Estonia; Friday, 21 July, 2006

I was catching the same flight to Helsinki as I had last year. Last time I had got up at the crack of pre-dawn, paid a considerable amount for a taxi that then proceeded to get me to Heathrow faster that is legal and had to wait around for checkin to open. My options this year were do the same, or pay just a little bit more and stay in a hotel by the airport. So at 05:30 (2 hours later than last year) I found myself with luggage standing at a bus stop just a mile from the airport terminal.

After a very quick trip through the airport (The restaurant I got breakfast in was working slowly so I had to run to the gate!) I settled down onto the plane for the first leg of my journey.

By 10:30 UK time (12:30 in Helsinki) I was sitting in my second departure lounge of the day with a nearly 2 hour wait for the flight to Tallinn.

After one of the shortest flights I have ever been on (only beaten by Guernsey to Alderney) I landed in Tallinn, zipped through the airport and got a cab to the hotel.

After checking in I wandered into town and up into the medieval old town on Toompea hill. Dotted along the edge at regular intervals are platforms that look over the rest of the city for stunning views.

Having wandered around the old town for over an hour I walked down into the lower part of the old town, to the town hall square and sought out a restaurant for dinner, before heading back to the hotel for an early night.