Tallin, Estonia

When we awoke this morning we were in the harbour of Tallin (prounced tal-in) Estonia.  Estonis is between Latvia and Russia, south of Helsinki, Finland and an easy boat ride from Stockholm and St. Petersburg, Russia.  During most of Estonia's history they have been occupied by Sweden, Denmark, Germany and Russia.  In 1991 they became their own republic, seperate from the USSR and in 2004 they joined the European Union.

Our tour this morning took us to the old town of Tallin which historically was seperated into Upper and Lower town.  The upper town was the ruling class and the lower town was the money class as that is where the harbour and markets were located.  Much of the city wall that surrounded and divided Tallin is still visible and in some cases incorporated into modern buildings.

The entry gate was called Fat Margaret Tower for its thick walls. We visited the market place which was busy on Saturday morning. Church of the Holy Ghost has an outdoor clock that dates from 1633 and is still very accurate. Several other churches, city hall and quaint building caught our eye.  We enjoyed walking down the cobbled streets and looking in the low doors and windows at local craft shops. McDonalds has a huge presence here so we took advantage of its restrooms, just like home!

The second half of our tour took us to their open-air museum. Much like Skansen in Stockholm, they have moved homes, barns and other building from outlying areas and placed them here as if one community. We rode bikes all through the area and enjoyed their signage about native customs and celebrations.

Back on the ship we had a late lunch and long nap so that we were ready for a lovely evening.   One has to be dressed properly for dinner, no jeans or shorts allowed.  We had cocktails at the observation lounge before our Italian dinner.  A Broadway show in the theater was my entertainment for the evening while John played blackjack in the casino.  Once we arrive in St. Petersburg, the ship is required to close the casino by Russian law.

Loving all this attention and entertainment!