Tallinn, Estonia...14th June

I arrived at a sensible time in the morning, 10.30; +2 hours BST. 

Driving away from the terminal I came in for a rude shock. After driving on roads with calm and law abiding Danes and Swedes, Tallinn reverts to; drive as fast as you can between traffic lights and if you haven't swapped lanes as well then your not trying... Some may say that is how I drive in the UK...

For a tourist the old city is the main draw but my apartment is a little outside this so necessary to drive on the main boulevard streets, set out in the Soviet bloc period fronted by Soviet ear buildings. Re-development is happening everywhere but not always for the best; the devil is in the detail. 

I parked in a modern car park, close to the old city that also has a car wash. My car needed cleaning given the number of miles driven since leaving Bisley on the 4th June.. As the car park was less than half full, it was not going to be cheap but the car wash ( mandatory booking slot required) was the draw. 

I did visit the old city in the drizzle but this is for another blog. I walked in the opposite direction, to the Soviet era areas to investigate what is for most people living in Tallinn their actual city. 

Between the planned main streets lined with the Soviet era architecture lie an older Tallinn; wooden buildings seemingly tenuously holding on to their plot; development creeping in to be the face of modern Tallinn. 

When lost, they are lost for ever. Architects can be complicit in this change but we should focus on re-imaging existing buildings for new uses. A number of the Soviet era buildings would be better demolished but they reflect their time and some I like a lot.

As with the car, I need to do some 'admin'. My new apartment, built between older residential buildings (was an older building demolished for this apartment block?..) has a washing machine. For all the lovely places I have stayed in during the past week I have missed a washing machine. Necessary time spent in the evening washing and watching films on Netflix.

As probably mentioned before, my trip has been organised by dates, not days. Sitting under the cafe umbrellas drinking tea.. (yes tea..) I realised it must be Friday as groups of (mostly) men pulling small wheel-y suitcases ambled by. People flying in for a weekend in Tallinn. English voices heard for the first time for a while (not heard even on the ship). 
At times like this you realise that you are travelling alone. 
I didn't mind staying in the apartment doing my 'admin'.....

This remnant of a facade left in front of a new development reminds me of a building on Krasnoproletarskaya Ulitsa in Moscow.  Not sure if it really makes it worthwhile... (car park behind the offices)

This is a Soviet era building that is worth demolishing...

Older wooden Tallinn

but once their gone, their gone...

A new development on the same street as the wooden buildings. The devil is in the detail.. 'Oh, we've forgotten to design the canopy drainage..''

'I'm sure the materials were meant to align...'