Tag Archives: restaurants

Jun30

Exploring Tallinn, in Estonia!

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Thursday, 06-June, though Monday, 10-June


Tallinn, the capital of Estonia.

Prior to planning this trip, I maybe could have pointed out Estonia on a map. Maybe. I knew it was a former Soviet-bloc state, along with Latvia and Lithuania and lots of “-istan” countries, but I couldn’t have told you which part of Europe (or Asia?) it was in.

I feel bad about that… but at the same time I freely accept that I am, in fact, an American. With all the horrors and glories that accompany that fact.


Once I started planning, and realized exactly where Estonia is, I got super excited to visit, though!
(See the map below):


Why was I so excited?

I mean, how could I not be?!? The Baltic states were new to me, for one, which is always an exciting prospect for adventure and exploration. More concretely, though, my quick research showed just what sort of area my education had overlooked – Some of the highest quality of life in the world, astounding internet and technology distribution through society, and exceptionally high happiness scores throughout. Couple that with extremely low cost of living, low travel expense in general…

Now, I’m not saying they’re Utopias, of course, but… well, when I started looking at them so long ago, they seemed damn close to the best we’ve got in today’s society.

I was beside myself to see them for myself!



My first views of Estonia came from the ferry – and, frankly, I don’t have much to say about them. They were views of a harbor, woo. Nothing special here.

As soon as I disembarked and started walking to my (very close by) hotel, though, I started seeing art and beauty. Neat installations, informational placards (my loves!), and interesting little things. Constructions, and lots of it, were speckled in between… From what I could tell, Tallinn is growing. Though, to be fair, none of these things really stood apart from the Nordic countries that I’ve been visiting so far… which in and of itself says something. When people think of the Nordics, they think of wealth and beauty – I’m learning that the Baltics are no different.


Over the next few days I wandered around Tallinn extensively – lots of walking, some scootering, but enjoyment throughout. It was cooler than the Nordics had been, thanks to a shift in weather, which made walking and wandering a bit easier… but at the same time, Tallinn felt smaller than the other cities, except Nuuk and maybe Reykjavik. It was very walkable, no doubt, with tons of neat things to look at along the way.

100% would recommend, and will likely come back someday!



Before I leave this post to dive into some of the specific adventures, we’ll follow tradition: and talk about Food!

  • Gallery Cafe – The first spot that I found in Estonia, and honestly simply one of the best. Great coffee, great food, can’t complain.
  • Kalevi Jahtklubi – Yacht Club. Yep – my first evening in Estonia I accidentally went to a Yacht Club for dinner… I walked in through a side door by accident, confused a patron for the host, and I’m pretty sure the only reason they seated me (a non-member) was because everyone was just really confused. Great food, though. Like… really good.
  • Restoran Trofe – Excellent food, in a cool wine cellar. Can’t complain in any way, shape, or form. I had Champagne!
  • Texas Cantina – I’m not proud of this, but I enjoyed it. I was wandering, wanted some lunch, and my original plan was closed. So you know what? I found out how well Estonia does Texas BBQ. They do a passable job, with exceptionally tender ribs, but the sauce had some unexpected flavors in there… not bad, but also not the standard BBQ I’m used to.
  • R14 – Now this. This was the fancy. R14 is probably the fanciest restaurant I’ve been to on this trip, to date, and they threw down. In short, R14 was previously Michelin starred, and they lived up to the hype. Both of the flavors and tastes (I had meatballs, sea bass, and gelato… with a gin & tonic and a glass of ice wine) but also in presentation and cost. Seriously, the whole meal was like $75.
  • 5 Senses – Ehh, it was okay. Cool place, and I was looking forward to trying Estonia’s take on fried chicken and waffles. Estonia’s take on chicken and waffles was okay, I guess, but I wouldn’t recommend it over any other restaurant.
  • Taqueria – Supposedly the best tacos in Tallinn… I’d say they’re solidly okay tacos in comparison to Portland or Wilsonville. But then again, Portland and Wilsonville have the best tacos I’ve ever had…
Jun25

Exploring Helsinki!

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Saturday, 01-June-2024, through Thursday, 06-June-2024


Helsinki. Capital of Finland, and my final stop of both the Nordics and the Scandinavian countries before forging south toward the Baltic region.

When I first planned this trip, I freely admit that I came into it with certain preconceptions. Particularly salient to this post was my vision of Finland as another of the Scandinavian countries… technically a correct assumption, but after wandering Helsinki and learning a bit more about the country’s history… I’m not quite so certain.

See, I learned that while Finland currently belongs to the Nordics, its history is a bit more unique – The Finnish language, for example, has roots as a Uralic language similar to Estonian and Hungarian… and frankly sounds similar to Slavic languages to my untrained ears. Culturally, Finland has been its own country, part of Sweden, part of Russia, and even sort of part of Germany during World War 2.

Complicated.


Exploring the city, however, was quite a bit less complex than the history. It was lovely – I found Helsinki to be similar to Oslo and Portland in that there were quite a few small parts scattered about, in contrast to Reykjavik or Stockholm that seemed to have larger homogenous sections of either big parks or big concrete. There was some street art, mainly on electrical boxes, but not nearly as many murals and such as in Reykjavik… but it still felt like more than I saw around Oslo or Stockholm.



As with all European Cities so far, Helsinki was extremely walkable… seriously, I think I walked around 10 miles every day, just wandering around and visiting near spots!

For food – everything was delicious, to the surprise of absolutely no one. After eating at Aifur in Stockholm, I finally broke through my mental barricade against going to “tourist restaurants”, and so started exploring some more clearly touristy venues in Helsinki… Which, as it turned out, was a really great idea! I was able to find quite a few great spots, ate some more traditional Northern Finnish cuisine, and got some options that I definitely wouldn’t have if I’d stuck with being a “cool” tourist:

  • Saaga – This was a tourist-focused place, but ohh man it was good! Focusing on Northern Finnish / Sami food, I fully recommend it for someone wanting to try out a traditional Finnish meal, like you’d get in a cabin up North in the deep winter.
  • Lazy Fox – Turns out, most Finnish places don’t really do breakfast. From the Finns that I met, it seems that most Finns simply don’t do breakfast, or have it at home, so that makes sense. I, however, wanted a hearty breakfast… and Lazy Fox provided that exceptionally well!
  • Lie Mi – A Thai spot I went to on a date! It was neat- I had a lot of Thai while I was living in North Portland, and this was… similar. Less spicy, but definitely good. Full recommendation.
  • Bastion Bistro – A nice and fancy bistro on Suomenlinna Island, with an excellent chicken cesear salad. The downside is that the outdoor seating is overgrown with stinging nettles, which I learned about the hard way. My leg stung for the rest of the day, which kind of outweighed the good food.
  • Woolshed Helsinki – an “Australian Gastropub” that I went to, because they were the only spot in town that served Chicken Parmesan. Like… what? None of the Italian restaurants had it… and what Woolshed had was an abomination – but an absolutely delicious abomination. Served over crispy French fries, with ham thrown into the Chicken Parm because why not, it was delicious and abominable.
  • La Lasagne – A full-day Lasagna restaurant that I went to for breakfast… and had breakfast lasagna (made with eggs and bacon instead of beef and ricotta). It was amazing.
  • Lappi Ravintola – Another amazing touristy-restaurant that I went to on a date, this was my favorite restaurant in Finland… and possibly my favorite on the whole trip so far, in terms of decor and “fun”. Aifur, ROK, and Cafe Unicorn were great (Stockholm, Reykjavik, and Nuuk, respectively), but Lappi Ravintola basically took a New Hampshire ski lodge and stuffed it into a building in the middle of Helsinki. Good food, great decor.
Jun18

Adventures in Stockholm!

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Adventures in Stockholm!

Tuesday through Sunday, 21-May-2024 to 26-May-2026


I didn’t get a great first introduction to Stockholm, I’ve got to admit. I was a bit woozy, coming off the train, and I couldn’t find a cab or scooter to help me get to the apartment where I was staying, since it was too close and there weren’t any scooters left at the train station.

I ended up walking, through crowds and construction, up and down and back up more flights of stairs than I care to recollect, trying to batter my way through a seemingly endless maze of detours and redirects.

I made it, though, and once that odyssey was completed the city opened up in an amazing way. A good lesson to be had, here – first impressions matter, but it’s important to keep in mind that we’re not automatons, and that we can overlook a rough initial glimpse after learning new data points.





For me, Stockholm ranks easily up with Paris and London in terms of cities that “Feel” European. It was eminently walkable, packed with old buildings and statues, with countless museums and small cobblestone alleyways. It was very clean, though obviously lived in, and had distinct separations between “city” and “park” areas – notably different from Oslo or Portland, where the two tended to blend together a bit.

I was able to orient myself surprisingly quickly in Stockholm as well – Maybe it was the multiple islands that helped, but for one reason or another I found myself quickly leaving my phone in my pocket in favor of navigating by memory.


I liked Stockholm, no doubt about it. People spoke quite a bit of English, and many signs were in both Swedish and English… and every museum placard had both languages included. People were friendly, and very Nordic – Follow the street signs, be polite, but don’t get in peoples way. I adored that part of Stockholm, the simple agreement that everyone seemed to hold to; walk when the light goes green, stay on the correct side of the road while biking, give right of way, and don’t be weird.


What else… well, the food was good! It wasn’t great, I’m sorry to report, but it wasn’t bad either. It was interesting and fun, but didn’t quite stand out in terms of amazing or unique.

Places I ate:

  • Blå Doren (Blue Door) – Right near my apartment, was lovely in a “small neighborhood / tourist bar” sort of way
  • Under Kastajen – Excellent breakfast! Very atmospheric with the large tree outside, and perfect “coffee and a pastry” breakfast.
  • Miss Clara – I found this spot while wandering, and was a bit too hungry to be too picky. It was a hotel restaurant, effectively, and… was okay. Not great, but okay.
  • Skeppsbro Bageri – Similar to Under Kastajen, an excellent light French-style breakfast spot!
  • Mr. French – Ironically, I just had a Caesar salad here, nothing French since their menu had just switched over… it was okay. Good food, but I just didn’t like the atmosphere for some reason.
  • Pelikan – Holy crap this place was loud. Had some traditional Swedish fare, but… It was just kind of unpleasantly crowded and loud.
  • Bröd and Salt – Note the theme here; Good breakfast place, tasty pastries, and good coffee. Simple and delicious.
  • Greasy Spoon – Now this was an American-ish style breakfast. Eggs Benedict, good coffee… Yes please.
  • Bastard’s Burgers – Simple and elegant hamburger and milkshake. What more could an American ask for?
  • Panem – Best breakfast in Stockholm, in my opinion. Actually, by far the best restaurant I went to in Stockholm as a whole, now that I think about it. Friendly staff, amazing eggs Benedict, probably the second or third best meatballs I’ve ever eaten, and great coffee. Absolutely recommend!
  • Aifur – This was a “dinner and a show” sort of place. Think Renaissance faire, or “Medieval Times” for those of us who may recall it. No big floor shows, but the same atmosphere. It was… good. Worth visiting, but not going back.