Kalamaja, Tallinn, Estonia

We stayed in the Kalamaja neighborhood in Tallinn. I really loved the location, an easy walk to the old city, but easy to drive around, a neighborhood grocery store where we bought some cheese, fruit, and charcuterie that smelled like a farmer's market, the fruit was so ready to eat, and a lot of bus stops for using local transport to get to further flung places.

It is a wooden architecture district situated between the fortified Old Town and the sea. It is one of the oldest suburbs of Tallinn and a hundred years ago was populated mostly by fishermen, harbor workers, and craftsmen. When Tallinn was connected to Saint Petersburg by rail in 1870 and the nearby central railway station (Baltic Station) was built, the area changed immensely. The industrial revolution and factories needed workers, so extensive apartment buildings were erected in the end of the 19th century. Much of the housing stock was built between 1890 and 1940, mostly apartment buildings in timber and brick.

During the Soviet occupation, Kalamaja was seen as a somewhat run-down, undesirable address – the communist utopia favoured large apartment blocks in the new districts, such as Mustamäe, instead – but during the last decade, the area became ultra-trendy and is now locally known as “hipsterville” of Tallinn. I am sure I would find this a real pain to maintain, but I find it absolutely charming to behold. Here are a few examples!