Into the Baltic states

So begins the start of our journey through the Baltic States. This has been on my to-do list for years and I am really looking forward to it.

Our plane left late but only by half an hour. LOT (Polish Airlines) is a small European carrier but, despite my reservations, I have found them very efficient in terms of ticket purchase, online check-in and good email service regarding updated flight information. It was a no-frills service but we had had lunch at the airport so a cuppa was just fine.

Our destination today is Tallinn, capital of Estonia (pop. 430,000). It is a leader in IT and has a world-class e-governance system backed by a distributed information exchange layer system (che?) called X-road that allows citizens to pick up medicine from a pharmacy without a paper prescription, file their tax returns online in under 3 minutes and e-vote from home or even from other countries. Skype was developed here!

And another country with an indecipherable language although not as bad as the Cyrillic in the Ukraine! Words like ‘pitsa’ and ‘stopp’ are pretty well self-explanatory, let’s face it!

It was a balmy evening of about 24 deg. C when we arrived and we navigated our way to our hotel using the tram from the airport, then walking.

After settling in, a nearby restaurant (Soo Uulits Tänavagurmee) proved to be an excellent choice for a casual, yummy dinner and as we walked home, there was a lovely sunset - at 9:30 p.m.!!

By the time we returned to our hotel, it was getting close to 10 p.m. and it was still bright with sunshine.

Steps: 15000 (about 12 kms!) for me; add another 3000 for MF.