Ah Tallinn Tallinn Tallinn, where do I even begin? Had practically zero expectations of what we would find in this Eastern European city so far away from the likes of Paris and Amsterdam. I've always wanted to visit a Baltic state and well I guess this was it. No regrets, none at all. 

We were greeted by one of the friendliest hostel reception ever -- free shots!! Our hostel in Tallinn was the ultimate PARTY one: The Monk's Bunk was filled with backpackers from around the world all ready for a good night out (every night). If you're looking for a place to sleep in peace after a whole day of walking around, this place isn't for ya... With one foosball table and two beer pong tables in the common area, don't expect the nights to be quiet. There's a party that goes on in there every night where residents from other hostels crash for some good fun. I had the most fun here partly because we stayed for four nights (the longest out of all the cities we went to) so we were more familiar with our roommates and the other guests. We exchanged a lot of travel tips and got really good advice from some of the other backpackers so that was a real treat. It's location was also perfect -- five-minutes walk to the biggest square of the Old Town and close to many buses and trams as well. I always look forward to meeting the receptionist at every hostel we go to because most of them gush about their city and recommend real solid places for us to visit. 

As the capital of Estonia, Tallinn has a population of less than 450 000 (more than 30% of Estonia's entire population live there). The Old Town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and attracts many tourists to this part of Europe. They also use Euros, which made it slightly easier for us when we converted our cash ;) 

The streets of the Old Town of Tallinn

BEST MEAL EVER @ III Dragons. We had this almost everyday: elk soup (sooooo good especially in the cold weather), pickles (had to poke them out of the barrel on our own btw) and an array of pies with such flaky crusts you can literally hear one layer against the other when you sink your teeth into it!!!

A small part of this wall is dedicated to the current government running the country

We also had these thick and fluffy savoury pancakes @ Kompressor for breakfast at 5 euros each (I'm hungry thinking of this now)

Visited an abandoned prison -- Patarei Vangla (I would recommend going with the tour at 10 euros because they take you further into another part of the prison which is out of bounds if you visit it alone)

The prisoners were taken here for their daily walks facing four walls

To save some cash, we decided to skip the tour of Lahemaa National Park (40 euros thereabouts) and found a way there ourselves via public transport instead: had to cross the highway haphazardly after the bus driver told us we were outside of the park lololol.

And of course we found a way inside after a lot of walking (thank you offline Google Maps)

It was a MASSIVE national park with gorgeous and lush greenery. The walkways were perfectly constructed and there were little tidbits of information on the wildlife scattered around

We sat by the lake and watched these cuties take a dip (or two or more) into the swamps (the water in the swamp was reaaaaaally brown)

We also went to one of the oldest pharmacies in the whole of Europe: Raeapteek (est. early 15th century) -- it was a free museum for visitors to read when the first alcohol swabs were created or when they discovered aloe vera had healing properties etc.

We took a tram to the Kalamaja neighbourhood -- the hipster area of Tallinn (think: graffiti on the walls and nice quaint markets with an array of shops selling things from fruits to antiques)

I thought of my dad because he would've appreciated all this fishing accessories

On one of the crazy nights where we barely had much sleep because there was all this commotion in the common area

We didn't go into the exhibition area of Seaplane Harbour Museum but there was plenty to see outside of it (old fuselages were turned into a location for the exhibits)

They (I really don't know who they are) say that visiting one of the three Baltic states (Lithuania, Latvia or Estonia) will suffice if you want to see a different part of Easter Europe. I've only seen Tallinn and I reaaaally liked it. I have friends who did their exchange in Lithuania and they had the best time of their lives. A few of my friends also did a cycling trip along the Baltic Coast -- not an easy feat but I presume it was very, very, very worth it. Like I said, THE WORLD IS HUGE AND IT IS ALL OURS!!!