Walters tour of Tallinn

Today was to be an exciting day. We would be in Tallinn Estonia, not somewhere I would ever imagine visiting. Now if you know anything about the city You will be aware that it has an old walled town very close to the port. Perfect for cruisers because it means they don't have to walk far. These old Estonians knew how to plan for future tourists. We met the girls for a posh breakfast then donned our rucksack full of raincoats and headed for deck 2 midships. In no time at all we were on Estonian soul and having our photo taken by the ships photographer behind a ships wheel reading 'welcome to Tallinn'. 

Welcome to Estonia

As with most of our port days, I had a plan. Kathy had given me a very useful book about cruising the Baltic and it contained a walking tour of Tallinn. I took it upon myself to become tour guide and give the rest of them the 'Walters Tour of Tallinn'. It began at Fat Mary's Tower where we entered the old town for the first time via an archway. 

The streets beyond were really quaint and it took a lot of doing to imagine the torture that must have gone on in the cellars of the old KGB building that the Walters tour passed. The tour led us next to acsection of the walls that could be entered (fee required) so we handed over our euros and went in. Those ancient Tallonians must have been Giants cos those steps were nearly as big as me. Luckily there were ropes whereby us little ones could haul ourselves up. We looked in three towers and walked along a section of walls. The views were great and the sun was shining. 

Giant steps are what we take

Walking on the walls

After all the exercise some members of the group needed the loo, so we had to leave the tour route and venture beyond the walls to look for one. In a nearby park we found one that cost 20c and cleaned itself after every use. That passed a pleasant half hour. But eventually we were back inside the walls and back on track. I followed the tour through narrow streets to the bustling town square where we decided to take a break and buy a drink in one of the pleasant restaurants. 

The tour continued down some narrow streets and arrived at a gate in the wall, and an ice cream cart. Naturally we took advantage of this. 

Next we came to a pretty cathedral and a stunning viewpoint over the city, although it was chokka with pesky tourists. 

Time for another lengthy toilet stop at the self clean toilet. Another pleasant half hour was passed waiting around. 

We then viewed a couple of churches and the very pink town hall. 

The final part of the tour took us through a park, past a bridal party and an Estonia druggie fight, and back round to our lovely first toilet. We strolled back to the ship in plenty of time. I felt the Walters Tour of Tallinn had been a success. 

The evening was spent with a show, where the main singer had to go home due to a family death so one of the RC singers stepped in and did great, a hard rock music quiz in which we failed miserably, dinner, and a movie quiz in which we failed miserably. 

And so to bed. We have an early start as we roll into Russia tomorrow. 

Saving our energy

Day 3 ( as us nautical types call it) was another sea day so we took it easy again. They made it a bit easier for us by asking us to put our clocks forward an hour so that we didn't have to do this in Tallinn tomorrow, so we breakfasted late. Ian and I ate alone in the windjammer around  11 as the others were having a lie in. It was packed as usual. 

We wandered down to the basketball court where the sun was shining and played a little hoops. Then it was time for an important event. Jackie v Ian at crazy golf. The first game was a tie, with me taking the lead before I crumbled and Ian pegged me back. A rematch was therefore required. 

Crazy golf at sea!

This time it was a rout. I got way in front and hung on. Ian wasn't helped by a very poor hooked shot into deep rough. 

Not an easy shot

The champion at work

Excuses abounded but that doesn't change the fact that I won. 

It was very pleasant by this time so we got our books and sat down on deck to read. The sea, blue skies, cocktails. It was idyllic. 

Then Heather and David came along the deck and found us. We chatted for a while before going for a spot of lunch. After that it was time to meet the girls for round two of the progressive quiz. We found out that us Yorkshire Allstars were one of the top seven teams from round one, although we found this one harder. Round three was to be on the next sea day, day 10, so we had plenty of time to revise. 

Us frequent cruisers of the Crown and Anchor society ( all the Walters, no Allums) had received an invitation to a welcome back party at 5.15, which we of course accepted. It was pretty boring, but the alcohol flowed freely and both Kathy and Ian got a little tipsy. 

Party time

The show was a flautist, not something I would have chose to go to had I known, but she wasn't bad. 

We tried our hand at another 8pm music quiz before tea, and once again failed miserably. You would have thought 70s disco tunes would be right up our alley wouldn't you? After another excellent meal waited on by Carlos (" I just need to tell you something") and Ionut ( we have no idea how to pronounce it either) we headed for the 70s disco party. It was crowded so we elected to watch from deck 8. Big mistake. Not only could we not get involved with the dancing from up there, but we didn't get any fluorescent hoops or sparkly cocktails. The next one we are going on the dance floor. 

And so to bed, for tomorrow we are in Estonia. 

Beautiful, beautiful, Copenhagen.

Our first port of call was Copenhagen, Denmark. We were docking at 7am, and being keen to see 'The Bridge', I wanted to get up early and watch our approach. I awoke to bright sunlight and rushed to the window to see land close by. A glance at my watch however showed it to be before 5am. Too early I decided, and snuggled back in bed. The next time I awoke it was almost 7am and we were just reversing into our parking space. I did catch sight of 'The Bridge' in the far distance though. We had decided on the posh breakfast today, and spent a pleasant half hour or so chatting with people from Florida, Edinburgh, and the south west. Then it was time to set foot on Danish soul for the very first time. We had done some research that said it was easy to walk from the dock into the city, so we bypassed all the buses and set off. The first thing we came to was 'The Big Mermaid'. Just like the little one, only bigger.  The only people around were the deaf party from the boat, so we helped each other out by taking photos of the others party. Then, after strolling on for a couple of hundred yards, we came to a plethora of buses and hot dog vans. Yes, the Little Mermaid was in town and it was a free for all. Vicky and I attempted photos from a railing above, only to be manhandled by a Spanish lady. 

We then went down to the rocks and managed to get some good shots, before Vicky fell over trying to avoid a group of Japanese. We decided she wasn't worth the hassle and carried on. 

The day was bright but windy, so a brisk walk was required. Next we came across a fountain, this turned out to be Copenhagens famous Gefion Fountain. 

We passed the Amalienborg Palace, the official residence of the Danish Royal Family, and came across Nyhaven (New Harbour) a small inlet lined with painted houses. One of these was the residence of Hans Christian Anderson. 

Its the red one in the background. 

Next stop was the Christianborg Palace, which hosts state receptions, and, we learned, has burned down twice. Here we visited both the Palace and the Excavations underneath of former palaces. We had to wear natty little shoe covers. We could also take photos and access the Internet. 

Outside

Nice shoes!

The throne room

The Danish Queen 

It was here that we discovered that the Danes like toilets, with several dotted about the place. Good news for most of us. 

We were a little peckish on exit so crossed to a 7 eleven to buy sandwiches and coffee, mine was a very seedy black bread with cheese that was so chewy I couldn't finish it. We also bought some interesting looking cakes that turned out to be rum babas. We walked up what appeared to be a main shopping street and came across the round tower. It turned out to be an observatory with a road winding up instead of steps. Vicky needed the loo, but no worries as there were loads in here. 

The road to the top

From the top

Coming down

We had done a kind of circuit of the middle of Copnhagen and our last stop was the Rosenborg Palace. We weren't far away from it at the round tower, but there was plenty of time for me to bash into one of the many bikes and knock it over.  Needless to say I had no help lifting it back up. The Rosenberg is the place where the Royal art collections are kept, including the Crown Jewels. Unfortunately we only had time to view it from the outside. 

Lovely panorama

On the way back to the boat we came across about six streets in a row where all the houses were painted orange. They were fabulous

By now we were flagging, but we still had one last place to visit. Fortunately the kastellet was in our way. It is an old fort on a star shaped island that has been turned into a park. The military barracks still remain in the centre however. 

All aboard was 3.30, but we arrived in plenty of time. Exhausted but very pleased with our day in Copenhagen.

We all needed a bit of a rest before we went to see this evenings show, and sat down to watch the sail away and get a view of us passing The Bridge. We were all a bit confused when we appeared to be sailing in the opposite direction! Looking at the map on TV we were sailing back the way we had come to go around and through another bridge. It transpires this was The Great Belt bridge. More later. The show was a medley of songs by the resident singers and dancers, but was pretty good. During this Tim, the cruise director, explained we would be sailing under the bridge with very little clearance at around 11pm. We still had time before dinner to try our hand at the 50s and 60s music quiz, reasoning that Heather and David would be some help. Wrong! None of us were any good either so we were delighted with our score of 5. Dinner was lovely again, then we took in the dancing for a while before Ian and Kathy, plus the Allums headed to the top to view the passing. Vicky and I decided to watch from our balcony due to being nesh. We could see the bridge approaching and we did indeed appear too tall. Vicky turned away in horror, unable to look. Ian and Kathy explained later that the clearance only seemed like a matter of inches. It was a great spectacle. 

We all went to bed with a smile on our faces, shattered but content. 

All at sea

We arranged to meet the girls for a 9am breakfast in order to fit in all our planned activities so turned up at the windjammer all wide eyed and bushy tailed. Vicky was also perky, but Kathy, having slept badly, was not. No matter. The rest of us enjoyed a large breakfast, even managing to find a table. Vicky and I then went off to play crazy golf. At sea!! It was close but I crumbled on the last couple of holes and Vicky ran out the winner. 

Ian, Kathy and Vicky all went to the gym, and then rushed back so we could do a music quiz, big bands. Needless to say we did very poorly, most of our answers being Glen Miller. 

The evening was the first formal so we all dressed up accordingly. 

We stuffed our faces then headed for the theatre to see 'AbbaMax', who were fabulous and got us all dancing in the aisles. And so to bed. 

All aboard

We had a leisurely breakfast at the holiday inn before heading for Harwich. As we arrived at the port a little early, we parked up at Dovercourt beach to kill a bit of time, and Vicky had a hilarious lesson in Skimming stones. She is not a natural. 

A text came through to say that the Southerners were around 20 mins away, so we headed for the terminal. Along the way we spotted a hand car wash, and decided we had time to indulge. A bird had left a huge deposit on the bonnet overnight that required industrial style cleaning. Unfortunately the Kosovans in Harwich are much more thorough than those in Rotherham and we kept the others waiting on the docks. The car was gleaming though. 

We transferred luggage, boarded the bus, and were soon entering the cruise terminal. Much to our delight, and the chagrin of the Allums, we were fast tracked due to our Gold Crown and Anchor club status, and were booked in in no time. We waited patiently for the peasants and at last boarded The Brilliance Of The Seas. 

The Centrum

By this time it was time for lunch. We ate in the Windjammer which was very busy, then made our way to our cabins. Ian and I were very pleasantly surprised at the space and brightness of our balcony cabin. 

The boring lifeboat demonstration out of the way the girls and I explored the ship, finding several nice bars in the process. We then dressed for our first dinner. The boring Welcome Show out if the way ( a very poor magician) we made our way to the lovely Mistrel Dining Room.  The food was great as usual. Afterwards Ian and I drank champagne in the Centrum bar while listening to a lovely singing duet. 

This is the life