Before this trip, I had never heard of Tallinn, and Estonia was just one of those places in the Olympics where they brought about a dozen people. I had no idea where it was located until I looked at a map. It turned out to be a charming city in a country deep with history. It’s a medieval city nearly 5,000 years old. We visited Old Town, had some lunch and entertainment, and then went to Kadriorg Palace. It was a nice day to visit an old city.

Tallinn, Estonia

5/28/15—6/8/15

Some of the iconic buildings in Tallinn include (clockwise from above) the old KGB office, the Swedish Embassy, the Great Guild built in 1410, the famous green door of the House of the Brotherhood of Blackheads, and the 12th-14th century St. Olaf’s Church.

In front of Fat Margaret Tower, the entrance to Tallinn’s Old Town. The tower was built in the early 16th century.

A less iconic building, McDonald’s

We had some free time, and so we sent a couple of postcards out.

Also during the free time, while some were off shopping, Madeline and I were more adventurous and took to walking around the wall. I mean, Tallinn is a walled city, so why wouldn’t we? Besides, it gave us a great view of the city within.

Lunch was off of the square in town. It was good, but evidently the kids on the tour thought it was a little too long.

Angry Birds has strong ties to Estonia, so we enjoyed some pig catapulting, a little sword fight skit and putting a robber to jail, and I was even knighted.

Finally in Old Town, we returned to the wall as a group, where we got a good look down on everyone.

Kadriorg Palace is a Petrine Baroque palace built for Catherine I of Russia by Peter the Great. Both the Estonian and the German name for the palace means "Catherine's valley". It was built after the Great Northern War to Nicola Michetti's designs by Gaetano Chiaveri and Mikhail Zemtsov. The palace currently houses the Kadriorg Art Museum, a branch of the Art Museum of Estonia, displaying foreign art from the 16th to 20th centuries. The grounds were beautiful and we got our first group photo opportunity.