It has been a year that I've been living in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. Honestly, I am happy to be here, as living in Moscow, the 16-mln metropolis, had drained me quite a lot, and I together with my husband had been looking for a change. My husband was offered a job in an IT company, and after gathering some information about the country and the city, we made our decision.
It's close to a perfect place for me, the heart of the city resembling a location from the "Witcher" series with its medieval walls and 15-18 century buildings many of which have a pretty Gothic look. The proximity of the sea and the volume of green spaces give the feeling of freedom and friendliness. Luckily, there are few really huge buildings here, and even modern living quarters look cozy. At last, I can enjoy strolls or drives by the seashore. In some places, you may watch seals, but I haven't met any yet.
Estonia was one of the European countries which had the lowest death toll from COVID-19, and now the country is returning to normal life. It has never undergone total lockdown. We didn't have either curfews or special permission to leave home. Jogging outdoors has never been restricted, and in my opinion it was a good option. Now we are returning to normal life, and last week I started working from the National Library again.
Designed in the late Soviet era, it has nonetheless some sci-fi or fantasy vibes. It has its own small theatre too, but I will have to wait for autumn to see some shows. You can see the main hall in the picture.
What I love about Tallinn
-Many 7-8-year-old kids go to school on their own; this is something you can hardly imagine in Moscow where parents accompany their children until the age of 12. It's a sign that personal safety is on a high level.
-The calm atmosphere and the absence of haste. However, everything starts on time, and precision is a must.
-Two large and really good parks: Merimetsa and Kadriorg. A lot of opportunities for sports.
-A low number of jerks on the road. In general, people prefer driving safely.
-There are many Russian-speaking people, including a considerable number of Estonians. This makes things easier. However, I am studying Estonian. You must at least know the basics if you stay in the country for a long period.
What I hate here
-It's much harder to buy medicines here (and in Estonia in general) without a doctor's prescription.
-A small number of heavy music-focused bars and music clubs. However, I was happy to discover a Fallout bar near the Old Town and to bring a friend of mine there.
-The dull weather and the shortage of sunny days. I am not a fan of suntan, but without D-vitamine you will soon feel miserable. You will have to take it as a supplement and/or buy a special solar lamp. It's the main cause of complaints from people who come here from other countries, especially the southern ones. This is also the reason why Estonia does not grow a lot of its own fruits and veggies.
However, the negative sides don't ruin the pleasure to be here... Most of my time, I enjoy Tallinn and feel at home here. It's not a large city, however, normally, we've got a lot of things happening around: concerts, festivals, theater shows and conferences. I've already got a good friend here, she is interested in environmental issues and sustainability as much as me, so I don't feel socially excluded, though I miss my Moscow friends a lot. I welcomed two of them here last summer and I hope to see more of them when the quarantine is over.
Beautiful place. The architecture captures well in photo. I saw Tallinn in the title of the post and it reminds me that I did a Full Y chromosome dna test a couple years back, and the only perfect Y chromosome match I've had was someone from Tallinn Estonia, and their family has lived there for centuries. This surprised me because my male lineage is from England but there was always rumor that the male lineage came from Denmark or further east.
I've had my chance to visit Tallin an quite a few occasions. Amazing city :) Now once the boarders are open, i might have another trip there again, since the rest of the world is closed for now :)
Hey, I've been in Tallinn for a week, and the National Library looks like a place I should have visited. It didn't look inviting from the outside...
I did find a good bookstore, where I bought this photo book called colorestica, which teaches you Estonian word by word:
I was shocked to see how invisible the Russian language was in any official or commercial text. In Riga too.
Good to hear you're safe and enjoy living there. Did you go to Helsinki for big city events, before the pandemic?
Yes, for example, I went for a large open-air metal concert (Katatonia, Children of Bodom and some other bands were participating). My husband went to see a large cybersport event and ran into some European Starcraft stars there.