We arrived in Tallinn after another choppy night over the Baltic. We didn't rush to leave the ship but we were still in the town by 9am.
We wandered through to the Upper Town where we wandered past the Toompa (castle & palace) and the Russian Orthodox and Catholic churches. We then dropped down the hill to the Lower Town and wandered through the quiet cobbled streets before visiting the Tallinn city museum. This was great, covering the history of Tallinn from Danish invaders to independence from Soviet Russia. We were amazed how advanced Estonia was on the middle ages compared with the UK and it's no surprise that they have constantly been fought over.
The buildings are all painted pastel colours with ornate decor like in Gdansk. The Russian Orthodox church had onion tops to its towers. A real mix of architecture but not a single repulsive 1960/70s build in sight. Amazing considering it has had to be rebuilt several times.
Feeling a bit peckish, we then stopped for lunch. We found a lovely restaurant called Ribe where we decided to throw caution to the wind and have the chef's special 3 course meal. (we aren't eating until 9 tonight). The highlight of this was the main course: Paplamaa metsisea duo rosmariiniga maitsestatud mitsiku rusiga kuogivigadega ja kvisi punaveinikastmes.
This translates as wild boar with rice, rosemary and red wine gravy. The waitress said this was very typical Estonian food so we topped it off with an Estonian beer Saku.
We took a walk through the Lower Town, taking photos and browsing the souvenir shops. We converted some Euros into Estonian Kroon since the ship had told us everywhere would accept Euros, which was totally untrue!
Tallinn centre isn't very big so by 3.30 we were ready to head back to the ship. We discovered that a small market had set up on the dock selling souvenirs for Euros not Estonian Kroon. This must be all the ship staff see each time they dock here!
We've tried to find somewhere for a drink outdoors since the day is still ok weather-wise but those people that didn't leave the ship (we don't understand that at all) still have their entertainment going on, so Andrew is currently dozing on a deckchair while we wait to cast off. At 6 we are heading back to the spa/gym/hydropool.
Tonight we are dining at the Orchid (nothing to do with Dharma) which is one of the a la carte restaurants.
Tomorrow we will wake up in Russia!!!
Nagemist (goodbye in Estonian)!
(p.s. We are currently 2 hours ahead of the UK-tomorrow we will be 3)
-- Post From My iPhone
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