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Tallinn, Estonia, a port on Baltic Cruise

by lpucciar, 10/12/2009 14:10

Category: Cruises

We arrived in Tallinn on schedule at 7am and left for our walking/shopping tour at 8:15am, again on schedule.  Tallinn (pronounced Tahl-inn, according to the locals), is divided into the upper town, which is modern and new, and the lower town, which dates back to the middle ages and Teutonic knights.  We visited the old town, which can only be described as charming.  It is original, and very navigable, however, the cobblestones are uneven and present some challenges to people like me.  I did fine with leki, and noticed many others with trekking poles also.  The Estonians are educated with 4-7 languages, and it was amazing to see our guide speak to us in English and then French to our guests from France, Spanish to the Mexicans, and Italian to the Italians.  She is 18 years old, going to attend University next year, and very smart.  She knows full history of Estonia and other surrounding countries, not to mention world politics.  She lives on her own, and already has traveled extensively--on her own peso!  We walked all around the old town for about 3 1/2 hours and then came back to the ship.  The ship sails at 12:30pm, so you only have a short time here.  Tallinn is a town of many crafters which make beautiful lace, knit sweaters from wool, linen and other fabrics and they also are famous for their glass blowing techniques.  Every store has everything done in cat motifs, however, you don't see many cats, but loads of dogs.  (I got my dog fix today).  I took tons of photos and during one of the stops, I enjoyed a coffee in the cafe housed in Town Hall (very historic, with brick archways, etc); Tony had what he described as a delicious cheese pastry.   It was lovely to walk about and hear music from all of the Churches, since it is Sunday. 

The walk from the ship to the area where the shuttle buses/tour buses are is a bit lengthy, and the walk into town is about 1/2 hour.  The ship does offer shuttle buses which run every 15 minutes.  Tallinn seemed to be a big hit with everyone I spoke with so far. 

Filed under:  Cruises, Northern Europe, Tallinn, Baltic Cruise, Estonia
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