DAY 27: Helsinki to Estonia & Back (NH Collection Grand Hansa Hotel)

We had breakfast bright and early in the hotel restaurant this morning and caught a taxi in the dark to the Harbour to catch our ferry to Tallinn. The ferry didn't leave until 10.30am, but we had to be there an hour before it left and the harbour was a half-hour drive away from our hotel.

These ferries are enormous boats - multistorey with one whole floor acting as a duty-free department store, another as a food hall, with lots of different restaurants and then spaces for people just to hang out, including lounges. There are five decks set aside for cars and trucks. Embarking and disembarking all ran like a well-oiled machine, which I suppose is what you would expect considering these ferries go back and forth several times a day, every day of the year.

Our lounge was quite full on the way over, but we nabbed a comfy seat, checked out the rather uninteresting snacks and then took a tour around the boat to see what was on offer. Apparently the boat can fit 2,800 people, so there were people everywhere!

We arrived in Tallinn after an event-free journey and then had about a 20 minute walk into the centre of Old Town. It is much like all other former medieval cities, with quaint buildings and cobblestone streets. There were quite a lot of other tourists all wandering around and, of course, there was the obligatory Christmas market in the Town Square.

We strolled around looking at the churches, cathedrals (from the outside only), towers, buildings, shops etc, and then went to an Italian restaurant in a posh hotel for lunch. Jane had recommended we go to a Russian restaurant that she said was excellent, but I wasn't feeling 100% and felt in the need of comfort food. Also, Jane's idea of good food is not always the same as mine. She said they had dumplings in broth (which sounded okay) and then reindeer stew served in a bread bowl (which didn't appeal to me so much).

The restaurant we went to was called 'Castello' and was actually part of an old castle. When I went downstairs to the toilets, you could see the stone walls and the passages from the foundations. Quite impressive. 

The restaurant manager proudly informed us that they had been voted the best Italian restaurant in Tallinn by an Italian newspaper (or something) and pointed to the sticker on the door, as proof. We then had very high expectations, which weren't quite met. 

I had a very nice minestrone for entree - tasty and comforting, with some good bread. Jim had swordfish carpaccio, which he said was tasty and obviously good quality. My main was risotto with porcini mushrooms and salami, apparently using the very highest quality carnaroli rice available. It was perfectly nice but the salami was in chunks rather than thin slices which was a bit odd. Jim had lobster pasta, which he said was rather ordinary.

Anyway, we headed back to the harbour from the restaurant and caught our 4.30pm ferry back to Helsinki. This time, the lounge was practically empty, and very quiet, so I was able to stretch out and have an hour snooze, which did me the world of good.

We arrived back to the freezing cold of the Harbour and caught a taxi back to the hotel. We just stayed in for the rest of the evening, as we didn't feel the need to eat again.