🗁Added 79 photos to album Estonia, Aug 2018.
I walked around the coast to Pirita; a little over an hour. After the harbour is a ruined convent. Usually it's accessible, but there were restoration works or something when I went and it was closed. It looks pretty cool though.
I walked through the woods to the Botanical Gardens, which was further than I expected. I detoured through some nice modern cemeteries.
The Botanical Gardens are beautiful and serene, and well worth a visit. A combined ticket with the TV Tower (which is next door) is €15, or separately they're €5.50 and €13 respectively.
The TV Tower itself is also really worthwhile. It's super high with fantastic views for a start. (If you go on a day with poor visibility, you can get a stamp on your ticket which lets you come back for free any time! I didn't have this problem though.) It's a wonder of Soviet concrete glory, and was largely built by 'volunteers' (unpaid workers..?). Inside on the ground floor is a detailed exhibition of its history and construction. At the top in the main dome are changing exhibits. I saw futuristic clothes designs from a local fashion school, and an electronic interactive set of displays about Estonian digital innovation and current day e-infrastructure.
There's also a restaurant at the top, and an outdoor balcony.
On the way out after the gift shop is another exhibit about life in Estonia in Soviet times which was really well done and informative.
Then I walked a different route through woods and cemetery to Pirita beach. I stopped for food at Vigri, a vegan buffet with an amazing cake selection, which is in the large boat-shaped building at the harbour. Then I chilled on the beach with a book for a few hours, and swam in the sea, before walking back.
