The struggle to try new, unique and regional specific dishes and eat a healthy, balanced diet continues. When we only have a few days in a country we want to try everything that they have to offer. Often this means we eat way too much and don’t make healthy options the priority, after all some of this will surely be a “once in a life opportunity”, right? I am still working on finding the right balance, six months into this trip. Fortunately, we usually have a healthy and hearty breakfast, it is usually our healthiest meal. Tallinn is no exception. Our hotel has a breakfast buffet so breakfast here is a very satisfying hardboiled egg, fruit, and muesli with yogurt. It fills me up for a long time and when the amazing, heavier dishes come out I can eat less. We are currently in Tallinn, Estonia, which is absolutely beautiful. It has a turbulent past, having been occupied by Sweden, Germany, and the Soviet Union at various times, sometimes concurrently, sometimes multiple times and always against their will. Because of this, they have a very unique blend of cuisines.
The first night we were there we enjoyed some of their glögi (mulled wine) at the Christmas Market- flavored with pepper, oranges and apples and incredibly warming! We also found a deli (a much cheaper option that a sit down restaurant) that served a variety of sandwiches- including a lentil and veggie sandwich. It was so nice to get a few more veggies in my life- plus lentils are such a great source of protein and fiber! The sandwich was probably one of the better sandwiches I have ever had, hearty spiced lentils and chickpeas gave it a “sloppy joe” type of filling and it was topped with sprouted beans, tzatziki sauce, chili sauce, sautéed zucchini and onions and crispy leaf lettuce. It was a mess, I got it all over my hands and face, but it was so worth every delicious, sloppy bite; it was so delicious!
The most unique thing we tried was the Russian style pancakes. The guide on our walking tour told us about the best place to get pancakes in the old city of Tallinn, so of course we went! We were surprised by the pancakes- we were expecting them to be thin and flimsy like crepes, but instead we were presented with thick, fluffy pancakes, a hybrid between crepes and our fluffy American pancakes. They were stuffed with all kinds of different fillings- I got blue cheese and mushrooms. Nick got bacon and blue cheese. A girl in our group had one with chocolate and ice cream. They were all absolutely delicious, but so filling.
