So, before writing about my adventures in Helsinki, I want to outline five of my favourite things to do in and around Tallinn. These may not be things that I do everyday but are rather things that I have only done once and enjoyed so much that it ranks as a favourite. I will start at five and work my way up to the number one spot. Ready? Here we go.

5) The bus ride from Viru Keskus to Viimsi on route A1. I don't live or really ever need to go anywhere near this route, but if you're a person who likes a good scenic drive, this bus will provide that for you. One day, my friend Kevin suggested that we go ride buses to places we hadn't been before. He'd asked me to go before but I always turned him down, citing better things to do with my time than waste it on a bus. However, it happened that this afternoon he finally caught me at a time when I had nothing to do and couldn't think fast enough to invent an excuse not to go. As I recall I was upset about something, though now I can't remember what about and driving around on a bus seemed a good a thing as any to escape the doldrums. As we were deciding which bus to board to whereever, my mother called. Kevin was trying to talk to me, the bus garage was echoey, my mother wanted something, and I wanted everyone to go away. So, to escape the chaos I boarded the first bus I saw, not caring whether or not Kevin was even with me. Being the good friend he is, he boarded after me (not that I gave him any choice) and we started our trip to neverland.

The route took us past Kadriorg Park, Lauluvaljak (song festival grounds), and eventually brought us alongside Pirita Beach. We got off here and wandered through the woods until we got to the water. We picked a relatively chilly day for such an excursion so this beach stop didn't last very long before we were back on the bus again heading towards the unknown. It was getting late in the afternoon by this point and the sun was starting to set as the bus looped through a wealthy neighborhood with shops and apartments (it appears the Viimsi is a suburb) on it's way back to the city centre. We pass a marina, and soon see the beach again but from this side of the road we can see Tallinn's Old Town across the water, dark against a dusky sky. The whole hour-long bus ride was entirely worth it for this view. I hate to admit it- but Kevin might have been right about this random bus riding thing. Maybe.

4) Second hand shopping. I am and always be a sucker for a good shopping spree, but in order to curb costs incurred by this habit I have to suss out places that sell nice things for cheap. The local chain of second hand places is called Humana and sells a variety of decent stuff that I don't need to pay out the nose for. I can spend literally hours rummaging through racks of crap in order to find the one gem that makes it worthwhile. Even if I don't find anything it's still nice to turn my iPod up on maximum and get lost in the hunt. I think such an activity is symbolic of how I am in everyday life, perhaps always looking for the impossible.

3) Feeding the ducks. I am 85 at heart, I swear. There was one day that I walked through a park almost next to my home and took out my camera to take a photo and all of these ducks swarmed me thinking I was about to give them something to eat. I felt so guilty that I actually started telling them that I had nothing to give them. This was ridiculous because ducks of course, don't understand what people say, and if they do, these would have been Estonian ducks and I was speaking English. Now I come prepared and on sunny days sit in the park and read and feed the ducks. Sometimes I even try speaking in Estonian. Maybe the only thing this trip has done for me has been to make me lose whatever remaining marbles I had in Canada. Whatever. I like ducks.

2) Prowling. Wait.. prowling? Ok, maybe not prowling, but certainly going out for a drink. I think I may have mentioned the nightlife here before but I feel the need to mention it again. It's really quite something. I remember one evening that began innocently enough at the hostel with drinks that wound up at a pretty popular nightclub called Privé. Everyone was dancing and things were going very smoothly when suddenly the music stopped and our attention was directed at the stage that was subsequently cleared of the half naked girls I don't understand who feel that dancing on stages in order to show me their underwear is a good idea. These girls were replaced by a dance crew who were backing up a very interesting... wait for it.... drag show. The man/woman was really rather good and performed several different numbers with several different costume changes. Just when you think you know a place, it surprises you in a variety of different ways. Ways that will be burned into my mind for the next decade.

1) Dinner with friends. This is by far and away my very favourite thing about this trip. Tallinn offers many different culinary experiences as one would see in any modern city but going to these places wouldn't be nearly as interesting or as much fun without friends. Vapiano is a popular choice, serving both pizza and pasta, while the various cafes are better for a more one on one setting and serve anything from meals to cakes and pastries. Set aside places to go to and what you're left with is eating in. And we do lots of that, too. Usually, not a week goes by when someone is cooking something for a group. My favourite of these occasions was a pancake breakfast at Nicole's one Sunday morning. It made me feel like home because my parents and I have a tradition of Sunday breakfasts that I hadn't realized I missed. I think that this week is maybe my turn to cook up something for everyone but I haven't decided yet what that's going to be. Stay tuned!