Tallinn and other places

Next stop was Tallinn in Estonia.
This was one of the best places we visited. We took a tour that showed us through the Old Town and some of the newer parts of the city. Estonia is a small country with a population of just over 1 million people. Tallinn has about half of the country's population.

We went by bus from the dock to the outskirts of the Old Town. The only way to see the Old Town is on foot and we walked through various streets, looking at the upper town and the lower town, the old merchant's houses and business premises, beautiful knitwear and linen shops, the market square and a whole lot of other places. (Photos to come!)

After a short shopping time, we then boarded the bus which took us through the newer parts of the city to an open air museum which has been built to show how the Estonians lived in earlier times. It was a bitterly cold wind as is was right beside the ocean. We also got to have a coffee and cake at a cute cafe nearby.

Estonia has free wifi all over so we were able to download some emails and podcasts as well, but not able to update the blog, hence I am doing it now - at Heathrow Airport from the Star Alliance lounge, which also has free internet.

We really enjoyed Tallinn and would probably like to go back there for another longer visit. On the way to our next stop, we had to go under a very high suspension bridge called the Great Belt Bridge. It is in Denmark and joins the mainland with the island where Copenhagen is situated. We passed under the bridge at 10.00 pm and were able to take pictures because it was so light. (pics to come!) The bottom of the bridge was only 5 metres higher than the top of the ship!

Gothenberg

After a day at sea, we arrived in Gothenberg. Another port with lots of islands around the harbour entrance.
We had decided to do an afternoon tour from the ship, so we were able to have a quiet morning on board before leaving on the tour. It was a city sights tour taking in a ride around the city, a stop at a Lutheran Church to take photos, a stop at the Botanic Gardens where I found a lovely quilt exhibition, another highlights of the city and back to the ship. Gothenberg is a more modern city than Stockholm and there were not so many old buildings to see.

Back to Harwich

 Back on the ship for another two nights and a full day at sea. Days at sea were generally spent reading, walking around the ship, occasional coffees and snoozing.

By evening, the wind in the North Sea had got quite strong and the waves were a lot bigger than we had experienced before. It got quite rocky and rolly and even the juggler at the evening show had a job to keep all his balls in the air!

After a very rocky sleep, we arrived in Harwich about 4.15 am. By 6.30 we were up and showered and ready for breakfast. Disembarked at 7.45 am then waited till 8.30 to board a bus to take us back to London. We were able to get a train quite quickly from London Bridge and were back at David and Carol's for lunch.