The Gulf of Finland is an arm of the Baltic Sea which not only connects Tallinn and Helsinki, but also St Petersburg in Russia to the east. Its average depth is only around 38 metres (125 ft) and the closer to St Petersburg you are, the shallower it gets, and having seen the frozen River Neva in Leningrad (as St Petersburg was called back then), I wasn’t unduly concerned that Tallinn’s harbour was frozen over when we left.

The MS Star was a modern vessel with all the latest technology to deal with conditions like these anyway, and as we pulled away from the shore I expected the ice to gradually disappear, which it did briefly, but then reappeared again.

Conditions got progressively worse as we sailed further out into the Gulf  and I started to have reservations about making this trip, but it was too late to do anything about it now.

Like most modern international ferry companies, Tallink’s Estonia-Helsinki ships have some great facilities on board, but I really didn’t like the lime-green livery; that said, it was more important to get a good hearty breakfast inside of me than to worry about the colour of the ship.

There were a variety of options to choose from but I opted for the simple buffet, which allowed me to have anything I wanted and as much as I wanted, with hot, cold, and alcoholic drinks included. Pricewise, it was a bargain, especially if you like Scandinavian food, but I would have preferred a ‘Full English’ instead of roll-mop herring, salmon and salad on a day like this.

Still, I’d warmed up and was ready to go back up on deck to admire the view – except that there wasn’t any, apart from ice, ice, and more ice. After a while, I could see a ship coming towards us. It wasn’t Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance, but a lime green one – M/S Superstar, the ship I would be returning on later – hopefully.

As we got closer to Helsinki, I would have expected to see any number of islands because, like the Stockholm Archipelago, there are thousands of them dotted around here, but apart from a single boat pushing its way through the ice I never saw a thing until we approached Helsinki Harbour.

I was somewhat underwhelmed as we sailed into the harbour: It was more industrial than I was expecting because the free guide that I’d picked up in Tallin said that “on disembarking, walk up to the harbour market before heading for the sights” and I couldn’t see any signs to the harbour market or the city centre anywhere. I was obviously not where I thought I would be and totally disorientated.

Fortunately, there was a bus stop nearby and I thought my best bet was to catch a bus to somewhere near the city centre and take it from there. There was nobody at the bus stop to ask where it went, and when the 15A pulled in, the driver didn’t even have the decency to speak English, so I just hoped for the best while he took the amount of Finnish coins he wanted, and off we went.

I had no idea where we were going, and what’s more, I didn’t have a clue where I had to go to get the boat back. This is what happens when you don’t plan things properly, but for now, I just hoped that the bus went somewhere near the city centre. As we left the industrial landscape behind, buildings more akin to city life began to emerge, and then out of the blue, a building that I recognised came into view – the Central Railway Station.

The reason I recognised it was because it happens to be the city’s most iconic Art Nouveau/Deco building with its two huge Lantern Carrier statues adorning each side of the entrance.

The railway station would be a great introduction for travellers to the city, but I didn’t come by train. The two hour sailing meant that my arrival at 09.30 would allow me 5 hours here before the 14.30 sailing back, which should be enough time as there are not too many sights to see at this time of the year, and they’re quite close together as well.

Although I still didn’t know where we had docked, at least I had my bearings now and so I tried to push my departure worries to the back of my mind as I headed for Senate Square. This is the city’s main square and not as atmospheric as you might expect, but the classical government and university buildings that surround it are given a lift by the architecturally attractive cathedral – from the outside at least.

I’m not going to delve deeply into Helsinki’s history here because most of what people see today only dates back as far as the 19^th century. Basically, Finland had been under Swedish rule for over 500 years until it became an autonomous Grand Duchy within the Russian Empire in 1809. It didn’t really become truly independent as a republic until 1919.

To be fair I knew that Helsinki wouldn’t offer me such a good choice of sights to see as Tallinn, but even so, I wanted to have a quick shufty at the Uspenski Cathedral next, and so from Senate Square I walked along to the North Harbour, where I wondered if I might come across the ferry terminal, but there was no sign of it. I then crossed over a small bridge to the base of the cathedral, which I have to say, didn’t set my pulse racing.

It’s supposedly one of the largest Orthodox churches in Western Europe, and yes, it is large, but apart from the fact that it has thirteen onion domes, (representing Christ and the twelve apostles) I wasn’t that impressed. Built by the Russians between 1862 and 1868, it was made from red brick taken from a fortress on Aland Island. If it wasn’t for its design, it would have reminded me more of a church you might find in Germany or Poland. I think I’ve probably been spoilt by the Gothic architecture of English cathedrals, and I didn’t even bother to go in.

There was another reason I didn’t go in, and that was because time was marching on and I still didn’t know where the ferry terminal was, or how I was going to get there even if I did. Not only that, by now I was really struggling to walk and desperately needed to find somewhere to sit down – even if it meant missing the ferry, which I really couldn’t afford to do. Fortunately, not too far away was South Harbour and Market Square which was on my list of places to visit, and where hopefully I could find somewhere to take the weight off my feet.

After walking through stalls where they were selling furs with the animal heads still on, I located the Market Hall, but more importantly, a stall operating as a café where I could sit on one of their high chairs and warm up with a double espresso. I needed a double vodka really but thought better of it under the circumstances. I couldn’t have cared less about the coffee really, I just wanted somewhere to sit down, but these bar stools didn’t quite fit my physique and I ended up getting bloody cramp, but at least it gave me enough time to study the map and realise that we had arrived at West Harbour this morning – and presumably where we would be departing from.

That was all well and good but it’s a fair way from here, and definitely not within walking distance for me today. Time was now starting to run out and panic was starting to set in. When I bought my ferry tickets this morning, I was told  “whatever you do, don’t miss the boat” and those words were still ringing in my ears as I drank my coffee up, jumped down off the stool and hobbled through the market eyeing up the Reindeer sandwiches and God knows what else.

It had to be a taxi to West Harbour pronto – except that I couldn’t find one, and so I started to worm my way back up to the railway station where there was bound to be one – and there was, but the 15A was also just arriving and so I jumped on there instead. I had another panic attack when it suddenly dawned on me that it might be going in the opposite direction but I needn’t have worried because I arrived at the ferry terminal with a good five minutes or more to spare. Phew!

The M/S Superstar left on time and I bought a chicken wrap and a 3 for 2 miniature bottles of vodka promotion to celebrate. All I had to worry about now was that the ferry would be able to plough its way back through the ice to Tallinn, but the conditions were no better than our crossing this morning, and when I saw a seabird trapped in the ice it really got to me, as there was nothing anybody could really do about it.

As scheduled, The Superstar arrived safely back in Tallinn at 16.30, where I caught a cab to Viru Street and the Old Town Square. I knew that if I went back to the hotel, I wouldn’t bother to venture out again, and I really wanted to spend my last evening, or at least part of it, around the square.

In the square was an old boy carrying God knows how many carrier bags staring up at the town hall, and it didn’t take me long to realise that he was being totally mesmerized by the voice of a female soprano who I think must have been warming up for an evening concert. Even I stopped to listen, but the old boy, who was a real Dickensian type of character, was so enchanted that he was trying to sing along with her while looking up to heaven in the fading light. Every now and again, magic moments like this occur in life, and I was so captivated by it all, that I didn’t even give it a thought to take a discreet photo of him looking up at the town hall. Absolutely priceless!

I didn’t want to leave Tallinn without finding out what Olde Hansa was like. There were other attractive-looking restaurants around that probably served up better food at a more competitive price, but be that as it may, any self-respecting tourist would have to visit Olde Hansa.

The building dates from around the 15^th century and although there would have obviously been changes since then, the restaurant is all about its medieval past which includes the style of décor, type of food and drink, cutlery, and the costumes that the staff were forced to wear. Whether the medieval menu is to your taste or not is relatively immaterial because it’s all about the ambience, and that’s the main reason for coming here. If you don’t mind eating food from a medieval menu, drinking out of goblets and listening to medieval music, then I guarantee that you’ll enjoy it. The only thing that wasn’t medieval were the prices, but they weren’t extortionate by any means either. I loved it!

That was it for today, and so I caught a cab back to the hotel where I finished off what was left of my mini vodkas while starting to get organized for my journey home tomorrow. Looking back over today’s trip, I would have to say that Helsinki would be a better bet in the summer, but I guessed that. As for the ferry crossing, it seems as though I was right to be a bit concerned about the amount of ice because just two weeks later more than 40 ships got trapped in the Baltic ice including a ferry with almost a thousand people on board.

The following morning, the sun was just coming up as I drew back the curtains and it was promising to be a nice day, but it was time to go home. Most people would no doubt opt to come here in summer and I can see why, and on reflection, I think it was just as well that my wife didn’t come, but now that I’ve experienced Tallinn in winter would I recommend it? You bet I would!

POSTED – JANUARY 2025