Day 10 - Sept. 30 - Wednesday

ST PETERSBURG - TALLINN, ESTONIA

Goodbye Russia. We left St. Petersburg - still afraid that we got in the wrong bus - at 10:30 to Tallinn. It was 8 and half hours until we got to our final destination, but the trip was a bit different than we are used in Brazil. (on your left
a photo of the only bus station in St. Petersburg.

The bus never stopped for food. It only stopped in towns to pick up and drop off passengers, at the borders and at the duty free for 10 minutes. Good thing we took few fruits and sandwiches from the hotel's breakfast, otherwise we would be dead, especially my dad.

Leaving Russian we could see more communist style buildings and very few houses, which were rare.

The ride in Russia was no so pleasant, because of road conditions and I have to say, bad driving. We also got lost of rain on the way. (photo of Russia's pot holes)

The border crossing was a bit tense, like any other border crossing. We had to unload the bus, pass our luggage through the metal detectors and answer questions (in English) in both sides. But I have to say that the Estonian side was not as tense as the Russian.

Estonian side.

The rest of the trip was fine. Our first impression of Estonia was of a more relaxed place than Russia. The people on the streets look not so uptight and more colorful. The cars look newer and the buildings in better shape. Even the sun started shinning after the border. Some farms reminded me of Alberta.

Our hotel faced the old town.

A nice meal after the 8 hours and half trip with no stop for food!

We got in Tallinn at 6pm (7pm in Russia) and I fell in love with the city right away. About 400 thousand people live in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia and that's one third of the country's population.

The nicest part of the town is the old city, which we visited right away. It was founded in 1130s. Just amazing, with its wall still standing in some places. We ended the day having a nice liquor called Narva Tallinna, from the region. Yummy!!!

If you want to try, come over, because i got a bottle of it. But come quick...

This is for our lovely princess Carolina. Carol, esta foto eh para voce, minha princesinha!