We woke as the ship was reversing into her berth at Tallinn at 8am. Across the jetty we could see another cruise ship. Despite the gloomy weather forecast of 10C and cloud we had blue skies and bright sunshine.
Our sunshine was then taken away when another cruise docked next to Aurora plunging our balcony into shadow.
After breakfast in the Medina restaurant we walked out along the pier to catch the shuttle bus into Tallinn.
Our Baltic cruise on P&O Aurora would take us to Poland, Lithuania, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Germany, Denmark and Norway.
Day 9 was on Sunday 21st May and we were in Tallinn in Estonia.
Into Tallinn
We were dropped off at the end of Viru and we walked up into the Lower Town until we reached the tourist office on Niguliste.
There I picked up a detailed map of the town. It may have been Sunday but all the shops and boutiques were open. The streets were bustling with people. After the last couple of days in St Petersburg it felt unusual to be on a street lined with shops.
After we passed our first beautiful church St Nicholas church, we started our walk up to the Upper Town.
At the end of the street we turned into an alley with a rough ramp on the left and steps on the right.This was the way up to the Upper Town.
On both sides of the alley there were private houses as well as shops and restaurants. The path was busy with people going both up and down. Wheelchair uses were found it particularly difficult as in places the ramp was very steep.
Upper Town
At the top was a wooden open area and from there we had our first views of the Lower Town. On one side of the square was a wall with a precarious walkway along the top and sometimes along the side.
From there we walked along cobbled streets towards the Saint Alexander Nevsky Orthodox Cathedral.
Around the cathedral we had to dodge out of the way of cars and coaches that had followed the road up to the Upper Town. This area was definitely tourist central with walking parties of tourists all around us. As we passed the next church we were passing a large group of tourists having a talk from their guide. Just then an equally large group of cyclists were following their guide arrived and were forcing way past everyone.
Once past the crowds we came to the Cathedral of Saint Mary the Virgin – the Dome Church.
The Patkuli viewing point was very packed when we arrived but after a short while the crowds moved on. The views of the Lower Town from here were spectacular.
