Hello from Helsinki. My travels around Europe continue and this weekend I am in the Baltics after a smooth flight on Lufthansa from Frankfurt this morning. Today I am going to head down to Tallin, Estonia and spend the night there, then spend Sunday in Helsinki. The weather looks ominous outside, but hopefully the rain will hold off.
Tallin has very few western chain hotels and because I am so backlogged with hotels reviews (Park Hyatt Tokyo, Seoul, Saigon, Beijing, and Shanghai, Westin Seoul Chosun, and Sheraton Guam are coming), I am going to go back to "old times" tonight and stay at a youth hostel.
I know that writing a review should not be a prerequisite for staying at a fancy hotel, but staying at a hostel will also defray the cost of my ferry trip to Estonia and make me feel less guilty about treating myself to a nice dinner tonight.
Time to brave the cold weather!
With the time difference, this is probably too late. In Tallinn, I recommend a restaurant called AED. It’s in the medieval town. Absolutely fabulous. You’ll have to ask for directions, and when you find it you will think it’s the wrong place (looks like a storefront) but it’s great.
I love Tallinn. You can just sense the joy of freedom after years of Soviet domination.
@Jim: Onboard the boat now to Tallin and caught this just in time–I’ll try to find it. Thanks!