Dear all,

Early in the morning my alarm went off, to be exact 04.45am. Then I got dressed before packing my last bit and heading out the door which was around 05.15. I walked to the bus station before being able to enter the bus going to Valka we had to wait a few minutes. When I arrived in Valka I walked over the border to Estonia. This meant I walked within the same place but a different name called Valka (Latvia) and Valga (Estonia). When I got to the bus station in Valga I took the bus to Tallinn. When I arrived in Tallinn I looked at the map how to get to the tourist information. When arriving at the tourist information I got a map, afterwards I went for some lunch. After lunch I went to my hostel call ‘’old Munkenhof’’. Here I took a rest before walking outside. When I was outside I climbed the town wall as well as the tower, this had a magical view. It really gave me the idea what it would be like if I was a guard during the medieval times. After my climb I had a cup of tea before having dinner. After dinner I went straight to the hotel to sleep.

The next morning I woke up around 08.30. This meant I had slept for nearly 11 hours. First I looked how I had to walk the next morning to the port before trying it out. This took me about 15 – 20 minutes. After seeing the port I walked back to old town. Here I walked along the town wall and saw ‘’the fat Margaret’’. Then I walked to Toompea, here I saw the orthodox church as well as the Dom. The Dom I climbed and I was at highest spot in old town, this was very beautiful. After climbing down I looked for a place to have some lunch. Then I went to the freedom square, such a massive square. Then I walked to the park before going to the KGB museum. I was quiet surprised about the KGB museum since it was located on the 23rd floor of a hotel. What must it be like to sleep in this hotel, knowing what has happened on the 23rd floor? Afterwards I walked to a ‘’must see’’ church, this was a really beautiful church. Then I saw the old pharmacy before having a cup of tea. Then I walked a little bit more around old town before having dinner at ‘’old Hanse – medieval restaurant’’. The painting on the wall are still from that time. After dinner I went back to the hotel. Here I decided what time I had to wake up before falling asleep.

The next morning I woke up around 05.50, 10 minutes before my alarm would go off. So I decided to get dressed and pack my last stuff. I checked out at 06.15, then I walked to the port which took me approximately 20 minutes. Here I checked in before entering the ship. I found a lovely spot next to the window. The boat left at 07.30. Around 09.00 I started seeing small islands, we were slowly entering the harbour of Helsinki. When I was allowed leaving the ship we, all passengers, had to walk through a long tube going to the main hall. After seeing the first sign ‘’welcome to Helsinki’’, I stepped out of the tube and saw Elisa. I had a bit of mix feeling when seeing her. First of all it felt a bit unreal since it has been 4 years since I saw her last time as well as that it was very lovely to see her.
Then we stepped in the queue for buying a tram/bus ticket. I bought a ticket for 3 days. Then we took the tram/bus to her house. When we arrived at her house we talked for a little bit before walking to the place where we would have lunch. Here I met her boyfriend, Diego. After lunch Elisa and I went back to her place. Elisa went to school while I slept for a few hours. After waking up I decided to go Helsinki. At the tourist information of Helsinki I met Elisa. Elisa showed me the orthodox church and the Dome church. Then we did a bit of shopping and we went to the Starbucks, as we used to do in England, we reminded ourselves about some of the memories made in England. I took a caramel hot chocolate. In a little while we met up with Diego, together we ate dinner before shopping some food at the supermarket. Then we all went home.

The next morning I woke up around 09.30, around the same time Elisa woke up. Then we decided to make some lunch which meant having some Salmon soup. This is a finish tradition and it was delicious. After lunch we went to Helsinki and saw some beautiful buildings. We also went to the church located in a rock – wow, amazing, literally mind blowing. After that we went to see a sculpture from a famous finish artist. Afterwards we had some dinner at the hard rock café. I still wanted to try a finish beer and therefore we went to a finish pub. That was quite awesome trying something new. Afterwards we went back to her place, met up with Diego, played some games, then Diego left and we went to bed.

The next morning I woke up a bit earlier then Elisa, but I didn’t mind. After a while Elisa woke up and we had breakfast together. When we arrived in Helsinki it was approximately 12 o’clock. I bought some last things before having some lunch. When we entered a shop we saw some finish famous person. So, Elisa stood in the queue to get an autograph as well as a picture while I walked around the store. Afterwards we went to the harbour and said goodbye. It felt a bit emotional due to not knowing how long it would take to see each other once again. It just felt very strange.
When I entered the boat the only thing I could remember that I had a lovely time in Helsinki with my friend Elisa. When I arrived in Tallinn I went back to the same hostel as the previous night that I spend in Tallinn. Then I went to get some food from the Mac Donald’s before enjoying my last glimpse of Tallinn.

Early in the morning of the next day I went back to Valmiera. Where I arrived around 4pm.

It was such a lovely trip and I really enjoyed it. I am really glad that I did it and now I can officially say I have visited all the Baltic States.
The craziest thing I did was taking beer from Helsinki – Tallinn instead of doing it the right way!

Love,

Joëlle