Saturday, August 11, 2018

Country Hopping

In Tallinn, Estonia we took a guided walking tour around the town.  Estonia has only been an independent state since 1991.  Before that, the area had been bounced around between Denmark, Russia, the Soviet Union, and Nazi Germany.  The country is small but it had occupied a strategic position at the crossroads of trade between Western and Northern Europe and Russia, hence the competition for the area beginning in the 13th Century.  In the end, they relate most closely to the only people who didn't take them over:  Finland.

They are a very serious people and although our guide had plenty to say, she noted that small talk is not the thing in Estonia.  Most questions will receive a one-word answer.  Also, people there are fiercely independent.  If you need something, you gotta ask for it, because they aren't going to butt in and offer it.

A few of the sights of Tallinn:


They do have a sense of humor at that.




Our next stop, after a blessed day at sea, was Warnemunde, Germany.  Enroute, we passed our sister ship, the Seven Seas Explorer, punctuated with lots of waving and ship's whistle blowing.


At Warnemunde, a lot of people hopped on busses at 6:30 a.m. and took the three-hour ride up to see Berlin.  We'd already been there, so we started our day by running to the grocery store for toothpaste.  Us and most of the crew!  Later in the day, we went to Bad Doberan to visit the Monastery church.  It was started in the 1200's and is still mostly original.




Then we took a narrow-guage railway ride on the "Molli Train" through the beach towns to the summer resort town of Kuhlungsborn.  The Molli runs right down the main streets of the towns and is still important transportation for the locals.



On to Copenhagen.  This turned out to be a disappointing day.  It was turnover for the ship, and the rest of us expected a pleasant boat ride on Copenhagen's canals followed by a stroll among the many beautiful buildings in the city.  Instead, we took a rain-soaked ride in an open tour boat during a thunderstorm and were too uncomfortable to enjoy staying in town to get more thoroughly soaked.  By the way, you know those photos of the Little Mermaid statue that is the symbol of Copenhagen?  Well, cut and paste them from somewhere because the truth is that there are so many people crawling around her that you can't hardly see the poor girl.  Back to the boat, and a rush for hot drinks and clothes dryers.