We start the day with a ferry ride from Helsinki across the Baltic Sea to the capital of Estonia, Tallinn. The girls loved the ferry, although it was more like a cruise ship than a ferry! It had several bars and cafes with live music, bingo and even a supermarket. It seems that while most people are keen to just get on and start eating and drinking, we were happy enough to just to find somewhere comfortable to sit. We got going and when we reached the open sea, Ella and I started to get a little sea sick so we went for a walk to try and take our minds off it. Once Ella could see land again and we were back into calmer waters we both instantly started to feel better.

Once we reached the port it was only a short walk to our accommodation for the next couple of nights. After Helsinki we had started to lose faith in Airbnb but to our relief our unit in Tallinn was amazing. It had everything you could possibly need, including good clean cooking utensils, a good bathroom and living space, but most importantly a washing machine! Our last place in Helsinki had none of these things, in fact it could be described as a ghetto. The other positive is that we were allowed to check in early which allowed us to get settled and start exploring.

Tallinn is a very beautiful city with a traditional European walled old town complete with narrow cobble stone roads. We headed out that afternoon completely under prepared for how cold it was. After seeing a few sights and finding the Christmas markets everyone was freezing cold so we retreated to a German beer hall for some warmth. The girls had some hot chips, whilst I sampled a fine German pilsener in a large stein.

The next day we had some relaxation time in the morning with the girls, doing some washing and watching Christmas movies on Netflix. When we ventured back out in the afternoon we were much better prepared with thermals and snow boots on. We headed back to the German beer hall for some more hot chips and a couple more pilsener’s. We were on our way home and stopped back in at the Christmas markets as a children’s choir were singing Christmas carols. The girls loved it and was a perfect way to wrap our time in Tallinn, Estonia. Tomorrow we are headed for Norway.