European Coffee, Chocolate, and 9 am Dark Beer

Walking around the Old Town, after our 5am arrival in Tallinn, Estonia was working up a real thirst in us.  The majority of cafes open at 9 or 10 am.  We asked a cafe worker if we could just sit at one of the tables she was preparing and wait for them to open.  She looked a bit surprised (instantly I thought of our treatment in Russia, I figured she would say, "Take a hike", or the Estonian equivalent) but she asked what we would like (American and an espresso) and said she'd be happy to make them even though it was an hour before opening.  From our very first interaction in Estonia, we were made to feel right at home.  We ended up staying for about 3 hours, watching merchants set up, cafes and shops open their doors for business, tourists begin to stream in, and the Old Town generally come to life.  All of it added to our impressions of the place...and I will include a copy of the e-mail I sent to my family from the cafe.
We also stayed long enough to order more drinks.  Jihye splurged and got a pure chocolate melted drink, basically a cup full of melted chocolate.  And I was tasting my first European stout or porter by 10 am...which only made me fit right in with every other tourist who began to fill in the seats surrounding us.  Seems to be a lot of Western European tourists come to the Baltic States to take advantage of the cheap prices on everything including early morning drinks.

(from e-mail that morning: Dark local draft beer and a pure handmade chocolate drink for breakfast.  Feeding sparrows from our hands under the centuries old town hall tower with its bells pealing on the hour across the cobblestoned square and echoing down the 800 year old alleyways.  Learning Estonian and surrounded by dozens of languages from every side.  We have already booked a new hostel to double our stay here in Tallinn.  Seagulls from the Baltic Sea keep watch from on high the medieval architecture.   Family...I am sorry...but odds are right now that I will never return...

I sincerely hope each of you can experience something like this...be it Tallinn, Rio de Janerio, Rome, or anywhere...in your own way.  9 years of blood, sweat, tears, and solitude...worth every fu@#ing second.