Tallinn and Helsinki
Our stay in Tallinn didn't get off to the best of starts as we discovered that our 'trusty' Lonely Planet had let us down (again) and we were staying in a hostel 40 mins outside the centre of the smallest capital in Europe. Not only that but in a hostel that provides kitchens it was over 20 mins walk to the nearest supermarket and the receptionist had to search round the building to find even basic cooking utensils. Even then we ended up having to share one fork between us. However, it was clean and relatively comfortable - the hostel not the fork!
The first task was to buy a scarf and gloves for me as the temperature had dropped a further few degrees and the wind made it feel much colder. That done and feeling much cosier (well, me anyway as David obviously decided to brave it out) we spent the day wandering round the pretty little old town, stopping for real hot chocolate, a long lunch and beer along the way.
The next day we decided to do as the Estonians do and have a massage which we obviously thoroughly deserved. Feeling happily relaxed I then cashed in my wife brownie points (earned as you may remember from the football match back in Prague) and we headed to the Estonian National Opera House to watch a performance of the Masked Ball.
Neither of us had been to the opera before and it was a good evening, though the English subtitles certainly helped. We spent a lot of the time watching the orchestra which was fascinating in itself. David was quick point out that the opera was longer than a football match with extra time and penalties and believes that he is now the one with brownie points in the bank.
Thursday saw us catching a ferry to Helsinki which is an absolutely fantastic city but not ideal for those travelling on a budget. We will definitely return when our budget constraints are not so tight.
On Friday we caught a boat to the islands of Suomenlinna, which is one of the world's largest historical maritime fortresses built over 6 islands. It was originally built by the Swedes in the 1700s to protect the eastern edge of their territory but has since been used by both the Russians and the Fins. During its history it appears to have been bombed by almost everyone but Gengis Khan! It's a really interesting place with some impressive views over the sea and back towards Helsinki too. Particularly interesting is that over 800 people actually live on the islands - you can't quite imagine somewhere that appears so remote and yet so close to a capital city.
A Finnish institution which we happily embraced was the buffet lunch which allowed us to try some more traditional food and fill our boots for pretty reasonable prices. After indulging we had a gentle ride around the city on one of the circular tram routes, taking in many sights along the way.
One of these was the Summer Olympic stadium from 1952 which we (obviously) had to get off and walk round. Apparently it was described as the most beautiful Olympic stadium, but I'm afraid to say that we couldn't quite see this. It seemed to make David happy though!
Our flight to Beijing was not until the evening so we spent our final day in Helsinki seeing some more of the sights, the most impressive of which was a church that had been built out of the rock giving an unusual and cosy atmosphere.

Next stop Beijing...