I went to quite a few interesting restaurants in the Baltics.

In Tallinn I had dinner at Old Hansa, a medieval restaurant.  They prepare authentic medieval meals.  I had a game selection – boar and elk with barley and vegetables.

I celebrated Estonia’s Day of  Restoration of Independence by going to Korsaar, a pirate restaurant.

I also visited Sushi Cat, a Japanese anime-themed sushi cafe.

In Riga I visited Rozengrals, a restaurant in a candlelit cellar that was mentioned in 1293 and was used to host special events by the town hall.  They only serve food that was available during the middle ages.  I had duck with cherry onion sauce that was a favorite of the King of Naples in the 14th century.

I also went to Hospitalis, a hospital restaurant in Riga.  The waitresses were dressed up as nurses and there was all manner of hospital pariphalnelia scattered around the restaurant, including a bathtub with goldfish in it.

In Vilnius I visited Rene, a Rene Magritte (the Belgian surrealist painter) themed restaurant.  The staff wore bowler hats and gave me an envelope and said I had some mail.  My cutlery was inside.

Have fun,

Aidan.

I took a ferry from Helsinki to Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. Estonia is the northernmost of the three Baltic countries.

Tallinn’s center is a beautiful medieval old town with lots of cobblestoned streets, fortified walls and round towers.

You have to be careful how you pronounce the names of some of the towers.

Street performer.

Tallinn also has one of the oldest pharmacies in the world. A pharmacy has been operating in Tallinn’s main square since at least 1422. There’s a museum inside with lots of old ingredients including:

viper salve
dried toads
stallion hooves
mummy fragments
wood louse infusion
parched bees
sun-bleached dog faeces
earthworms in oil.

I also visited the Museum of Occupation. The Baltic countries had a really bad time of it last century. Hitler and Stalin divided up Europe via the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact and the Soviets invaded Estonia.
Then the Nazis turned on the Russians and invaded. After a couple of years, the Soviets started advancing on Estonia again. Many of the Estonians figured the Soviets were worse and enlisted in the German army to try and stop the Russian advance westward.
Then the Baltics ended up with almost 50 years of Soviet control. People were deported to Siberia and the KGB arrested, tortured and executed people. In 1989 (the 50th anniversary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact) more than 2 million people held hands, making a human chain stretching more than 650km from Vilnius to Tallinn. The Baltics regained independence in 1991 after the failed coup against Gorbachev weakened the Soviet Union.

I was in Tallinn on August 20th, Estonia’s Restoration of Independence Day. There were celebrations and fireworks in the main square and the Estonian president gave a speech. I celebrated by going to a pirate restaurant.

Have fun,
Aidan.

Estonian Tech Trivia: Estonia is regarded as an Internet-savvy country and wi-fi is surprisingly widespread. Skype is one of Estonia’s better known Internet business ventures.