28 April 2008

Baltic direct

I have just arrived in Tallinn this evening, where the music is tinny and cheesy, and the keyboard is constructed with curious trapezoidal keys. To get here, I flew with my choir (on yet another of those famous Icelandic Choir Tours) to Helsinki this morning. Upon arrival we were deposited at the massive ferry terminal in the center of town to while away a few hours drinking Lapin Kulta and absorbing the lack of atmosphere in the low-ceilinged building.

Then to the ferry, a massive passenger ship holding nearly three thousand people, most of whom seemed to be on board for the delirious variety of activites on offer for the four hour sail. There was muzak dancing and gambling, there was a full Duty-Free style perfume shop, a vast liquor shop, and a stuff-yourself-silly buffet with chardonnay on tap like it was a keg of beer.

The ferry was so large that the effect of being on ship was almost unnoticeable until I stepped out onto the one deck on the 10 levels of ship, where the pewter sea stretched out to the unmarked horizon, and below me, the water foamed away from the huge hull in deep shades of bottle green. This will no doubt be an interesting week.

8 comments:

dtw said...

Most of the people on board were probably on their way to Tallinn to stock up on cheap liquor, as you'll probably notice on the ferry back to Helsinki. Hooray for booze tourism.

Anyways, here's to an interesting week!

Food, she thought. said...

Ferries scare me. The end.

cK said...

Enjoy Tallinn! I've heard good things about it from the one friend I know has been there. (What a recommendation! you say.)

I like "pewter" as a descriptor for the sea there.
-cK

Jess said...

Ah, Lapin Kulta - I have very fond memories of drinking that in Mariehamn *x*

Shiva said...

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nicely described water in the lastg paragraph...

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Paul said...

love it.

-Paul in HK

tsduff said...

I love deep shades of bottle green. Cheers - have a fabulous trip. I've had to content myself with pictures of Iceland from a promo dvd of the entire country. Ah - travel... have fun.

ECS said...

dtw: yep, the booze tourists were a BIG part of it.

bee-wee: what?? Ferries are so fun! At least I have always liked them, but I like most forms of transport (trains are most fun though).

ck: See latest post for my impression of Tallinn, and I thought a lot about the sea color and decided that's the only way to really describe the luminous-yet-dull sheen it had.

jess: not sure where Mariehamn is but as beers go, it's better than the Icelandic standard brands IMO.

shiva: thanks! I think a lot about water, what with the living in Iceland and all.

paul: I am LOVING your blog these days. Keep writing/photographing!

tsduff: I've got to post pictures of the trip one of these days... I am just so never home that the photograph uploading hasn't been happening so much lately.