Our Bike Trip Ends in Tallinn, a City that is a Great Blend of the Old and the New

Our 5-week, 5-country (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia), 1600-mile bike trip came to an end yesterday (Friday). We can think of no better final location than the extraordinary city of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, where we have spent a day and a half of touring before packing for our flight home on Sunday.

The origins of Tallinn date back to the 13th century, and it is the oldest capital city in Northern Europe. Tallinn's Old Town, very popular with tourists from around the world, is on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. UNESCO's explanation of what made the Old Town qualify for this designation include: "The Historic Centre (Old Town) of Tallinn is an exceptionally complete and well-preserved medieval northern European trading city.”; "… preserves ... narrow winding streets, many of which retain their medieval names …";  "The site preserves to a remarkable extent the medieval urban structure of building plots, streets and squares, set out in the 13th century..."   "…well endowed with buildings from the 14th-16th centuries…".

The Old Town is surrounded by the much larger modern city. Tallinn has numerous gleaming, modern buildings, as well as a 100-year-old factory area -- the Rotermanni quarter – that has been renovated into upscale shops and apartments. Beyond buildings, Tallinn is renowned as a high-tech center. "The Age" magazine, which has compiled a list of the 10 "most digital" cities in the world based on criteria that include high-speed internet access, technology adoption and culture, and government support for technology magazine, has included Tallinn as one of the 10. Tallinn, where Skype was developed, is a major high-tech startup center.

Arriving at our final destination in Tallinn

An old gazebo beside our hotel

Sites in the Old Town

St. Olaf's Church, which was the tallest building in the world from 1549 to 1625

On the observation deck at St. Olaf's Church, reach via a climb of 258 steps

Edward Snowden must have been here (actually, Tallinn is only about 150 miles from Russia,)

One of the Rotermanni Quarter renovated buildings, beautifully combining the old and new

A modern building in Tallinn

Approaching Tallinn … and the End of Our 5-Week Bike Trip :(

During the past two days, our bike trip has taken us through sparsely populated Estonian countryside, first on the Baltic Sea islands of Saaremaa and Muhu, and then crossing by ferry to the mainland. The whole country of Estonia, in fact, is sparsely populated: 1.3 million inhabitants (almost half of whom live in Tallinn) in a country of 17,400 square miles, corresponding to 75 people per square mile (less than a tenth the population density of Massachusetts). As a result, we have encountered very few restaurants and bathrooms during our four days of cycling through Estonia. For lunch, we have generally stopped at a food market and bought yogurt, fruit, and candies, and then eaten while sitting on a bench or stone wall beside the market. Our typical bathroom stop has been behind a tree on the side of the road.

Tonight (Thursday), our accommodation is the magnificent Padise Manor that was built in 1766 and has been beautifully renovated  into an 8-room hotel and restaurant. It sits immediately adjacent to an extraordinary 13th century monastery ruin. Perhaps we'll hear the faint sighing of the reputed ghost of a woman from the 18th century who lived in the manor.

Tomorrow we cycle to Tallinn, the endpoint of our 5-week trip.

Cycling past an old farmhouse

Once a functioning windmill, now a tourist attraction

Boarding the ferry back to the Estonian mainland

A church -- probably boarded up, since Estonia is the least religious country in the world

A pretty, and rare, roadside restaurant

A roadside stop

Approaching Padise Manor

Padise Manor

Our room in Padise Manor

Ruin of a 13th century monastery, beside the hotel

A Day of Island-Hopping in Estonia

We spent most of our day today (Tuesday) on the Estonian islands of Hiiumaa and Saaremaa, the largest islands in the West Estonian Archipelago. They are located in the Baltic Sea west of the mainland of Estonia.

After beginning the day with a 6 mile bike ride from Haapsalu, we boarded a 10 am ferry for the 75 minute trip to Hiiumaa. This island has a population of 9200 and is 4-5 times the size of Martha's Vineyard. It was formed by a meteor collision 455 million years ago, and the Kardla meteor crater is one of the biggest in the world. We kept looking up all day, watching out for a repeat meteor hit.J Hiiumaa is reachable by both ferry and air, and also by an ice road from the mainland in the winter. It is a quiet, pretty place that is a popular spot for cycling. We biked 44 miles on the island, stopping for lunch in Kardla, the island's largest town with 3300 residents.

Our ride on Hiiumaa ended in the late afternoon at the island's southern coast, from which we boarded a ferry for the hour-long trip to Saaremaa. Saaremaa is more than twice the size of Hiiumaa and has a population of 39,000. According to archaeological finds, Saaremaa has been inhabited from at least 5,000 years BCE.

Once we arrived on Saaremaa at 7:15 pm, we still had a 5 mile ride to our destination, the Laugu "tourist farm". We didn't know what to expect, but it turned out to be a great accommodation. We had our own well-appointed, recently renovated cabin with kitchen, dining area, and loft bedroom. The owners brought over a multi-course Estonian dinner shortly after our arrival.

Site on the bike ride to our ferry this morning: ruins of the Ungru  manor

Carol about to board the ferry to Hiiumaa

Quiet road on Hiiumaa 

Town square in the town of Kardla, where we had lunch today

On the southern coast of Hiiumaa

On our second ferry of the day, from Hiiumaa to Saaremaa

The entrance to Laugu Tourist Farm

Our cabin with a thatched roof at the tourist farm

We're in Estonia, the Final Country of Our 5-Week Bike Trip

This morning, we took a 7:30-9:30 am ferry from Helsinki to Tallinn, capital of Estonia. Upon arriving in Tallinn, we immediately set out on a 66-mile bike ride through the Estonian countryside to our destination town of Haapsalu.

We chose to go to Estonia as part of our Scandinavian bike trip for a number of reasons, not least of which is that we very much enjoyed the country we spent a week cycling through during our 2011 London-to-St. Petersburg bike trip. Estonia has fairly strong cultural and linguistic connections to Finland, and has been under Scandinavian rule for significant parts of its history. While it is considered to be one of the Baltic countries – Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia – it’s similarity to Scandinavia (especially Finland) is more marked than its similarity to the other two Baltic countries.

Estonia is the birthplace of Skype, which was developed in 2003 in Tallinn by three Estonians, and most of Skype's ongoing development (and its largest office worldwide) is still in Tallinn. Estonia produces more high-tech start-ups per capita than any other European country. In addition to its tech status, Estonia is notable for being a "flat tax" state, having a single tax rate of 21%. Since its economy took off after it was freed from Soviet occupation in 1991, it is often considered by right-wing flat tax advocates to be a "poster child" for flat taxation (though its image tarnished when its economy took a sharp dive during the economic downturn of 2007-2008).

Today's ride took us through very thinly populated Estonian countryside. We were surprised to see the sorry state of many of the buildings on deserted farms and in small towns. We were delighted, however, to arrive in the picturesque town of Haapsalu (population 12,000), which dates back to the 13th century. Our hotel is in the old historic part of town.

Carol cycling onto the ferry from Helsinki to Estonia

Heading out of Tallinn

One of the numerous buildings in ill repair on our route in the Estonian countryside

Ruins of a castle in Haapsalu dating back to the 13th century

Great blend of the old and new: children's playground within the centuries-old castle wall

Our hotel in Haapsalu, with the old castle just behind it

Town square in historic Haapsalu, right outside the front door of our hotel

Tourists in Helsinki, One of the World's "Most Livable" Cities

Yesterday (Saturday) we had a very pleasant 55 mile bike ride into Helsinki, punctuated by a short (20 minute) but violent thunderstorm when we were 4 miles from our destination. We spent Saturday evening and Sunday touring the city, joining the hordes of tourists of all ages from around the world.

Helsinki is not only a great tourist city, but it is apparently a superb city to live in as well. In 2013, the Economist Intelligence Unit's list of the world's most livable cities ranked Helsinki as #7, and Monocle Magazine's list ranked Helsinki as #3.

Ducking for cover beside the front door to an apartment building when a thunderstorm began

Click to play; lightning is visible near the end of the video

About to dine on Saturday evening at Kappeli restaurant, which specializes in classical Finnish dishes, located on Esplanadi Park

Red deer meatballs for dinner

Helsinki train station in the background, under a cloudless sky on Sunday

Lunch at Market Square

Uspenski Cathedral (Eastern Orthodox) in the background

Helsinki Cathedral (Lutheran) in the background

Tower at the 1952 Olympic site

Crowds waiting to get into the Church of the Rock (Temppeliaukio Church)., excavated out of rock and covered with a dome. Natural light floods the interior through 180 vertical glass window panes that connect the dome and granite wall.

Carol trying to beat the crowds into the Church of the Rock :) [Not really; she's getting a closeup look at the dome over the church]

Inside the church. The granite walls, dome, and glass window panes are evident

From a Boutique Hotel to a Spa Hotel

Our 64-mile ride today (Friday) took us from Turku to Karjalohja, Finland. Our lodging in the historic Finnish city of Turku was the Park Hotel, a marvelous boutique hotel. Turku (population 180,000) is the oldest city in Finland, settled in the late 13th century. It was the original capital of Finland before Helsinki took over in 1812. It is the major economic and cultural center of southwestern Finland, and two years ago was designated (together with Tallinn, Estonia) the European Capital of Culture for 2011. It has a beautiful old market hall, built in 1895, that now houses the Turku Food Market, with numerous stalls selling a wide variety of excellent pastries, meats, and fresh produce.

We arrived at our destination hotel today in the late afternoon. Unlike our lodging yesterday, it is a modern hotel that features a health spa. It is situated on a lake in the countryside, with aquatic facilities and activities for families with young children. Tomorrow, we're off to Helsinki.

Park Hotel, boutique hotel in Turku

Our well-appointed room in the Park Hotel. Peter, who fears and hates dogs, initially thought of changing rooms because of the life-size ceramic dog on the window sill, but quickly came to his senses and enjoyed the room.

The old market hall in Turku

Fine food inside the market hall

An outdoor, riverside restaurant in Turku

Bike path, en route from Turku to Karjalohja (though most of our ride was on roads)

Our spa hotel in Karjalohja

Outdoor deck at the hotel