Tag Archives: estonia

My Life

What to see when visiting Tallinn (in my opinion)

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I have written about different places to see in SE Asia but now I thought about giving some recommendations what to visit when you’re in Tallinn, my hometown. Comparison to the huge cities of the world Tallinn is a small town with approximately 450.000 citizens. Yet, if to compare it with a total Estonian population of 1.3 million you can clearly see that more than a 3rd of the whole population is living in here. If you like you can read more about it from Wikipedia and Visit Tallinn websites.

But now, what would be the places I’d recommend to see when in Tallinn. Solely based on my opinion and not in any particular order.

Rotermann quarter

As in many places in Tallinn, this is the area you can see how the old soviet and modern architecture has been molded together. It’s not big but definitely worth a visit!

Tallinn Old Town

Well, you just can’t miss this one! This is by far the most popular tourist attraction in the city, especially beautiful and magical during winter when everything is covered with snow.

Seaplane harbour

One of the most interesting and original museums in Tallinn and actually worldwide. It has a great atmosphere which makes you feel like you’re in a different world. Their website can be found in here.

Estonian open air museum

Located in a beautiful Rocca-al-Mare seaside you can really get a sense how people lived in these areas in the olden days.

Kadrioru park

A truly beautiful park with different gardens, ponds and buildings. If you happen to be here in autumn there’s a special event called “Valgus Kõnnib Kadriorus” when the whole park is lighted with candles, torches and other light installations. Although by now it’s a bit crowded it’s still a beautiful sight :).

Kumu art museum

Right in the edge of Kadrioru park there’s a modern art museum, a must visit for all art and architecture lovers.

Tallinn TV tower

Be sure to visit the tower with a beautiful weather, then an awesome view greets you. Otherwise the visibility can be just a hundred meters so you might as well stay on the ground :). For adrenaline lovers there’s a possibility to do edge-walking 🙂

Valli bar

Let’s just say that if you like to meet some very interesting people and have a very interesting shot called “Millimallikas” that’s the place to go. Located right in the old city.

Pääsküla bog

A relatively short bus drive from the city center you can find Estonian nature at it’s finest – a beautiful bog with wooden paths leading your way. If you want to enjoy some quiet time this is the place to go. I must say although that there are even more beautiful and blissful bogs located in many places all over Estonia.

Pirita promenade

You can get beautiful views to Tallinn skyline and just stroll along by the seaside. Once again, look for a beautiful weather, otherwise wind can carry you away 🙂

Kakumäe, Stroomi and Pirita beaches

All beautiful in their own way. Although the water gets warm enough to swim only in the hotter periods of summer they are all great places to go for a walk or just enjoy the calming waves. Pirita is the most popular of these during the summertime.

Many of the different parks in Tallinn

Luckily the choice is abundant. Tallinn is quite green and there are many parks for a quiet afternoon walk or a picnic.

Tallinn  Song Festival Grounds

Located right next to Kadrioru park it’s one of the most known cultural sights in Tallinn. During the Song Festival more than 100.000 singers and visitors gather there.

My Life

So how it is back home

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By now we’ve been back for roughly a week and it already feels like it was so long time ago when we were traveling through SE Asia. At some times it almost feels like dream. But what a dream it was :)! The first couple of days we just got used to Estonian climate and the time difference. We went to bed around 9 in the evening and woke up 5 AM :). and it was pretty weird. But by now we have acclimatized quite nicely and back to our normal rhythm.

I can’t say that we don’t miss the beautiful weather, warm seas, paradise beaches and all the greenery. Quite often I find myself thinking about all the different adventures we had but the life goes on and there’s so many new things to await for! Regarding this we already have some big changes in our lives. 5 days ago we took home a small little furry friend :). A 3-month old puppy that we named Triksi. So now we have the joy and the challenge to grow a happy and healthy member of the family out of her :)! Since we already have a 5 year old cat called Sipsik we also have another challenge of making them good friends with each other. So far so good, you’ll definitely hear more about them in the future posts :)!

Although this blog was mainly started because of our trip to SE Asia I’ll definitely plan to continue writing posts about different topics, my ideas and much more. Every day I just have so many new thoughts and interesting things I come across that I instantly feel like sharing. I guess that writing a blog has become a part of my everyday life 🙂

Triksi

Sipsu

SE Asia

First week in Phuket

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So we’ve been in Phuket for a week already. Time flies fast :). But we really really enjoy it and although we will be here for 4 more weeks approximately I can already say that we will definitely want to come back! Our usual day here looks like something like this. We will wake up around 9, have a light breakfast, then do about 20 minutes of stretching/pilates and after that about an hour at the pool swimming, reading a book or just relaxing. Then it’s either going for a lunch (we already have a a few of our favorite places, I will talk about them in one of the later posts) or getting on a scooter to discover some new part of this beautiful island. Driving a scooter has by now become a norm and a part of everyday life :). During our stay we have visited The Big Buddha (which is really big also in real life, height about 34m), Chalong temple, Phuket town and the night market, Rawai and many other great places.

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We haven’t yet went to Kata, Karon and Patong – the 3 main tourist areas but we will do that soon. No hurry :).

At about 3-4 in the afternoon we usually go to the beach since by then the sun is lower, it’s not so hot anymore and you can really enjoy the seaside. If you plan to go during the midday for example then without a shade you can last max only about an hour or you just have to be in the water constantly. Otherwise you’ll just get a sunstroke. Our favorite beaches here are Yanui and Nai Harn, both about 10 minutes drive from here. And in the evenings we will go and have a dinner (naturally), on some days go to enjoy a steam sauna (located nearby, a great place to end a day) and then back home either we will watch a movie, invest time in the world wide web or read a book. Nearing the nighttime I’ll usually spend a few hours behind my laptop working with pictures, videos, gaining knowledge in Youtube or dealing with on one of my different projects.

Quite often we are spending time with our friends who are currently also living here in Phuket. We have already had a card playing + rum and coke night :), traveled around the island together and tomorrow we plan to go kayaking for example.

And actually we’ve seen quite many Estonians around here, basically you meet some new people every day. It’s a small world 🙂

Here are some additional thoughts:

  • In Thailand there are small reddish ants everywhere where there’s food lying around. If you forget something edible to the balcony for example it wont take long before these little guys are there to have a lunch on your behalf 🙂
  • Sometimes when swimming in the sea you will feel a small burn on your skin. It will go away quickly and it’s nothing bad but still an interesting sensation. No-one knows exactly by whom these are caused but I’ve read that it’s either very small jellyfish or sea lice. Don’t worry, nothing harmful. Just don’t be surprised getting that feeling if you end up swimming around here 🙂

 

All the best and sunshine,

Lauri