I told you –and I never lie– that I would start this article with another restaurant… and what a restaurant! “Saaga” is indeed a special place, for it is devoted to Lappish gastronomy. To start with, just imagine how exotic “Lappish” sounds to my Mediterranean ears! Mia Marttiini, Programme Director of Forum Virium, accompanied us during the dinner. She was the perfect host, explaining us the backround of the tasty food we tried, and also giving us interesting information about Finland. It was another great evening, the third one in our Baltic Sea Region trip. By the way, gastronomy was also one of the stars of the trip in Tallinn, but you will have to keep reading a bit more before reaching that part ;)
The skyline of the city was gradually becoming bigger and bigger, as we approached the Estonian capital city on the ferry we had boarded in Helsinki. On Friday 27th, we had the chance to visit it with Mall, the local guide who took us to many places in town. I would especially highlight Kiek in de Kök, an artillery tower built back in the 15th century, and the tunnels we went through from it. A very interesting short film explaining the history of the city was on display. Yes, this is definitely a must, when visiting Tallinn! As it also is Lennusadam, actually. I must admit the idea of this visit was not especially exciting for me, ships are not really on my list of interests… but fortunatelly it was on the programme! Simply spectacular, as you can see in the pictures through the link below. Its most outstanding item is Lembit, a submarine visitors can even see from the inside.
And still one more highlight of the city: its Old Town. Really beautiful. I could tell you lots about it, but rather advise you go there and see it by yourselves. I will only say the whole neighbourhood is on the list of UNESCO World Heritage, which comes to no surprise!
I was telling you at the beginning about the Estonian gastronomy… Olde Hansa was not only great for the excellent food we were served, but also for its design as a medieval restaurant. In a medieval hanseatic city like Tallinn, it definitely could not match more :) The kind waitress who attended us was also telling us, every time, about the several dishes we were about to taste, so we enjoyed the meal at the most!
The trip ended on Saturday, flying from Tallinn back home, in my case Berlin. Before going to the airport, though, we had the chance to attend Idea Market, a meeting intended to encourage networking among “people with ambitious business ideas”, as the organization explains on the website of the event: http://www.bdforum.org/idea-market-tallinn-2728-september/
Just like in the two previous articles about the trip, I invite you see a bit of Tallinn through my pics. I hope they help you like the city! http://www.flickr.com/photos/itineri/sets/72157636086080354/
With this article I am finishing the series devoted to the Experience BSR trip. It is thus the right time to thank the organisers once again: it was a great personal experience, that allowed me discover a part of Europe I had yet never been to, and definitely shot up the interest I have been developing for the Baltic Sea Region within the past few years. Dziekuje! Kiitos! Aitäh! Thanks!