Tallinn, toiletries and duffel bags

Are you tired of hearing about my Baltic cruise yet? I hope not, or you’re going to be disappointed for a while to come….because our next stop was Tallinn, the charming capital of Estonia!

Tallinn has been a “city” since the 1200, and its Old Town is one of the best-preserved medieval cities in Europe – a UNESCO World Heritage, while also being one of the top digital cities in the world, home to many high-tech start-up companies including Skype.

We saw 2 street musicians playing the “nyckelharp”, a traditionally Swedish instrument that’s like a cross between a violin,and…um, I’m not sure what else but there are keys… with a lovely, haunting sound.

As in so many cities on this trip, the locals were protesting Russia’s war in Ukraine. The Russian embassy (flying the flag, below), appeared to be closed, with barriers in front covered with signs. Like the other Baltic states, Estonia gained its independence from Russia after WW1, only to be occupied by it again at the start of WW2, then by Nazi Germany, then again by Russia until 1991. Stopping Russian expansion is life-or-death to these people, as they remember all too well the brutality of living under that regime.

.

Tallinn lays claim to the oldest pharmacy in the (Western) world, the Reaepteek, opened @1415. Yes, before Columbus. There is a museum showing examples of early “medicines”, potions and various preserved pieces of creatures that make your skin crawl…My favorite part was that it is still an operating pharmacy, busy with customers getting their prescriptions filled at modern workstations.

You know your girl loves her doors, so here are some MORE…

I’d asked Glenn to pose in that stone doorway, as an “unknown” man walked by. It turned out to be our new friend Chuck, from our ship! This one of many examples of running into him and his delightful wife Michelle while out sight-seeing, that I mentioned in a previous post. We enjoyed the rest of the afternoon with them.

Behind the train station was a wonderful covered market & shopping area, where we stopped for tiny Swedish pancakes. Here is one sweet one and a savory one (with ham, cheese and sour cream).

A travel product I’d looking forward to using on this trip is my Cadence containers. These hold things like hair products, skin cleaners and moisturizers, etc. They are easy to get the product in AND out, and are small enough to be TSA-compliant, while taking up very little room in your clear baggie going through security. They have a rubber O-ring inside, seem totally leak-proof, well-threaded screw tops, and customizable “tiles” that snap on the tops with magnets, to tell you what’s inside. I thought I was being clever by color-coding my hair products the same color, but in the shower, I can’t read which is “shampoo” and which is “conditioner”, so I have to put in different spots. These are pricey, and that had put me off investing in a set, until someone gave me 3 for Christmas, and I felt better about getting more (for some reason!)

The only issue I have is that they’re not big enough to hold things that you use daily for more than a long weekend – like moisturizer or cleanser. I was excited to see that they’ve just introduced “extenders”, that screw onto the top and give you twice as much capacity. THEN I read that you have to buy NEW bottoms for the extenders to work – what a ripoff, after what you’ve already invested in them! (and yes, I’ve already emailed them a piece of my mind on the subject…) UPDATE: I received a reply from then the very next day, explaining that they were making the diameter of their capsules bigger, as lots of customers wanted larger capacity (even without the extenders). That seems reasonable to me, and I understand not making extenders for both sizes, especially if they’re going to phase one out. So they are forgiven (a great relief to them, I’m sure…)!

I will continue to use and enjoy them, and am looking into solid bar products for things like shampoo, conditioner and body moisturizer.

I wish I had done more shopping in Tallinn. While I did get a neat little cleaver knife, some wooden buttons, and felt pin, all hand-made, I could have gotten really unique gifts for the next year of birthdays and Christmas, and benefitted local craftspeople as well. I also learned that when I’m shopping, I need to be left alone to concentrate…It’s also good to have a list of who you want to shop for, and how much you want to spend on each.

When I DO serious shopping, like on the last Christmas market cruise I went on (and the one I’m doing in November), I have an excellent strategy to share. I have a large canvas duffel bag that folds flat in my large suitcase. At the end of the trip, I put all my clothes and shoes in the duffel bag, check it, and put my precious purchases in the suitcase instead. This has worked well for me, unlike the time I had to buy an extra suitcase in the Milan train station to get all my Italian loot back…

What’s the best thing you ever bought on vacation, either for yourself or someone else, have you been to Tallinn, and what did you think?