#109 The Wine Library

It’s Christmas time. As my sister has a birthday. I decide that we should visit the Christmas Market in the Old Town of Tallinn. If you feel inclined to use Wikipedia, just look for the Christmas tree entry, and you’ll find out that Estonia is one of the likeliest places to have originated the tradition.

While we are there, I start looking at the restaurants and bars around. Of course, something triggers me and makes me smile. I look at the Wine Library which has moved a couple of places from its original location.

When Janne and I decided to get married, we didn’t want to do it in a cold government office. We wanted to do it in a place surrounded by our friends. We found out at the time that the Tallinn government would let us hire a lawyer to do it in the place we chose with an additional fee. We could also get an English-speaking lawyer.

We picked one. Janne and I made a trip to Tallinn in the Summer of 2008 and met him in a cafe by the Freedom Square in Tallinn. He turned out to be such a warm and empathetic person. We agreed on all details. He asked a few details about our personal lives. His speech was very kind and meaningful to us. I didn’t forget him.

One year later, I made the move from Ireland to Estonia. After I arrived, Janne and I decided to go to the Old Town and explore a bit. During my first month in the country, we decided to pick a restaurant and just sit down to enjoy the warm weather. We found The Wine Library. As soon as we came into the restaurant, we realized that the waiter at the entrance was the lawyer who had married us.

Jokes ensue between us wondering if he was really a lawyer. He came to explain to us that he was helping out some relative on taking care of the place. What are the chances that the lawyer who married us is also our server.

At the end of our meal, we paid and are about to leave. Our lawyer-waiter comes to us and asks, “are you looking for an apartment?” He then proceeds to give us his business card and tell us that he also does real estate on the side. You have no idea how much Janne and I enjoyed this anecdote afterwards.

Janne, our Wine Library is still there. I wish you were still here to see it.