Day 3 of cruise Tallinn Estonia - day 41

Lovely day – 26 degrees and pretty hot

We had decided not to try and be first off the boat today as we had all day ashore, and didn’t want to fight through all the people. So we got off shortly after everyone else at 10am. We had thought we would hire bikes from near the ship, but the guy we had been told about wasn’t there so we decided to walk into town instead. Walking took a while but it was a lovely day so that didn’t matter. There were such lovely craft shops everywhere in Tallinn – amazing hats, so many hats of every variety you could imagine which we had fun trying on. So many clothes, linen, wool, lots and lots of felted anything – shoes, slippers, jackets, toys, hats, pot warmers. And many many amber shops. Lots of different souvenir shops as well with many of the standard things, but also some cute different items common to the region. I had packed a wee lunch for us from the breakfast buffet, so we ate that as well as trying some small pancakes. It was so hot that Jody had a beer in the afternoon, but we didn’t need to try any other eating places. We walked to a few of the major attractions and took photos at the 2 panoramic viewing points. We also got silly with a few pics – haven’t done that for a few days, so have been missing it. Then it was around time to start back to the ship.

We were due back at 5pm, and it was 3.30 when we started back. Jody distracted me in a shoe shop. I had bought 2 pairs of Reiker shoes in Freiburg and had dithered about a 3rd pair. So of course, that 3rd pair was available in Tallinn, and will have to fit in my suitcase (along with the top, and hat that I bought today). We thought it was just over 30 mins walk back to the ship, and when I saw a taxi, I thought we could just catch that. But it was still a lovely day so we thought we would walk. Hmmmm, taxi might have been a good idea! So, after walking for quite a while, thinking we knew where we were and then realising we didn’t, then asking a policeman for directions, both starting to panic quietly inside, we arrived at 4.59! From time to time I started singing the theme song to Chariots of Fire just to egg us on a bit (I’m not sure that Jody found that amusing at the time!). We had laughed the day before about the runners at the last minute and were sure that wouldn’t happen to us. It wasn’t too bad as one of the buses was also late arriving at 5.10, but we really don’t want to do that again! Later on, when I checked the map I realised where we had gone wrong. Both of us sort of need glasses to read the fine print. I knew we needed to be on a street starting with V. Of course there was a Vene St and a Viru St which were perpendicular to each other, and I presumed the one that we were on was the one that we wanted so we had walked quite a way in the wrong direction. Maybe glasses next time…

So back on the boat we had an early dinner as I was pretty hungry. Then we watched the 7pm show – The Barricade boys, and they were really fantastic. They were 4 singers who had starred in various Les Miserables shows and got together to perform their own show on cruise ships, and also on tour. They mixed up serious songs from Les Mis, with a set from the Jersey Boys, Motown and finished off with Bohemian Rhapsody. The 4 were all great singers, but they also had really snappy dancy moves which were a bit corny and showed a humorous side. They were so great that we went back for the 9pm show as well and sat in the front row. We heard that they are supposed to be back in a couple of nights, so we will be watching out for that.

So tomorrow we are off to St Petersburg in Russia. This was the original name, but has also been known as Petrograd and Leningrad before being returned to the original name in the 90’s. We have organised a private tour guide just for the 2 of us for the day to make the most of the opportunity, so have our fingers crossed for a great day.Read more