Tallinn, Estonia

August 6

Tallinn, Estonia, is another town that none of us had heard of before this cruise. Turns out it was one of our favorite towns of the trip.  Maybe because it was such a small town that we could easily see all the sites in a day or it could have been the refreshing spirit and attitude of our guide which seemed to reflect the spirit of the whole country of Estonia. Anyway, we enjoyed this day a lot even though it was our last touring day.

We had agreed to meet at 9:00 at the cruise terminal to go into town together but decided to go down early to use the free wifi. We all got connected, checked our email, sent Spongebob pictures, etc.  Turns out we wouldn't have had to use the wifi in only the cruise terminal.  Tallinn is the birthplace of Skype and the whole town has free wifi (or at least most of it.)

We had a guided walking tour arranged to start at 10:00 in the center of the town.  We started walking at 9:00.  Of course we had to stop at a bathroom along the way (never pass up a bathroom).  We walked past a big shopping center building that had a nude statue out in front.  Some of us ladies tried to strike the same pose.  I think we were close????   After about 5 minutes taking pictures then we kept on.  Found the entrance to the old town area by a tower called Fat Margaret. Then we walked about 6 blocks of very quaint streets and buildings.  We found the information booth where our tour would start about 9:45. Somebody who hadn't used the last bathroom we passed had to go now, so we waited for him to find one (in the Norwegian embassy).

Models for a sculpter?

Fat Margaret and the gate into town.

Our guide for the tour was Marii (sort of like Mary but with a highly rolled R). Marii was very good.  She was a college student and knew a lot of history, too.  But she made it a lot more fun than Anna in Russia had. She told some funny (and sometimes off color) stories to go along with the history. She sat us down (in the shade which we appreciated) and told us a little of the history of Estonia to begin with.  Basically Estonia has been trying to get its independence for a long time but has been taken over (usually without bloodshed) by many different countries.  In 1989 they finally achieved independence with a "Singing Revolution".  Under Russian rule it was illegal to sing their national anthem. Somebody decided to sing it anyway and thousands joined in. The Russians couldn't arrest thousands of people for singing without looking ridiculous. That, along with other economic and political factors at the time, gained them their independence. Like I said before, the refreshing fun spirit that Marii had seemed to be the way the whole country was.

Our guide, Marii

We walked by many sites in the upper part of the town (for the noblemen) and the lower part of town (the common folk.) We saw St. Nicholas church which was about the only Russian looking building in the town. The Kiek en den Kok (peek in the kitchen) tower got its name because the noblemen could supposedly look down into the lower part of the town and see into people's kitchens. Tall Herman tower and the Palace which is now the Parliament were at the very top of the hill.  We stopped at a good viewing point to look over the whole town. Then we walked down a bunch of steps and back into the lower town.  By then we needed a potty break again.  Marii took us to a square and said go into any of the cafes around and they should have bathrooms.  I asked about the "Sweet Tooth" candy shop that I had read about that sells marzipan (one of my all time favorites - almond & sugar). We were standing right in front of it, so I went in there to use their bathroom. Of course, I had to buy some marzipan while I was in there, too.

St. Nicholas church

Tall Herman

View of Tallinn

A motley crew.

Sweet Tooth Candy Shop

Our tour ended back in the town square so we had lunch at one of the cafes there.  I had a ciabatta sandwich, Bob had salmon pasta and a beer.  They were very tall beer glasses. Another couple in our group wanted a couple of those glasses and instead of stealing them, offered to pay for them. The waitress was a little surprised by that and took 5 euros. We think she probably just pocketed it herself.

My lunch - served on a cutting board.

The girls and guys split up on the way back so we could do some shopping. We needed to be back at the ship by 3:30 this time and the captain made a couple announcements that he would NOT be waiting for anyone this time. We had a long haul back to Copenhagen and people had early planes to catch (we were some of them). I got a little nervous again, especially after the guys had drunk a couple of those tall beers that they would get lost getting back to the ship. Turns out they headed right back, made one wrong turn, but got themselves righted and stopped at a bar. They were going to do wolf whistles at us when we passed, but they missed us somehow. John Lawrence had told us this was the best town to buy souvenirs. Things would not be so expensive here. I had some euros left to spend, so I looked for something memorable to get. I found some woolen hats-one for Oliver and one for me. Had a few more euros left, so I bought some Estonian chocolate to go with my Russian chocolate.

We were all back on the ship in time and relaxed on our decks before dinner. It was formal night again so we all dressed up.  Before starting this trip, I had booked myself a massage in the spa for this evening. I had booked the latest time I could but we were usually never done eating by that time. I had told Pim the night before that I would need to eat faster tonight. We also came down a little earlier, and with Pim's help (she is such a sweetie) I got all my meal eaten before I had to leave for my massage.  Bob had lobster and Pim gave him two right off the bat.

I had a young Asian girl do my Swedish massage - it was so relaxing and just what I needed after the last three days of walking,walking, walking. Went back to our cabin and Bob was already changed out of his suit. None of his buddies were around to play poker with him, so we watched The Hobbit on TV and went to sleep early.