***
Baltics trip
Day 11 - 26th May - Kuressare, Tallinn; Estonia (Part 1)
HWMNBN observed that the Museum Jaga Aunty cloning facility had 2 models: stick thin and uberfat. Most were uberfat.
Baltic institutions are generally chill with photography and even flash photography.
We had found out the previous night that, by a stroke of coincidence, our hotel was next door to the 24 hour strip club.
I sensed movement from inside, and ran away before someone could come out and beat up me (possibly sexily with a strip pole)
Kuressare bus station was the only place in the Baltics which demanded to see ISICs. Gah.
Sign in bus toilet: "no peeing standing up"
Many places had WiFi but no internet terminals. Gah. It's only good being in a country which is a big wireless hotspot if you have a terminal.
I got zapped by the wooden key holder at our Tallinn hostel. Wth.
Street
Doll. YC: "Even the boobs here are unreal"
Miniatures
Tattoo parlour
St Nicholas's Church
Tourists chilling. There were more tourists in Tallinn than in the other 2 capitals combined. I can see why.
Peppersack restaurant
"NB! *picture of snatch theft*"
It wasn't immediately clear what "NB" stood for, so I suggested it was "NaBeh!"
Town Hall, 1322. The only surviving Gothic Town Hall in Northern Europe.
Square
World Heritage plaque
Heads on house
Torture Instruments museum
Promoters for the aforementioned
Street
Staircase
Random church tower
As we walked by the walls of Toompea (their acropolis analogue), we heard strange music, and sighted yonder fair maiden:
Naturally, this was a paid attraction. How else could they afford to pay the girl to stand there? We decided to come back later.
Wall
Kiek in de Kok Cannon Tower. Gotta love the name.
Toompea walls
In Toompea was also the Alexander Nevsky cathedral, from the 19th century:
Toompea Castle: now home to the Estonian parliament
Parliament carpark
Notice the red neon chi and beta (shouldn't it be a rho?); they seem to be an Orthodox thing (Greek churches also have the spooky red glow).
The cathedral was the first place in the Baltics to forbid photography.
"No Mahathir"
Quotes:
[On multiple consecutive vowels] It must be damn easy to play Scrabble in Estonian.
