In beginning of August, my parents managed to visit me here in Tallinn. I showed them all the famous sights in Tallinn, Old Town with the (pink) Parliament, the residence and workplace of the prime minister, the Kadriorg Park with Zar Peter I castle and the Presidents Mansion. Most of theses places I already described in former posts of my blog. Finally we all swam in the Baltic sea at Pirita Beach. It just was the right temperature. We had a wonderful time together as a family.
Towards the end of their stay, we went with the ferry to Helsinki in Finland. Shahīd, a friend who has been living there for many years, welcomed and spent a great time with us. You can't imagine having a better friend and tourguide! On the pictures you can see the two popular cathedrals: the Helsinki cathedral (white painting, Lutheran church) and the Uspenski Cathedral (red painting, Orthodox church). We mainly walked on the Island-compound Suomenlinna (6 small islands). It was once part of the Swedish crown, build as a fortress to fight off Russian intruders. Luckily that never happend, and it became part of the UNESCO world heritage site. Suomenlinna still serves as a residence for many local people, besides being an attractive toursim sight.
In the end Shahīd invited us to his place for dinner. He prepared self-marinaded Salmon, with an spicy curry sauce, rice, salad and a dessert. We were highly pleased by such a hospitality.
One remark to the ferry ride from Tallinn to Helsinki and back: a lot of (young) drunk people. Alcohol tax and price level in Finland is much higher than in Tallinn. For one beer you pay usually twice in Finland. Due to free movement of goods within Europe, Finish people often just go alcohol shopping in Tallinn.




















