Tallinn

We had a lovely visit to Tallinn. The capital of Estonia and a well preserved medieval city with a great skyline of red tiles which reminded me of Graz.
The gods were on our side this morning. The sun was shining and when I opened the doors out to the balcony the air was warm. We ate our breakfast downstairs in the more civilised restaurant which provides toast on toast racks cut in three as at boarding school. The poached eggs were perfection.
It was a very easy to access from ship to shore by shuttle and then we explored on foot around the two parts of the town.This  layout was similar to Zagreb although it did not have a church in the corner of the street running through the city walls but it did have a cafe atop the walls which we accessed by a stone staircase of narrow proportions,very steep and rather a challenge for a cup of coffee.
We climbed up to the place city of Toompea via old cobbled streets leading to stairs into the old city. In  medieval times the nobility resided here,high above the port and safeguarded  by the thick walls of the fortress. These stairs were closed off at night to safeguard the residents and keep them safe in their beds from the ghosts and village people. Lots of shops now line the stairway selling a host of crafts and services to the tourists. Ghostly stories abound here,must have been very superstitious peoples.
The old town now  houses the diplomats and government  buildings, the church and lookouts from the city walls look  across the city towards the port. The defensive fortress was built in 1229 and Herman's Tower looks out over the town.It is very picturesque set in gardens and the old castle. From here  the cityscape is one of red tiled towers and steeples atop the various churches, city buildings and the Town Hall. We spent time wandering through the old cobbled streets past the embassy residences towards the main square outside the palace still used for administration purposes.
We explored the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral across the spare from the castle to see the mosaics .The Russian onion domes are marvellous.
We read about the Maiden's Tower,now a museum but called thus because it was considered in previous times  a place of ill repute where men were enticed into the prison by prostitutes plying their trade and then incarcerated for their crimes. This was in the area known as the Danish Kings Garden where staues of monks depicted their role in saving the souls of men. It was also where we climbed up to the cafe atop the walls of the fortress.
We climbed back down into the town via another set of steps and found the best coffee shop in town according to Lonely Planet- a place with the slogan, "the embassy of good food,"  how could you resist?
It was housed in a building said to have been there since before Columbus set sail to the New World and stroganoff to Hungary!
Then we explored the old Town Hall Square,a 15th Century timescale with a  collection of old buildings surrounding the Town Hall. There was a traditional market to explore,plus a marvellous dancing performance of local groups. The women did one where they plied their knitting needles throughout plus another featuring soup spoons.Such must be life for women in the region. There was a local festival running over the week featuring food and dance so we were lucky to stumble on the scene.
Time was running out but we did manage to find Masters Courtyard a place of crafts people and very atmospheric. We bought some Xmas angels handmade by a resident artist here.There was music playing at the little cafe and locals enjoying their Sunday. Another similar  historic shopping mall was the Catherine's Passage where we found an underground shop where Brad  got a model Estonian house for her shadow box. This dated back to medieval times and Queen Catherine,a much beloved monarch who was said to have saved citizens from harm.
We would have loved to have stayed longer but the storm clouds were gathering as we headed back to the ship via the shuttle but the heavens opened as we stepped out of the shuttle and the heavens opened as we ran down the quayside towards the ship.
Some dry clothes and some warm food and all ended well.
Tallinn was a special place to visit,  highly recommended for its antiquity and charm.