Post: #1

I met some friends in Tallinn on Saturday for a day trip. One of the friends was flying out of Tallinn at 8am on Sunday morning, so we stayed up all night. Here's a short list of things I observed:

1) A Finnish guy wearing a fishnet top, an afro wig, and shorts that didn't completely cover the things on a Finnish guy I don't want to see harassing everyone he came into contact with. He was with a group of about 10 Finnish guys (bachelor party, I assumed) who thought everything he did was hilarious. Needless to say, they were all completely drunk (this was about 2pm).

2) A group of Moroccan guys harassing an Estonian friend of mine as we sat in a park. We ignored them at first, but they persisted long enough for us to ask them less-than-politely to leave.

3) Two drunk British guys in their forties annoying every girl they saw at a student bar. They easily brought the average age in the bar up by 10 years but seemed to have no problem with that. I overheard one of them asking an Estonian girl if "she has sex with men". With their combination of terrible looks and nonexistent game, it's no small miracle that the UK has managed to survive this long.

4) Three American guys (they looked military) asking a waitress at a restaurant in the main square for suggestions of things to do that night. Harmless chat...until one of the guys grabbed her ass and asked what time she got off of work.

5) A British guy openly bargaining with a prostitute at about 4am (it was full daylight at this point).

6) Two American or Canadian women in their 40s wearing full-on middle-aged tourist gear complaining about the beer prices at the most touristy bar in town to the only waitress (it's literally in part of the wall surrounding the old town). This of course kept us from being served for about 20 minutes.

You don't want to be in an Eastern European capital over the summer. The funniest thing about all of these observations is what I didn't observe: any Estonian people in the bars. School isn't even out yet and for the most part the student bars were full of tourists. It will be even worse in mid-June / July. Unless you have an in with a local, are planning on visiting the smaller towns, or really love hanging out with Brits and Italians, I would recommend avoiding Eastern Europe over the summer.

Post: #2

Holy crap, that sounds terrible!

I have been to ex-yugoslavia, slovakia and hungary in july, which was not that bad. Is it just Tallinn that is filled with hooligan-types, or you reckon it is a general thing in all of the baltic countries?

Post: #3

Smallish capital, even smaller "party district", blonde chicks, horny men all over the world wanting blonde chicks, you can imagine how ugly it'll get...

Post: #4

Think it's just a Baltic thing.

Post: #5

(05-17-2010 06:35 AM)beebopaloo Wrote:  I have been to ex-yugoslavia, slovakia and hungary in july, which was not that bad. Is it just Tallinn that is filled with hooligan-types, or you reckon it is a general thing in all of the baltic countries?

I think it's a "Stag party destination" thing. You'll see this type of phenomenon in most RyanAir / EasyJet destinations in Eastern Europe simply because it's easier for the weekend warriors to get to those places. You'll get the more authentic travelers in places only accessible by train.

Post: #6

So, September is a good move right?

Side note:

Summer I am learning is the worst time of year to travel.

Post: #7

Anytime it's actually warm and sunny in Northern/Eastern Europe -- which means mid to late May until early to mid October -- the place will be packed with foreign guys cocked and loaded ready to share their genes with the local girls.

Obviously, this will vary on the country and the city, but Tallinn is one of those "tourist friendly" places that draws a lot of tourists. Riga used to as well until the local thugs started robbing too many tourists.

Post: #8

Wow. Was going to book flights to Tallinn next week but now I don't think I'll bother.

Post: #9

The early fall and the early spring are definitely the best times to tour northern Europe. The tourists are either gone or haven't arrived yet, and for the most part, its consistently warm. Early fall (anytime after August) even more so than early spring.