Tallinn

Myself and Jed at the Joey Dunlop Memorial, Tallinn

Believe it or not, today is my birthday and after a nice breakfast on the Baltic Queen we docked in Tallinn at 10am. First on the agenda for the day was to drive the short distance from the docks to the Joey Dunlop Memorial which is in the forest at the spot where he lost his life racing on a street circuit on the outskirts of the city. As you can see the memorial is rather plain, just giving his name and his dates, however, it is rather fitting. Jed left as small Isle of Man flag as his dedication and it joins the larger one that can be seen in the picture, that one was apparently left there last year on the 10th anniversary of his deathe. There were also 2 Joey Dunlop shirts as well as several plaques that had been left by supporters.
Whilst we were standing below the trees that claimed his life a fir cone fell at our feet, this was collected up and Jed now has a special memory of the visit.

I then rode into Tallinn itself and parked up at the bus station, in true Manx way, up on the pavement, refusing to pay a parking fee. My secure stash bag was locked to the bike underneath the pannier which, together with the steering lock and disc lock would make it awkward for the Police to move the bike should they so desire. A parking ticket I can ignore.
I must say, Sandra Smith was right (for a change..Ha) Tallinn in a beautiful place, cobbled streets everywhere, defence walls and towers and lovely old buildings. Visited a couple of churches and visited the market square where, yes, there was a market. The store holders were all dressed in costune so it gave a nice atmosphere.
Jed, once again, wanted to visit the highspots and forced me to climb to the top of St Olives tower, I was on my knees by the time I had climbed the spiral stairs, and dizzy. I always prided myself on being reasonable fit for a bloke of my age (did I mention my birthday by the way?) but climbing all those steps really put a strain on the old lungs. I was panting and sweating I can tell you, thats what sitting in an office does for you, be warned.
I am stopping at the Tahetorni Hotel tonight and tomorrow, its great to get a bed! The place is very nice and for the small price of 5 euros I am allowed to park behind the automatic gates in the walled courtyard so at least I am happy that my blackie is all secure, peace of mind helps a lot.
It is pouring with rain here now, came on as I arrived at the hotel so I will have my evening meal here and hopefully go back to Tallinn tomorrow.


View of the Old Town from the top of St Olives (thanks to Jed)