Today is Friday, transfer day to Tallinn, Estonia. I have to admit, if anyone had asked me even a couple of months ago if I would have put Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia on the top of my travel bucket list, I probably would have laughed. But this has been an amazing and extremely interesting trip so far.
I missed my opportunity to put my feet into the Baltic on Tuesday, when I opted out of the optional tour to Jurmalla. But I got another chance today! On the way to Tallinn we made a stop at a small coastal (well, actually on a large bay) resort town named Parnu. Here is the beach ...
And here are a few pictures of the town itself, very friendly and colorful...
And finally, in the park.
We arrived in Tallinn in the late afternoon, checked into the hotel, and then I just went to my room to relax a little. There hasn't really been a lot of down time this week, and as much as I loved the others on the tour, I felt that I needed a little alone (read that as recharge) time.
On Saturday morning our first scheduled event was a Tallinn City Tour. This area of the Baltics actually has some hills, and the bus took us up to the castle on the top of one of them. We toured the castle grounds...
and the 'upper' old town, including a couple of interesting doors (there are so many lovely and interesting doors in this part of Europe) and some city views toward the water...
We then walked down a lot of steps (I didn't count) and ended up in the lower part of old town. Everything from pictures from inside the Great Guild Hall to a picture of a pharmacy that has been there since 1422!
This was the end of the official city tour, but I couldn't resist spending some more time in town. I had decided not to go on the optional excursion (to a park and a museum) so had plenty of time to keep walking. Despite the misty rain that fell for a while. After all, as Mother used to say, "You're not sugar, you won't melt!". A few pictures here, including from the park I walked through and the beautiful flower market.
I arrived back at the hotel mid-afternoon and relaxed until it was time to leave for our 'medieval' dinner. I have to say the restaurant was a little disappointing; it was medieval in that everything was served family style, but the white tablecloths and modern metal cutlery kind of didn't seem very medieval. The food was ok but not amazing - or particularly medieval. However, for those of us who chose to go to this final optional dinner, the company was GREAT. We had a wonderful time talking and laughing on our last night together.
So ends the Baltic tour. Some of us go home tomorrow, some of us on to Helsinki with the same tour, and some to other places. I leave for Amsterdam to spend a few days with long-time friends who were not in Holland when I was there earlier in the month.
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