After a rather eventful journey from Newcastle via Paris CDG (whose bright idea was it to put a piano in the departure lounge for people to play? It just got plinked on by bored children) I am now ensconced in my hotel room.

I decided to get a taxi from the airport into town as my 16 year old map of the city in my head is a bit faded. As we drove in things looked very different. There are a number of big new buildings that give more the impression of a city. In this picture are two memorable sights and one new one:

Note that these pictures were taken at 10.45pm! It’s the time of the famous midsummer ‘light nights’.

My hotel is on Pikk Street in the old town. I am currently re-reading the Harry Potter books and I couldn’t help but have the feeling that I’m staying in Tallinn’s equivalent of the Leaky Cauldron. I had to go down a steep staircase (that felt like a cellar staircase) at the bottom of which was a closed door. This is what greeted me on the other side:

Then I had to make my way down a couple of low ceilinged corridors :

And I found my little room. There is not room to swing a kass (Estonian for cat)!

Cosy is an understatement but as I said to my husband – very ‘me’ actually!

Quirky eh?

Still, since my plane touched down I’ve had access to good, free WiFi which reminds me of how technologically savvy the Estonians are. 16 years ago when I was here you could buy a coke from a vending machine using your phone!

Roll on the adventure tomorrow!