For my recent birthday, Hubster suggested a friend and I have a spa weekend in Tallinn. When Hubster suggests such a thing, I jump at the chance! After a bit of research, Laura and I found a hotel with a spa package which included a massage in the price of the room. (We went for full luxury and each added a facial as well.) I booked the ferry, for the incredibly reasonable price of 32€ to Tallinn and a whopping 10€ back. Expat lives being as hectic as they are, we were both ready for some relaxation.
After dropping Little Man off at daycare, I went straight to the ferry terminal, accidentally meeting up with Laura on the tram. We had enough time to grab a coffee before embarking, which we did leisurely. It was so nice not to have to worry about taking care of anyone else. We were able to take our time, look through the shops (the ferries are known for their duty free shopping), wander the deck, and eventually get a drink.
We found a seat by the window and spent the rest of the time chatting. The ferry to Tallinn took two hours, while the ferry back to Helsinki took three and a half. That one did, however, offer spa services, which I’ll talk about later.
We disembarked in Tallinn at noon and went in search of the Metropol Spa Hotel, where we would be staying that night. Our appointments were at 2 pm so we weren’t in much of a rush. Somehow, we stumbled upon a mall (I mean, of course we did), wandered around a bit, then continued on our way to the design district and our accommodations.
After checking in and dropping our bags in the room, we went to a cute cafe nearby for a quick bite. We had failed to get lunch on the ferry, and knowing that massages make us hungry, we deemed food a necessity.
Feeling ready to be relaxed, we made our way to the second floor of the hotel, where the spa is located. We were told to change into the robes supplied in the room, so back up we went, feeling a bit strange riding the elevator in such a garment. We soon forgot any awkwardness as we were led into the spa area and to our respective facial and massage. (I went for the facial first, then we swapped.) After two hours of pampering, we were both so relaxed that we stayed in the sitting area sipping our tea for about 45 minutes, slowly melting into our chairs. Realizing that we would have to move eventually, we made our way back out to the lobby, then decided to check out the pool area. A good idea, as they serve drinks there. We watched the few other people present swim or hang out in the hot tub while we drank, chatted, and tried to figure out a plan for dinner.
Feeling as if we had all the time in the world without worrying about feeding little tummies, we took our time changing before heading toward Old Town. We had looked up restaurant suggestions, as well as asking the front desk for recommendations, and kept getting the same place pushed at us. We weren’t sold on that particular restaurant, so we decided to test our luck and see what we could find on our own. March in Tallinn means very few tourists (quite the opposite of July), and we thoroughly appreciated the deserted streets.
In the course of our wanderings, we perused a few menus at different restaurants. The one that drew us in was the one that offered a live sword fight every night: The Peppersack. The kindly man at the door in full costume was pretty fun too.
The Peppersack dishes up traditional Estonian cuisine, which is quite delicious. The staff are dressed in period get-ups, and the atmosphere is relaxed and fun. We had just finished our meal when our server informed us that the sword fight was about to begin. Along with almost everyone else in the surprisingly large restaurant, we moved into the main dining area to watch the show. Although the words were Estonian, the idea was easy enough to follow; two men fighting over a woman.
After approximately ten minutes of these two battling up and down the stairs, they called a truce and shared a drink. It was good fun. Soon after, Laura and I paid our bills and headed back to the hotel. Upon checking in, we had each been given a voucher for a free drink at the hotel bar. Not the type of people to pass up a free drink, we made that our next stop.
Now, if you cringe at the words “hotel bar”, let me just tell you that this was not a typical hotel bar. While you can get to it from the hotel lobby, there’s also a street entrance, which seemed the more popular of the two. We ordered our free drinks and found a perch at the only open table we found, which happened to be rather well-placed. We were pleasantly surprised to find there was live music on the stage (of which we had a clear view from our perch), and I was ecstatic when the singer started belting out ’90’s pop hits. We’re talkin’ Usher’s “You remind me of a girl that I once knew”, among others. It was epic. The bar appeared to be quite popular with locals and was decently crowded by the time we left at 11:30. (As much as we value sleep, try stopping a couple mum’s on a weekend away from staying out late.)
It should be noted that Little Man had been waking up once or twice a night pretty much since we got back from Gdansk, so this was the first full night’s sleep I’d gotten in quite some time. It was glorious. We slept in until 8, slowly got ready for the day, then proceeded downstairs for breakfast.
Other than a mysterious “chicken pie”, it was the standard European breakfast buffet, including pickled herring, and, surprisingly, pancakes. After eating our fill, we checked out of the hotel and made our way to the ferry port, via the mall. They had a cool space exhibit going on for kids that was fun to see.
Once we’d boarded the ferry and stowed our luggage, our first stop was the spa. I had only been able to book one pedicure in advance, but was told to check on board if there was any other availability. Laura was able to book a foot and hand treatment at the same time as my pedicure, but as they weren’t for two hours, we were able to check out the shops before grabbing lunch.
I gotta say, getting a pedicure is a fantastic way to pass the time on a ferry. (Especially on a windy day, when the huge ship rocks back and forth.) We finished just in time to retrieve our bags and line up for disembarkation. We were some of the first people off the ship, but the tram stop was absolutely packed and it felt like a mosh pit as we fought our way onto the tram to get to the train station. I’m pretty sure that’s when the massages wore off.
It was an incredible weekend away (with a fabulous lady to boot!), but we had to return to real life.
Adventures Abroad 