Spandinavia

We are in Tallinn, Estonia. I got up early to take photographs from the top deck. We met our guide Alice at the end of the pier, and she immediately took us to the Alexander Nevski cathedral. There was a worship service in progress. The church was absolutely beautiful and the music was heavenly. Across the street stands the parliament building. Alice explained to us how Estonia gained its independence in 1991. A big boulder beside the parking lot of the pink parliament building represents those used in a barricade during the demonstrations that came as part of the revolution against the Soviet occupation. I photographed one of the old watch towers, called Tall Herman, that was part of the city wall, as well as the steeple of St. Mary's Cathedral. One building had a plaque on the side with the founder stretching out a three-dimensional hand over the sidewalk. He was the founder of the dramatics school. Across the street was the school of ballet. The green building that I photographed used to be the central building of the old German guild, the survival of the Hanseatic league. To be a member one had to be married, had to own a house, a ship. I photographed a yellow building with an elaborate wrought-iron fence. This is the residence of the prime minister. At least took us to a higher overlook where we photographed the city. We went through a narrow street and I was able to peek into the lobby of a normal Estonian apartment house. A second overlook gave us a beautiful view of the city from which I took a number of photographs. Next we passed a couple of buildings that were part of the University including a brownstone building that houses the department of science and technology. In front of the residence of the German ambassador, I photographed two beautiful towers that are part of the ancient city inner defenses. The major street down the hill is called long leg Street, into Mark this name there is a house with the drain spout in the shape of a long leg boot. Another street downhill took us passed St. Mary's Church and let us to the Kalev Maiasmokk (Sweet Tooth) Restaurant, noted for its fine chocolate. St. Mary's Church has a clock with a wooden face carved in medieval times. It's inner workings, however, are of more recent design. I photographed the great guild house, which formally house and the Hanseatic League. We went through an alley which has the Balthazar restaurant. This eatery specializes in foods and beers flavored with garlic. Reaching the main square of the city we saw the old City Hall, which resembles the church. Now it is used for concerts and other public assemblies The old town Square has not been used as the side of a permanent market since the late 19th century. We passed the old Hansa restaurant. This restored medieval building specializes in medieval foods, including bear meat and boar meat, served with appropriate drinks from the middle ages. One restaurant is now called the pepper sack. This is the name that was given to a wealthy merchant in medieval days, since a sack of pepper was very costly. We walked down the alley of the master craftsmen. One of the shops, which we enjoyed later, serves the most delicious hot chocolate drinks, and makes over 1000 chocolate truffles per day. The old telegraph office has now been converted into a hotel, called the Telegraph Hotel. We visited the site of an old convent. That building is no longer used for a convent, some of the structure remains, and many of the slabs from the floor are still on display in the alleyway. There are also a number of terra-cotta buttresses going across that alleyway. I was able to photograph them. Next we traveled along side the old city wall. Many shops line the base of this wall even today. When some permanent structures were removed by the Soviets, the wall began to collapse. To strengthen the wall, the Soviets installed concrete buttresses which are still visible today. When our tour was over we still had some free time left. We retraced our steps, went back to the coffee shop and enjoyed a hot drink and some delicious truffles. And try to retake some of the photographs we had taken earlier. We took the shuttle bus back to the ship, and I had a Reuben sandwich and a beer for lunch. It was very cold outside this morning. In fact, there were snow flurries just before we got off the ship. So we came inside, warmed ourselves up, had a good lunch, and got ready to set sail at 3 PM. It is easy to confuse the churches of Tallinn with one another. The church of Saint Nicholas is now a museum. It has two cages under an onion dome topped by a steeple. The church of St. Mary has one cage topped by an onion dome and the steeple. The tallest spire in the city belongs to Saint Olaf's church. The church with multiple onion domes is the cathedral of Alexander Nevski. At Chef's Table tonight we met Alejandro and Diana from Houston, TXRead more