Tallinn, Estonia

As one person commented on an Instagram post, Estonia looks as if it is always ready for a Renaissance Fair. I can’t disagree.

We stayed in the hotel above, which was part of the trip my husband had scheduled for his birthday. He enjoys these quick trips in the fall, and I tag along to see the places he selects. My goal is to find places where I’d like to stay longer, and, of course, the place where I want to have as the setting for my international thriller series.

In the old town section of Tallinn, there were lots of places to walk and explore. The city’s residents were so very young that we pulled up statistics just to be certain we weren’t mistaken.

It is a country of young people, with the average male age in the thirties and the female in the forties. Biking and walking routes are everywhere. It has been the most digitally advanced country in the world for some time.

The architecture in the old section is magnificent.

And historic.

With significantly less tourism than I expected. Finding a place to take a photograph without people was easy.

There are parks everywhere. Because this part of the world has received three times its usual amount of rain this summer, everything is exceptionally lush and green. The restaurants all have flower boxes surrounding the outdoor seating.

There is a beach set up in the middle of downtown for volleyball, our first indication that the population had to be younger than I expected. We walked to the marina, explored the marine museum, and then wandered back through the residential neighborhoods.

The apartment building below is typical in its modernity, and the neighborhood was clean, landscaped, and pleasant. I wanted to stop and hang out here for a day or so, to see how the people lived. Actually, to see if I could get ANYONE to smile at me.

Outside the city were two things: hayfields and forests. Most of the forests looked like they were commercially or governmentally managed, with straight, tall pines in long rows, ready for construction or paper. Still, they were beautiful.

The weather ranged from 58 degrees Fahrenheit to 63 degrees Fahrenheit, making a jacket necessary during the day. Nights were colder. People were out having a great time on the river. As you can see below, the walking and bike paths are clearly marked.

Part of Tallinn is situated on a hill, offering a panoramic view of the entire city. There were several places with various vantage points. We watched the sunset with a quiet musician playing in the background. It was nice to see tourists behaving themselves. It was also nice to be in a very touristic section of town without so many people that I felt like I was in Disneyland.

I’ll be honest here. Estonia and its neighbor, Latvia, are beautiful, and their historic sections are definitely Renaissance Fair worthy, but they won’t be a place where I return. Why?

First, I come from a place in both the U.S. and Türkiye where people, even strangers, talk to each other. If I smile at someone in almost all areas of the world, I will get a smile in return. Easy, right? Not in Estonia. Not even the children. I almost started taking photos of the various types of glares I received in return for my smile.

Although I enjoyed being in a country with beautiful weather in August, I also found it extremely difficult to get an Estonian to commit to a conversation about anything. One person at our hotel was not afraid to have a conversation—he was Irish. Another was a waitress at a restaurant—she was not Estonian either.

Second, we tried traditional foods, which mostly ended up being Ukrainian or Russian. They were prepared well, but I really missed the fresh food I was used to.

I always try to picture myself living there in every location I go. I couldn’t do it here; it's the first place I’ve not been able to consider it. Should you visit here? That’s up to you. If you do, take advantage of the biking. You can go most anywhere in and out of the city on a bike, and the summer weather was fabulous. It may be different in the winter, with more activities because of the snow. Just do your research.

I’m moving on.