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| The port (and modern city skyline) in Tallinn, Estonia. The Talllink ferries run regular routes to Stockholm and Helsinki. |
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| The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, a Russian Orthodox Church; we had a glorious day, in every way, in Tallinn. |
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| Interesting sculpture outside the drama school, honoring the school's founder, Voldemar Panso. |
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| Clock tower and steeple of St. Mary's (Toomkirk) and national flag, Estonia has only been free from Soviet rule since 1991. |
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| Horse Chestnut tree in full bloom. |
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| Rooftops of the Old Town and harbor view, our cruise ship is in the distance. Lutheran Church is the copper steeple on the left, St. Mary's (Toomkirk) is on the right. |
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| Tallinn was on of our favorite cities to visit! Our guided walking tour included personal headsets so that we didn't miss a thing, making our tour both enjoyable and informative. Tallinn is the oldest capital city in Northern Europe. |
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| The Barn Swallow is the national bird of Estonia. |
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| Cafe in the Old Town, notice fur covers on the chairs in the foreground! |
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| There were many shopping opportunities here and the prices were excellent. |
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| I loved the apron in this shop window. (Can you tell by my grinning reflection?) |
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| Handmade postcards for sale, Tallinn was known as Reval until the 1920's. |
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| I am so happy that this picture was taken, I didn't know that my husband had snapped it! There is a sign beside the open door of this house that reads: "The Little Red House Full of Bright Ideas"... I love that! |
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| The Old Town with patched copper spire of the Lutheran Church. |
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| Stout Margaret Tower; these structures, open for tours, were used as defense structures in medieval times. |
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| We bid historic Tallinn adieu after a perfect day and headed back to our ship. Life is Good! Tomorrow's port of call: Санкт-Петербург (St. Petersburg) Observations from my journal: 1. The people of Estonia are open, friendly and extremely hospitable! 2. City specific lectures by our ship's travel expert, John Lawrence, have proved extremely valuable. 3. Closed church pews (with doors) were constructed for trapping heat from hot stones to keep the congregants warm in the winter months. 4. Souvenirs made from Juniper (spoons, butter spreaders and trivets) were popular and reasonably priced. |
7 comments:
I'm having a wunnerful time accompanying you.
I'm enjoying following your trip, great photo's and yes...lovely apron!
Jim and I are having such a good time "traveling" with you! We have had Estonian members in our church since we were once a Swedish Lutheran church, so it's really nice to see this capital city with them in mind. Do you really like the cruise tourist mode, rather than fly and drive to different areas? Did you feel you had enough time in each port your visited? Was it too limiting? We keep getting info from the Viking River Cruises which cover Europe, Scandinavia, and the Mediterranean. Some of the tours look amazing, but we wondered if we'd feel restricted by a ship and it's specific times, etc.
I am enjoying your trip so much. Thanks for sharing all the pictures.
Fascinating peek into a place I will likely never see in person. I can certainly see why you liked this town!
When I was in Finland (college), I brought home several trivets made from juniper. The smell lingered for many years, bringing back good memories.
So interesting! I cannot even think where Estonia lies--my knowledge of European geography is so poor. All I know is you are really far north if they have to put furs on the chairs!
Wonderful wonderful photos.
Oh, this made me feel so nostalgic! I loved Tallinn and have sat on that very same wall overlooking the rooftops. I did some serious shopping in the markets there!
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