Part Three

Our last two ports were Tallinn, Estonia and Saint Petersburg, Russia. I am going to try to squeeze them both into one post although they made up two full days of touring. We really did not know what to expect going into Tallinn. I knew Estonia had been part of the Soviet Union but really did not know much about it otherwise. Turns out the country has a very compelling history. It has been occupied by numerous countries, not just Russia, but through it all it has managed to maintain its own language and preserve its historic buildings and culture. This is a pretty amazing feat given that the country only has about 1 million inhabitants!

Tallinn's claim to fame is its incredibly preserved medieval town. Truly, looking at the city from afar you would think you are stepping into a fairy tale world, complete with towers and castles and more. We started out by touring the town and then took a bus ride out to the Ameliemborg Palace, which was built by Peter the Great as a summer home for the Russian czars. After touring the palace we rode back into town and had about two hours to kill to see what we could see. For some reason it seemed like a good idea to climb to the top of a church steeple (at one time it was the tallest building in the world!) to see the whole city from the sky. Since we came up with this crazy plan about 45 minutes before we had to be back on the ship, it was a very fast and very exhausting climb. Still, the views were worth it.

By the way, this is what you look like after you climb to the top of a tower as fast as you can! Can you say "hot mess"?

Our last port, but certainly the most anticipated, was Saint Petersburg. I had been there before but was thrilled to return and also to share it with Adam, Jim and Cindy. We arranged for a private tour guide to show us around the city. What a way to go! Our tour guide was absolutely amazing and had such enthusiasm for her city. As you will see, it was a very, very, very rainy day in Saint Petersburg. Remarkably, however, none of us melted.

After a tour of the city, we stopped in at the Peter and Paul Fortress and visited the cathedral where the Russian monarchs are buried, including Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, and Nicolas II and his family. 

Then we drove out to Peterhoff, the beautiful palace and gardens designed by (you guessed it) Peter the Great. Peterhoff is easily my favorite thing about Saint Petersburg, so I was disappointed that we were there in the pouring rain and could not meander the gardens as I would have liked, but even in the rain they are magnificent. While there we stopped for lunch at a cafe and enjoyed the most delicious Russian soup. Not borsch, it was a tomato-based meat soup. Yummo!

After taking the hydrofoil boat back to the city we had a wonderful (but exhausting) tour of the Hermitage. Our guide, Natalia, had so much enthusiasm for the art and the palace, and I can safely say we all learned something new about art that day! Of course, the buildings of the Hermitage are art in themselves. You could literally spend days there just wandering the rooms in awe. 

That was almost the end of our day in Saint Petersburg. But not quite! After cleaning up on the ship, we headed back into town for a Russian folk show. I didn't get any pictures but trust me, it was very very cool! 

And that ended our touring. After Saint Petersburg we had two days on the ship to relax while we cruised back to Oslo and then flew home. Our trip was absolutely amazing and I think the general consensus was that we did too many amazing things to pick a favorite. (Our 20 out of 20 victory at American TV Tune Trivia on the ship may take the cake, though) Still, we were so glad to get home and squeeze our Max. Wouldn't you be? 

p.s. I am going to upload ALL of our pictures to shutterfly and will post the link once I do, in case anyone is interested in seeing more! Kudos if you've stuck with me this long!