Medieval Times...

Lovely Tallinn, Estonia. It's a place I never imagined I'd see or even thought about seeing. I've been here 3 times already and each time was just as good as the first and I'm STILL discovering. Yes, we are now in regular cruises and only a few ports come up now and then that are new or rare. Otherwise, we're in repeat mode until returning to the Mediterranean in September. Estonia sits just on the brim of Russia. It actually gained its independence from Russia in 1918 only it was overtaken by Russia in the war again in 1944. It became part of the collective U.S.S.R. until fully gaining its independence again in 1991. Russians, Ukrainians, Byelorussians, and Estonians make up the diversity of the country. The old city is the best-preserved in Northern Europe. All the streets are lined with cobblestone and the buildings are much in the style of the medieval era. There's a gothic town hall at the epicenter of this old city and then the towering spire of St. Olaf's Church (which I learned was once the tallest building on earth). The day started off quite lovely and HOT! Whoa. For being so close to Russia and the north, it was pretty damn hot out there. We wound through the city to what the crew has remarked as one of THE best places to eat, the Kompressor. It definitely lived up to its reputation. We pretty much served ourselves by placing an order at the bar. We ordered 4 types of pancakes. One filled with bacon and smoked cheese, a garlic and cream, raspberries and sweet cream, and finally banana and honey. These were no ordinary pancakes and not crepes either. These had the size and feel of a crepe, but the thickness of a breakfast pancake. There was a slight saltiness to them as well as a sweetness. Yum!! We chowed down on those and washed it down with a lovely glass of pear cider. I tell ya, I have 5 rum and cokes in our bar and it doesn't go to my head like the pear cider out here. Whew! Last Tallinn we also went to a good medieval place to dine on some fabulous mushroom soup. The mushrooms were HUGE. It was called Olde Hansa. It was a great place if you like to eat meats like bear, rabbit, duck, deer, and other such odds and ends. We weren't very fond of the gamey nature of the menu, but the mushroom soup accompanied by the ale was lovely. I also had this pudding dessert with a saffron cream on top. It was soooo good. Anyway, back to today. I strolled around and found a good place to get free Internet and caught up some on my picture uploading. SO, look back on previous posts. I did what I could in the time I had. The shopping here is the cheapest of all the ports. Just strolling around town is wonderful. Right outside of Olde Hansa you can get a whiff of the brown sugar and butter roasted almonds. It glides through the air and right up into your nostrils and in a funny way reminds me of Christmas. They taste wonderful. Something to think about for the holidays. Incidentally, you CAN take a trip here to SEE good ole St. Nick in the North Pole. St. Nick's own church resides here in Tallinn. I keep forgetting that the idea of Santa Claus came from Europe. Who knew I was so close to him? Along the perimeter of the entrance to old town is a place called the "wall of wool." So named for the wares being sold. TONS of wool sweaters, scarves, hats, gloves, mittens, jackets, and all other sorts. These are crafty people. You can get a whole bunch of wood carvings, glass blown items, linens, and all sorts of other trinkets. Tallinn just takes you right back to those medieval times with every square inch in old town right down to the locals dressed up in the garb of the time. I guess it kind of compares to the recreations in the U.S. in places like Philadelphia or Williamsburg. I'm liking the ports up north so far. I just wish they were a little more inexpensive.