Choosing Kalamaja

Rarely a week goes by without someone wanting me to know that “Kopli is the new Kalamaja” or “Pelgulinn is the next Kalamaja” or “X…

Tallinn’s Glorious Sourdough Reformation

There’s always something in the air. And that something almost always includes a few spores of wild yeast. These days, some of those activist spores…

Kalamaja’s First Coloring Book

A few years ago, adult coloring books suddenly became a thing back in the United States. I remember spotting my first grown-ups with their elaborate…

Stone Cake: A True Estonian Tale

One of my favorite tales is that old classic about making Stone Soup – an old story that has been told and retold all the…

The Quest for Tallinn’s Perfect Cinnamon Bun

Don’t cinnamon buns remind you of miniature labyrinths? After all, they have those long and looping outer layers covered with tantalizing hints which will eventually…

What I Did on My Estonian Summer Vacation

Do you remember those essays you once had to write on your first day back at school? Or perhaps that only happened to those of…

(-: SMILERS :-) Kalamaja Cowboy

Not only does Kalamaja already have at least one book, an oral history, two coloring books, a legend, and much more already written about it,…

Kalamaja’s Secret Bakeries

OK. So, they aren’t really secret bakeries if I’m telling you about them – and if someone else told me about them before that. They’re…

Over [the] Moon in Kalamaja?

Ah, what a difference a definite article can make! “Over the Moon” once described my delight each time I visited my beloved Moon Kohvik (Poppy…

Remembering 1993’s Estonia: Selections from My First Tallinn “Blog”

Came across a hardcopy of RFEAJ in my files the other day. RFEAJ is the name I gave the electronic diary I kept when I…

My Tallinn Market Guide: The Best & The Rest

When someone tells you that something is “the best,” what they usually mean is that it’s their favorite. In other words, they’re describing their subjective…