A trip to spend a bit of time with mama - #11 Tallinn

Tallinn, pop. 454k, tram network system length: 19.7 km. Tallinn also has trolleybuses, buses, trains and a ferry. Public transport has been free for residents since 2013. 

Solaris bus.

Grass tram tracks.

Tallinn looks like a Danish or Swedish city. It is the city that feels the furthest away from the Soviet Union legacy. Skype, Wise and Bolt started here. 

I hired a Bolt scooter and rode it for the first time. I liked the ride, but didn't like the overall experience because:

1. I was charged per minute and very quickly I paid more than for a bus ticket. This payment structure is what causes people on scooters to speed and ride double. You want to get to where you need to at max speed and if you can get away with it, you rent just one scooter instead of two.

2. I could not get to my hotel because of geo-fencing.   

I did not see any bike share stations. Is Tallinn a good city to ride a bike?

Tallinn was a member of the Hanseatic League.

Not Tallinn yet, the bus stops in Pärnu first. I did not take the Riga - Tallinn train because it has a ridiculously long stop at the border making the journey take about 10 hours instead of 6, the bus takes 4.

Bike racks in front of the bank.

Near the bus station.

The UNESCO listed Old Town:

The Polish Embassy, Ukrainian, Polish and NATO flags.

The French Institute, French and Ukrainian flags.

The Russian Embassy, with "love letters" from the people who know what the Russian Mir (world/peace) is.

Putin = terrorist. Russia, your dictator is killing children!

Too many bloody cars.

Parking here should cost per *minute* as much as renting 10 Bolt scooters: 10 * €0.20 = €2 per minute = €120 per hour. Seems fair.

The Maritime Museum on the edge of the Old Town has a plaque commemorating ORP Orzeł - the Polish submarine that escaped from Tallinn to England.

Maritime Museum - the seaplane hangar site.

This branch of the museum is located in the former seaplane hangar.

Visitors can start a number of short videos showing the crew displayed over the Lembit submarine. This display makes it the best submarine exhibit I saw, and I saw one in Chicago, one in Munich and one in Karlskrona.

Modern apartments close to the sea.

A bike shed.

Back to the Old Town:

Well preserved city walls.

Why?

This is funny for me because "Ala" is a girl's nickname in Polish. In Estonian it means "area". 

Garden therapy.

Sauna? The Finnish/Swedish connection...

You can buy a ticket and walk some sections of the wall and climb some towers, which have good views of the city.

In Gold Coast these street works would be a reason to relocate residents to another city.

A ferry to Helsinki.

Port of Tallinn at dawn.

I will try to visit Tallinn again when Rail Baltica is running. This visit was way too short.