Winter in Tallinn, Part 1: Arrival, Settling in, a Secret Attic and a History of Baltic Transport 🇪🇪

Welcome to my winter trip to Tallinn, Estonia! In December 2023, I returned to this beautiful Baltic capital for Christmas for the first time in a decade. While I've visited before, this Tallinn travel vlog is all about going beyond the standard tourist itinerary to explore the city's hidden gems, winter architecture, and everyday history. This is part one of a series where I skip the usual sights and dive deep into the real city. After a chaotic 14-hour journey and arrival, we settle in and I go hunting for local snacks (spoiler alert: I ended up with a stereotypically American McDonald's dinner). The next morning, we explore the snowy Tallinn Old Town, visit the Russian Embassy protest display, and get exclusive access to a secret attic above the main square to see its centuries-old goods-hauling system. I then take a snowy walk through the Masters Courtyard before heading back for a hotel room tour. Finally, I finish up at the bus station with a look at the history of Baltic transport. There's much more to come. The rest of this series will continue looking at Tallinn from beyond the standard tourist itinerary - exploring some of the city's less obvious corners, history, and everyday character rather than simply checking off the major sights. This first installment gets B-roll footage immediately out of the way, as it turned out I didn't have a lot of good video from our departure. I've tried to smooth it out best I could, so please forgive me if it feels somewhat disjointed. In fairness, it matched pretty well how we felt after a fourteen-hour (or so) journey. CHAPTERS 0:00 - intro 0:33 - saying goodbye to the cats 0:57 - a surprise upgrade, takeoff and onboard “gastronomy” (or what passes for it on Delta, anyways) 1:31 - arrival into TLL 1:39 - made it to the hotel, setting off in search of snacks 7:19 - back outside: Viru Keskus, Tallinn Old Town and some “stereotypically American” results 13:05 - protest display outside the Russian Embassy 15:40 - Tallinn's hidden attic and its history 19:11 - a walk through the snowy Masters Courtyard 20:45 - hotel room tour 22:47 - at the bus station: a history of Baltic transport #Tallinn #Estonia #TallinnOldTown #Europe #TravelVlog