What’s behind Door No. 3?

One thing that consistently amazes me about Tallinn Old Town is the complete lack of relationship between the outward appearance of a building, and what lies inside. Many of the buildings are protected, and so nothing has been done to alter the exterior of these places, with their flaking paint and crumbling walls. Many of [...]

Summer Drummers (in a non-Northern-Irish culture)

Tonight, I dined at the Embassy of Pure Food. The restaurant’s real name is Aed, which translates as ‘garden’, but I much prefer the impressive description on the menu. It was a delightfully weird sort of meal. Really, really good food, but in the most bizarre combinations. My duck (cooked to perfection) came with cauliflower [...]

The Road Less Travelled

“Let’s go this way,” says Riho, trotting off along a little sidestreet we haven’t seen before.
We are spending the evening exploring the Old Town. I am, by now, quite used to this type of excursion involving a weird feeling of having travelled back in time, but nothing could have prepared me for the gradual departure [...]

Tallinn: beachin’!

I really am beginning to feel that Tallinn has everything.
Go to the Old Town and you can experience the whimsical delights of a place that is steeped in history, culture and architectural beauty. Into the city itself, and you’ve got a contemporary, bustling, busy, fast-paced lifestyle that instantly hooks you and drags you in. Wander [...]

Why did the chicken cross the road?

Probably because he had a very strong death wish, if he was in Estonia at the time.
Crossing the road is one of those little things that I’ve generally taken for granted, and it’s never caused me a great deal of difficulty. Look right, look left, look right again. The wise words of the immortal Tufty, [...]

Delightfully Odd Sights

1. Whilst walking along beside the harbour, feeling quite chirpy and upbeat about life, my world suddenly exploded in a burst of cheerful music. The Monkees, to be precise. I started to dance, just a little bit, causing a nearby drunk to pause from gazing despondently at his own relection in the water to stare [...]

The Dangers of Eating Out

The sun is shining.
I am sitting cross-legged on a bench next to a pretty flower bed outside a shopping centre, having just come from an invigorating walk down by the docks. There is music playing on the centre’s tannoy system: it’s a lot of hippy-dippy sixties stuff, and I am happily singing along as I [...]

Ma olen haige.

(I am ill.)
It’s nothing serious, but I do feel like death not even very slightly warmed up. So, what to do when you fall ill in a strange land where you still can’t speak the language? Determinedly, I googled my symptoms. Aches and pains, insomnia, very sore throat… it’s like I have the flu. But [...]

Even the blog’s moving…

It’s about time I was a DotCom, don’t you think?
So go ahead, tell your friends, tell your feeds - Coffee Helps, like its author, is on the move and can now be found at www.coffee-helps.com. I’m hopelessly ineffectual when it comes to anything remotely technology-related, and so I have done my best to give the [...]

Do you know the pancake man?

Eating out in Tallinn is fun. I’ve yet to have a bad meal here, and not only is the food delicious (and cheap), but the restaurants themselves are a delight to visit. From the kitsch and twee, to the traditional and rustic, to the ultra-modern and cool, each one is an excitingly new experience for [...]