Estonia

The only thing I had heard about Estonia before I went there was that the boat with the same name sank to the bottom of the sea during hard weather when I was a kid back in -94. It was during a trip from Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, and the Swedish capital Stockholm that a part of the boat got ripped and it started to take in water, and in the end 852 people died. With this in the back of my mind, me and my friend Christofer booked a cruise to Tallinn from Stockholm some 20 years later.

We survived the trip only to find we had arrived in the medieval times. The old parts of Tallinn are surrounded by an ancient wall and you can tell this is a city with a lot of character.

We quickly went into a time machine to the 1980s and 90s by going into the Depeche Mode Bar. 

                                      

A bar totally dedicated to the famous English electronic band with drinks named after the songs, their music playing constantly and if you seem to haven’t noticed which band they love yet, they also made all the interior as a tribute to the band. I can imagine how tired the bartenders must be of the music after working there some months, let alone years.

The band has even been to the bar as the bar proudly proved by pictures of the occasion hanging on the wall and even though I’m not a hardcore fan I still felt the corny feeling that it was a big moment to be in a bar where they have been. Maybe I’m sitting where Martin Gore sat quickly turned into maybe I’m taking a leak where Dave Gahan pissed after I had a drink called Just Can’t Get Enough. I had enough of just one of those and we hit the streets again to try and find the museum of the Estonian drink culture to carry on with the alcohol theme. But I guess you must be drunk to find it because we couldn’t.

After eating Chinese food that tasted like spaghetti with ketchup we entered an ice bar to make sure that the drinks would be ice cold.

I have always wanted to enter one of those and I really love the concept and how it looks, but in the end, it’s a bad idea since its freezing cold inside and you can’t wait to get outside again, since it’s warmer in the open air even though its only February.

I really enjoyed the small capital, it has charm and it got its character with its medieval theme. We even survived the cruise back to Stockholm, it started off with me going to the spa on the boat and talking hockey to some random Swedish middle aged men who went to Tallinn every year to buy cheap booze and then watch hockey back in Stockholm. Sometimes you just enjoy hearing stories like that, it seems so dull in a way but at the same time they seem to enjoy it as the peak of every year and it just puts a smile on your face anyway. Then we won a quiz at the bar by full score and while Christofer was at the toilet I changed our team’s name to Sexy Christofer when I handed in the papers. I knew we would win since we had known the answer to every question and I also know Christofer is shy for attention so I thought I might give him the spotlight with the quizmaster calling out Sexy Christofer to get the prize in front of the crowd. Christofer probably still has nightmares about it, I’m so evil sometimes.

Then we hit the club on the boat and it was mostly kids trying to dance sexy with the mirror while their parents were sitting and getting drunk at the bar. That’s when you know it’s time to go to bed and not waste anymore braincells on alcohol.

* Best things about Estonia – it got character and even though the medieval times aren’t my favorite I still love places that doesn’t feel like any other
* Most mediocre thing about Estonia – Chinese food taste like Italian, I can’t say it’s bad though, because I like Italian food as well
* Worst things about Estonia – the association with the boat M/S Estonia that lies at the bottom of the sea, it still scares me to get on a boat to Tallinn

Best countries in the world according to the nerd (will be updated with every post):
1. Andorra
2. Denmark
3. Belgium
4. Estonia
5. Bosnia And Herzegovina
6. Albania
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