Here we are sitting in Tallinn International airport. Waiting for the 5th flight of this holiday adventure. As we did not receive a message from Darryl in Switzerland we assume he did the Zurich dash and made it to his flight to Stockholm. Which means in about 2 1/2 hours the RoChDa trio will be officially traveling together.

So as this is the last entry for Chris and I, I shall make it a good one. Comrades, there are definitely traces of the communist regime left in Tallinn. Thankfully they are fully packed into one person. The red headed receptionist at the Oldhouse Hostel where we stayed. Talk about a nasty piece of work. But not to bring the Tallinn days down, we ignored her snarling face and had a fantastic time.

Our second day started with a much needed sleep in till 10am. Missed breakfast so got dressed and went into the Old Town for a coffee. We found a great looking cafe. Looks can be deceiving. The coffee was delicious, the croissant was appalling and the effort to pay the bill was disturbing. 11 Italian tourist pushed past us to have the on the run espresso. We were tempted to leave without paying. But we were honest types and paid.

From here we wandered up to town staying on the sunny side of the streets as the wind was cold and the shadows really cold. We found a supermarket and bought some more shower gel as the room stench was becoming overwhelming. Hehe.

Back to the hostel, showered, dressed and ready to head to the upper town and castle area. We strolled along in a relaxed way as the day was warming up nicely. We stumbled across the Italian restaurant we were looking for last night. And yes, Ken and Di, it was brilliant like you said and we had a great long lunch.

Tallinn is proving a foodies paradise. We have had so many inspiring and delicious meals here. The quality of food is superb and the atmosphere, whether street dining or medieval banquet hall, has been spot on in every detail.

Our hostel was straight out of glasnost. We don't believe the decor has been changed since Stalin and Lenin were in charge. Dark and foreboding with heavy timber and garish wallpaper. The computer even predates Apple, I was looking where to insert the punch card.

But we both fell in love with everything Tallinn. It really has grown out of the communist oppression into a great place to visit. But it looks like one of those Eastern European cities that is hurtling towards tourist dollar oblivion. Already the old town is full of identical souvenir shops selling the same mass production tat. Every square inch of floor space is a street cafe or restaurant and sadly McDonalds has found its way into the old town walls. It won't be long before Starbucks is on every corner.

I feel lucky to have seen Tallinn now. I feel that as the flood of tourists pour across on day trips from Helsinki in will ruin Tallinn but be a benefit to Riga and Vilnius as they will be the new unspoilt Baltic cities.

Written by Rod