After meeting in the lounge to recap our two days in St. Petersburg, we could hear the ships horn blast, and slowly we could feel the ship start moving.  It was finally time to travel to our next destination…..Tallin, Estonia.

We cruised all night, the Baltic Sea was like glass, and our ship didn’t show any signs of movement.  This was fortunate for all the light weights aboard.  Les and I left the sliding glass door to our balcony open all night, as I drank in all the fresh ocean air.  That made sleeping much more enjoyable, and relaxing.

Our guide was a bouncy blond Scandinavian woman of middle age with a big smile, and a personality to match.  She proudly guided us through the streets of Tallinn as she told us of Estonian struggles, and achievements.

We started our tour by stopping at the fair grounds where every four years they have a music, and song festival.  This is where the people of Estonia gathered to sing, and gain courage to build their voices in numbers enabling them to win their independence  from Russian rule.  This only happened some twenty plus years ago, and since then they have been struggling to build back their infrastructure, and becoming the strong country they know they can be.

They are a proud people who literally sang their way to independence!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the stops on our day long tour was the oldest Cathedral in Estonia.  It had survived the Nazis, and was still standing.  This cathedral dates back to the 1200’s, and is quite beautiful.

The walls were thick, and the church cool.  While we were there we were treated to a short midieval concert with lutes, and midieval song.  I felt like I had teleported back in time!

As we turned to leave, I was able to take a picture of the old organ pipes.

After a long day our tour was over, and we returned to our ship.  I loved the excitement and enthusiasm of the people of Tallinn.   They were happy people, and seemed to be loving life.  In contrast to what many of them had been through, life was now good!