Improv, friends, and the best cake ever

Tallin old town on a rainy day

The heavenly chocolate tiramisu cake

 The weather makes it look like the city is covered in smog. 

In March I made a fun trip with my sister* and my Not a Hospital improv friends to Tallinn. My improvisation group had a show in a bar in Tallinn old town and as my sister was visiting Helsinki for the weekend I asked her to join. In the harbour we were surprised by the hospitality of Maria, the organiser of the Tallinn Englsih Improv Show, when she came to greet us and show us around before the show. My friend who has studied in Tallinn brought us to have lunch at a local place, Cafe Nop, thatdid really good food, and most importantly a heavenly tiramisu chocolate cake. Maria laughed at how lovingly and delicately I ate the cake, but it was honestly the best chocolate cake I have ever eaten. Well fed and happy, our troupe headed to old town.

Me and my sister parted with our friends for a bit and checked in at our hostel. The courtyard in front of our hostel looked pretty dodgy, but as most good hostels are hidden behind dodgy looking exteriors, I led my sister through the door expecting to find a cosy place inside. I was not disappointed. The place was cosy and welcoming, with lots of social space and nooks to eat your food. There was in general a very safe atmosphere in the hostel and I was happy to bring my sister (who had never stayed at a hostel before) there. After checking in at the hostel we had a lovely time roaming around the streets of the historical town. I could be fascinated and entertained by the layers of history that can be seen in the buildings for hours and hours. But show time was fast approaching and so we headed to the venue, which was a bar in the cellar of an old house. I was convinced that the entrance to it must be a door that looked like the door to a potato cellar, but luckily I was mistaken and the venue was a comfortable little place. 

Right before the show I felt a little dizzy and I was worried about if I could do the show but when actual showtime came I  forgot all about it and just had fun. I was happy with the bold character choices I made on stage and enjoyed a lovely time also back stage watching another group performing. After the two groups had performed there was a jam. In the end we were surprised by a bonus game of ”Sex with me is like…” and for the second time in my life (after the previous summer in Mount Olymprov) I actually had fun playing it. 

I was curious to find out what my sister thought of the show (as she had never seen me do improv before) but I was happy to find her just opening her mouth in awe and saying that it was great. She had laughed a lot during the show. And whilst I am of course aware of the fact that there were a couple of things we could have thought about better, and in general I am more interested in doing more long form improv in the future, it was a pretty fun show to do. And so tired, but happy, me and my sisters headed to get something to eat from the local grocery store and headed to our hostel for a midnight snack and some sleep. My friends instead, decided to hurry to catch the last ferry of the night back to Helsinki. I was happy that we decided to stay the night in Tallinn, as I think sleep and rest in between make a much better trip than a super long day trip with tired feet. But it seemed like they had fun in the boat, so I guess we all have our own ways of travelling that work individually for us.

Three improvisers form a clique. Photo: Tallinn English Improv crew

I did not even know we could make faces like that. Photo: Tallinn English Improv crew

The whole Not a Hospital Tallinn performance team. Photo: Tallinn English Improv crew

Me watching Stefan and Maria intently (or giggling) at the improv jam. Photo. Tallinn English Improv crew. 

Tallinn trip favourites                                                                       

◊ The best cake ever at cafe Nop (Köleri Street 1)

◊ A clean and cosy bed at Old Town Alur Hostel) 9e / bed in an 8 bed mixed dorm

◊ The sea air

◊ Tallinn English Improv Show & our host Maria and her awesome crew

◊ The old town charm

◊ Travelling with friends and my sister

Tallinn trip meh:s

◊ The rough seafaring, I had no idea it could make me feel so bad

◊ Super market sandwiches that looked yummy and vegetarian, but were actually full of meat and mustard and other things that do not appeal to me that much

The best thing

Catching that travel bug again

The sea was much easier on us in the boat ride back to Helsinki. 

P.S. Jeeves is going to perform at the Tallinn English improv night on the first of June. See you there 😉

* Editorial note. This sister is a different one than on my other adventure in Tallinn.