Baltic Cruise - June 26 and 27, 2015 - Cruising and Estonia

Friday, June 26, we cruised all day and had fun playing card games with our family group again.  Then on Saturday, June 27, we took a four-hour bus tour of Tallinn, Estonia.  

Tallinn has a population of 440,043 and is situated on the northern coast of Estonia, which is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm, and west of Saint Petersburg.  Tallinn's Old Town is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Here can be seen St. Olaf's Church in the background.  It is believed to have been built in the 12th century, extensively rebuilt during the 14th century.  It went from a Catholic to a Lutheran to a Baptist Church of today.

With nearly 1 1/4 miles of its original city walls still standing, Tallinn has one of the best preserved medieval fortifications. Tallinn originally was comprised of 46 wall and gate towers.  Large sections of it still stand today, including 26 defensive towers. A large part of what gives Old Town its fairy tale charm is the walls and towers that surround it.

From 1944 until 1991, the Soviet KGB used Oleviste's spire on St. Olaf's Church as a radio tower and surveillance point.

The original walls and fortresses can be seen everywhere!

We next visited the large and richly decorated Russian Orthodox church, which was completed on Toompea Hill in 1900, when Estonia was part of the Czarist Empire.

This beautiful church has a powerful ensemble of church bells that are located in the church towers.  There are a total of 11 bells, including Tallinn’s largest bell, which weighs 15 tons. Carillons by the entire ensemble can be heard before services. The interior,  is decorated with mosaics and icons.

This location is called Pikk Hermann or the Tall Hermann Tower. It is located at Toompea Castle in Tallinn on the hill that carries the same name.  It is situated next to the Estonian Parliament building. The flag of Estonia always flies here on the tower.   The original structure was begun in 1360, and ended up taking a whopping 40 years to complete. Later, the height of the tower was increased in the 16th Century.

Kadriorg Palace was built for Catherine I of Russia by Peter the Great.   Both the Estonian and the German name for the palace means "Catherine's Valley."

Today it is a museum of art.

St Mary's Cathedral, Tallinn was originally established by Danes in the 13th century on Toompea Hill.  It is the oldest church in Tallinn and mainland Estonia. It is also the only building in Toompea which survived a 17th-century fire.

Altar at the Cathedral.

A stone-carved sarcophagi from the 17th century. 

Tallinn Old Town was once a home to wealthy merchants settling from Germany, Denmark and beyond.

Old Town feels like you have gone back centuries in time with its cobble-stone streets and quaint shops.

Such a beautiful setting for a wedding reception!

Having quilted quite a good deal when I was younger, I was fascinated with their beautiful handiwork.

Can you imagine the time put into this beautiful handiwork--all done by hand!

George listening to the guide.

This was very interesting--the Town Pharmacy of Tallinn.  It is one of the oldest continually working apothecaries in the world--first established in 1422.

The Town Square of Tallinn was so pleasant.  While the guys chatted and stopped for the Coca-Cola Lite, we girls hit all the little craft booths.

A music festival was going on, so it was fun to hear the music of the country as we strolled from booth to booth.

 No better traveling companions than my husband, my kids and their spouses, and my siblings and their spouses.  We always have such a great time together!

Beverly and Joyce in front of Tallinn Town Hall, located in the main square, which is the only surviving Gothic town hall in Northern Europe. The first recorded mention of the Town Hall dates from 1322. Its present form dates from 1402-1404, when the building was rebuilt. 

 

 The spire was destroyed in an aerial bombing on March 9, 1944. It was rebuilt in 1950. The Town Hall is in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites with the Tallinn's Old Town.

Joyce with some of the women in their native Estonian dresses.

After leaving Old Town, we saw some of the more modern structures.  This is an amphitheater used for concerts and productions.

Ruins of the St. Bridget's (Birgitta) Convent.  This dates back to 1407 when the largest nunnery in Old Livoia was founded here, named after St. Birgitta who founded the mother convent in Sweden.  It survived in its original form until 1577, when the forces of Ivan the Terrible destroyed it.  The massive facade, walls, cellars, and graveyard have survived until the present.  The ruins are used for summer concerts.

 We passed by the Russalka Memorial, a bronze monument erected on September 7, 1902, to mark the ninth anniversary of the sinking of the Russian warship Rusalka, or "Mermaid, which sank en route to Finland in 1892.  The monument depicts an angel holding an Orthodox cross towards the assumed direction of the shipwreck.

Enjoying the beautiful waterfront as we headed back to the ship.

 Tonight at dinner, we celebrated John and Alison's 23rd Wedding Anniversary.

We all had such a great time.  They are so much fun to be around!