Breaking News: You can have children on the road!

Day 77

We awoke to a lovely day in Tallinn and took the opportunity to take a long run down Pirita Beach, which was directly opposite the marina.  

We took the rest of the morning at a rather leisurely pace before riding our bikes 7km along the promenade into Tallinn old town.  Before long we were at the Great Coast Gate, which is the entrance into Old Town.  We locked up the bikes and ventured into town on foot to engross ourselves in the 14- 15^th century jumble of turrets, spires and winding streets. 

Tallinn was another city we had heard many great things about and it certainly lived up to expectations.  We found Tallinn to be a charming city, clean, picturesque and it had a contagious, energetic atmosphere.

A classic view in Tallinn.

Wandering the streets of Tallinn. 

Standing in the old town square
with the old Town Hall.

Great weather and a great city.

Bumble Bee...Bumble Bee.....Bumble Bee!

Someone is very game parking
 this on the side of the street.

This Alpha Romeo Spider was parked in a fairly touristy area,
so the owner had the cheek to put this sign up and
leave his window slightly open for tips to fund his petrol bill.
Being an Alpha Spider he's lucky he doesn't get anything else on the front seat.

The awesome back streets of Tallinn.

Some authentic Estonian treats - almonds glazed in cinnamon. 

Talinn still has a fair amount of Russian influence despite gaining their independence in 1918 (and the Soviet rule for  50 odd years).

Where's your high vis?

Edward Vilde - one of the most revered figures in Estonian literature and his plaque in Tallinn.

Cool little museum in Tallinn
with a fantastic vine growing across it.

After a full afternoons sight seeing we treated ourselves to drinks and a platter of meat, cheese and pate back at Maxi.  The convenience and luxury of camping at the marina had sucked us in for another night – and Luke’s bloody big cotton jocks hadn’t dried!

While devouring the antipasto plate, we noticed that two young guys had set up their tent close to our camp and we introduced ourselves when they returned from the shop.  They were German brothers, Dennis and Andres who were on a years long world tour on bicycles.  They had both taken a year off work, left their girlfriends behind and were off for an adventure on two wheels.  As we met them, they were in their 9^th week and had travelled from a German town near Munster up to Tallinn where they were now awaiting Russian visas. 

During our conversation, we asked them what the strangest thing was that they had encountered so far. Not expecting anything too dramatic for 9 weeks travel, we were amazed when they told us about a Belgian couple that had been travelling around the world on bikes for three years and had had two kids along the way!  God knows how they managed!