The Grain and Grape

The Baltic Countries include Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, located on the Baltic Sea, across from Finland and Sweden, and bordered by Russia, Belarus, and Poland. When we first started planning to visit one or more of the Baltic Countries, we asked other travelers for advice on where we should go. The answer consistently came back to visit all of them, that they are all wonderful and unique countries.

So, we took a week off over the 4th of July holiday, booked flights into Tallinn, Estonia and out of Vilnius, Lithuania and traveled around by rental car exploring this region. This Story is Part 1 of 3 of our Visit to the Baltic Countries.

Tallinn, Estonia

Tallinn’s Old Town is charming, with a lovely central square lined with café restaurants, and so many truly historic cobblestoned narrow streets. Wear your most comfortable hiking shoes! With so many twisting streets full of shops and restaurants, and the surprise of a church or old city wall around any corner, you could explore Tallinn for days finding new sights and new spots to try a meal or a drink.

Estonia, like Latvia and Lithuania, was formerly part of the Soviet Union. Both the Telliskivi and Kalamaja neighborhoods, and the former V. I. Lenin Palace of Culture and Sport, are good areas close to Old Town to see fascinating examples of Soviet architecture.

There is a large, very nice market in Telliskivi, with foods on the first floor and antiques on the second floor. The former Soviet countries do seem to have some interesting treasures.

Foods of Estonia

Tallinn is known for its food scene, and every meal we ate was wonderful. The Olde Hansa Restaurant right in the midst of Old Town is dedicated to the heritage of Estonia, with servers in traditional costumes, medieval styled dinnerware, and an interesting menu. We ate bear and salmon, and both were outstanding.

Mad Murphy’s is a fun Irish pub with outdoor seating, and we also found a very cool underground Scottish pub. The decor in The Highlander was perfectly spooky and we wanted to move right in and live there.

Another spot in Tallinn that quickly became a favorite is @KleoGastro, a few doors down from our hotel, this group serves up food and drinks with a friendly neighborhood feel.

A culinary surprise, to us at least, were the breads. We noticed the amazing breads here in Estonia, and this continued throughout Latvia and Lithuania as well. After living in Germany for 2 years, we may have thought the Germans have a monopoly on outstanding bread baking. But the variety of delicious breads in the Baltics do rival the German breads.😳

For a nice day trip from Tallinn, it’s easy to take a ferry to Helsinki, for a chance to see another country. More about this in a future Story.

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We loved our days in Tallinn, especially for the truly old and quaint Old Town that offers so much to explore. Next week, Visit to the Baltic Countries: Part 2 – Riga, Latvia.

Terviseks!

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