In the last few days I’ve been investigating the various other shopping options at the north of the city. Google Earth had pointed me to two other locations: Nord Centrum and Sadamarket. Each of these is further away from my local Rimi, but closer than the Viru Keskus.
Nord Centrum is interesting. It’s tucked away just below the docks, in a location that seems like it would be quite difficult to stumble upon if you didn’t know it was there, and I suspect my routes to and from it were each much more complex than they really needed to be. But it contains a much bigger Rimi than my local, with a much wider selection in most categories (and stocks Rice Krispies!), as well clothing, books, DVDs etc. This now looks like it will become my second choice supermarket, for things that my local doesn’t stock. The centre also has a variety of other shops that seem much more for locals than tourists. (One of the problems of living just outside the Old Town is that you’re never quite sure what a reasonable price for something really is!) There’s a useful little shop for general household items, where I was able to pick up clothes-hangers (there were only about 6 in my apartment!) and quite a decent pair of gloves really cheaply. I really wanted some bigger glasses than the ones provided for me – preferably pint sized – but despite a wide range of various drinking vessels they didn’t have anything bigger than about half a pint.
Sadamarket, on the other hand, is a scary, scary place. It’s like you took all the worst shops from the Hi Park Centre in Belfast, moved them to the docks, and targetted them at day-tripping Finns. The amount of Lordi, Kimi, and Muumi tat was overwhelming. If there were any redeeming features I’ve already forgotten them. I doubt I’ll be returning there any time soon, unless I have any visitors I want to scare!
