers of the old fortifications and extensive pool complexes that are part of the hotels.

We stayed at a different hotel this time around. One with a few water slides for the kids. While I think this was the right strategy, it did mean that we spent an incredible amount of time at the pool and less time exploring the town.

On the first day the kids made friends with Eni and Igor, two kids from Cambridge, England. For the rest of our short trip, they were inseparable in the pool, and we also ventured to an Engineering/VR museum together. It was fantastic to see the four of them, spanning ages from 9 to 14, running around together and making connections.

The friendship was perhaps cemented when there was a fire alarm at 1:30am of the second night and they spend an hour on the playground beside the hotel in the middle of the night.

The hotel had a lovely spa, and Ruby had her first spa day which involved a massage, a manicure and a haircut. Graham also got a massage. Between the sauna, the hot tubs and time at the spa our kids were really able to focus on relaxing!

Not too much happened in Tallinn, but that's kind of the way its supposed to be. We were able to get to our favorite pub, Poobles. We discovered Sauna beer. Graham got so tired at the pool that he fell asleep during dinner. We picked up a smaller version of our wool "rocking sheep" Gloria.

The boat ride to Helsinki was uneventful for most of the two hours. We had Aperol Spritz and Beer to keep us entertained. The most exciting part was pulling into Helsinki and seeing a US Aircraft carrier docked in passenger port fully loaded with helicopters and planes. It appears to be one of the bigger tourist attractions in town, and I suppose a deterrent for the Russians one hundred miles to the east.

It is exciting to be back in Helsinki, but I already miss the relaxation one can achieve in Tallinn (not that Helsinki is very stressful. It's also pretty chill).