Our new Canadian friends Giovanni and Eleanor, whom we met on the St. Petersburg tour, became our guides for Tallinn, Estonia. Our original plan was to meet them at 8AM; however, MA suggested that we delay that to 9AM. I called their room and left a message which they never got. Fortunately they waited ashore for us, then Giovanni came looking and spotted us coming leisurely back from breakfast. We apologized profusely, got our things from the cabin and were off for a walking tour for this 14th century town.
Eleanor had found an online guided walking tour of Tallinn. We started out first on the shuttle bus ship to town and then began our walk going through the lower village, via the north gate and along the north wall. This older village had a huge wall which surrounded it. Eleanor had all our points of interest mapped out so I didn’t even have to think about where we were or where we were going next. This gave me a great opportunity to concentrate on my photography. Giovanni and Eleanor did the guiding. MA kept track of me.
Tallinn has some beautiful churches, two of which were being restored with scaffolding and tarps covering the exterior. Most of the churches are Russian Orthodox; however, I did find one Lutheran church.
Our walk then took us up to the upper village and the famous town square and town hall. Tallinn was established in 1400 and the town hall was built around 1413. It is still used as the town seat of government. I took MA into a local shop and bought her a pair of amber earrings for her birthday, amber being the gem of choice in this part of the world.
We then said good bye to Giovanni and Eleanor who had more exploring to do and made our way to the shuttle bus stop. All in all we found the Estonians to be cheerful and hospitable.
Today (Wednesday) is a day at sea and we are ready for some down time reading, playing trivial pursuit in teams with another great couple, Dave and Heather from our dinner table group. And did I mention lunch? Today’s special is authentic British “fish and chips”, offered once on most cruises as a special lunch feature and something we look forward to.
Tomorrow the ship docks at a place I’ve never heard of, Aarhus, Denmark, then Oslo on Friday, and fly home via New York on Saturday, then back to Worship at Second Baptist Sunday morning! Later!
Wayne,
ReplyDeleteAgain - great colorful photos and commentary. As I mentioned earlier - my grandson spent considerable time in Estonia with locals during his 6 month jaunt in Europe some years ago. Can't believe it's getting near for you and MA to return. Looking forward to seeing you.
HAVE A GOD BLESSED DAY - dave b.