Tallinn, Estonia

Sailing our way northeast up the Baltic coast, we got back our sun today as we docked at the capital city of Estonia, Tallinn. This has always been an important port city and today it has two faces. The ancient gothic one which remained unscathed during WW2, has the best-preserved gothic buildings in northern Europe and has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Right beside it, is the modern city supporting the majority of the 400 000 population.


Today we had a fabulous guide, which made our tour of the old town so much better than yesterday. We first drove to the Upper Old Town, dominated by the Tall Hermanns Tower.

We continued from there to the top of the Upper Town and the Russian Orthodox Church Alexander Nevski Cathedral. Even though it was Friday, brides, those already married and those soon to be, surrounded the church. The guests at these weddings were equally dressed to the nines.


Then we walked to the Lower Old Town, where most of the commerce was located. It felt like a Sunday with the swarms of people crowding the streets.

In the centre of the Lower Town was the Town Hall flanked by a large market square and many cafes.


We were able to wander about here in our free time and check out the beautiful Nordic sweaters and linens for sale. This is the most impressive city on the tour thus far and what’s more impressive is that for the most part, it’s in its original state.

Six hours after docking, we were on our way again. We had to change clothes quickly to make it to the cocktail party being held for the 400 previous Oceania travelers onboard. Then we went with Jackie & Tony to Toscana, the Italian themed restaurant, for dinner. Another fabulous multi-course meal was had by all, with dishes like tomato & buffalo mozzarella, carpaccio of beef, pesto gnocchi, veal marsala, sea bass, chocolate lasagna and tiramisu. Wow!
Tomorrow is St. Petersburg and apparently I’m not likely to get internet service for the next couple of days. We’ll see.