Tallin by tunnel and tower

Today started, as many days in a new place do, with a hunt for a laundromat.  According to Mr Google we should try SOL Pesumaja, not far from the Radisson Blue hotel.  OK.  We set off with our washing bag and, after hardly any wrong turns at all (your secret's safe with me Geoffrey Childs) we arrived at the SOL.  7 euros for a wash and dry left G wishing he'd brought more shirts.  We loaded a machine and wandered off in search of breakfast.

We have been using a fantastic app called "Spotted by Locals" - which has helped us find some fantastic dinner spots, and other places that have turned out to be pretty interesting.  We set it to work and instantly found a nearby wholefood cafe.  Alas, their coffee machine was broken.  Broken?  We left them with their healthy muffins and instead found good coffee and the most unexpectedly delicious raisin pastries at the Stockmann department store.  With plenty of time still to spare, G helped fill the hour by locating a Bose store.  He's been on a quest for noise-cancelling headphones since he almost bought a pair in Auckland.  He wishes he had.  So far, we can report that NO COUNTRY has them as cheap as NZ.  We are still crossing our fingers for Frankfurt and Tokyo, but that's only because we're such Pollyanna optimists...

Washing sorted, we popped home to drop it off (and discover that G now has one clean blue sock - question being, is there a dirty blue sock nearby, or is it still SOL Pesumaja?) before venturing back into the old town.  Estonia was a bit of a last minute decision and as result we are not encumbered by too many plans or goals.  Another app - city walks - offers DIY itineraries with maps and notes, so we picked one and set off.  Soon enough we were hungry, at which point Spotted by Locals gave us Kompressor pancake house.  

Arriving to a crush of humanity - clearly Kompressor is a favourite with more than locals - we met some super polite Taiwanese who didn't queue jump us for the last table.  As a result we invited them to share.  It was a large table, with plenty of room for all five of us.  They agreed, and we all went on to have a lovely (and extremely filling) lunch - G had bacon and smoky cheese; I opted for Herring, because, Estonia - and our new friends gave us some sightseeing hints.

With new purpose, we set off towards the Museum Kiek in de Kook for a look around the Tower and the tunnels.  If their captions, explanatory movies and exhibits are to be believed, Estonians have a lovely sense of humour - irreverant and quirky.  Plus, almost everything is explained in English.  Bonus point: Retail and restaurant staff here speak fluent English.  Once again putting us, single-language barbarians, to shame.

Anyway, we've had a lovely afternoon traipsing up towers and through underground tunnels, and reflecting on the resilience of a people most of whose history has involved invasion, war, violence and recovery.  Thank you Vikings, Danes, Germans, Swedes, Russians, Nazis and, finally, Soviets.  And now the people of Tallin survive - at least in part - by making the international tourist hordes extremely welcome.

Giant chess anyone?  

Felt a bit stalker-ish looking down on this courtyard, but what a lovely one, hidden amongst the rooftops and seen only from the old city wall (which was crawling with tourists).

We may have done a small amount of shopping.  Breakable... Doh!