Day 16th July 27th a day in Tallinn Estonia.

Day 16th July 27th a day in Tallinn Estonia.
I awoke to the long mournful sound of the fog horn; yes were approaching Tallinn in dense fog. It had cleared slightly as the ship tied up at the wharf; I could just glimpse Tallinn through the clearing fog. By the time we had finished breakfast the fog had cleared to allow the sun to shine out of a beautiful blue sky; the first time since Stockholm.
Expectant tourists like me who had booked on tours ashore gathered in the Princess Theatre where we were organised into groups. We were then were led to the gangway. In order to leave the ship we had to put our ships ID card into a machine to register our departure. Our bus drove us through the main street with many fine modern buildings to the outskirts where we were shown old wooden houses. There were many trees around them. The bus drove up a small hill and stopped at a park where a wooden sound shell stood at the bottom of a large grassy slope big enough to accommodate and large audience. The shell was originally built so that Estonians could have a National song day. It is held every five years. Estonians come from near and far for this festival. After the official program the audience join in and sing the songs of their choice. Next we were shown a Russian settlement with tall Russian style apartment blocks. The Russians decided to build a large industrial area which our guide said the Estonians did not want. Our guide said that all Estonians were equal as were driving through a beautiful wooded housing estate, but the people living in this estate were slightly “more equal”. The houses certainly looked “more equal”. Next we were driving through a pine forest and in this pine forest was the city’s cemetery. A beautiful resting place! After the forest we stopped at a lovely white sandy beach overlooking some of the town and our ship. The sand was very fine; just like castor sugar. We drove back to the city to see a well preserved medieval town wall complete with defence turrets. There was a hill behind the wall with a fort. After the fort was no longer needed an ornate church was built on the site. The Russians also built their orthodox church. Both are beautiful. On the way back to the ship we were offered the chance to leave the tour in the main street for a look at the old town; there was a shuttle to catch to get us back to the ship. On one narrow street there were about twenty cut flower stalls. The flowers were fresh and equal in beauty and colour to any I have seen. I bought Fay a dozen red roses. Hamburger bars were selling hamburgers for 71 Zlotys or Kiwi $10.14 and a pizza for 99.00 Zlotys or $US9.90 or kiwi =$14.14.
When I arrived back at the ship the fog had reappeared and almost hid the two ships. Stalls had since sprung up and were well stocked with fine clothing, wooded carvings and much more. I enjoyed my tour of Tallinn.
While I was touring another large cruise ship arrived and moored on the other side of the pier. The two big ships looked grand together.
We sailed at 1pm bound for Gdynia in Poland at 1pm.
The sun rose at 4:57am and set at 9:58pm.
Estonia is 17,458 miles² Has a population of 1,307,605 comprised of 900,000 Estonians and the rest are mainly Russians according to our guide.


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