From St-Petersburg we sailed overnight
to Tallinn. The moment we arrived in Tallinn it reminded me of Quebec
City, old stone houses, fortifications, cobble stone streets, many
fine restaurants. Tallinn has a population mix of Russians and
Estonians. Prior to the Second World War, few Russians lived in
Tallinn but Staline deported many ethnic Estonian children and women
to Siberia to make room for Russian or so called Soviet
families.
Tallinn is a beautiful small city and
well worth the visit, it is also forward looking and modern like any
European city. There was some confusion on our ship about the
currency in use in Estonia but we quickly discovered the EURO is the
new official currency. Many beautiful shops, quality goods, many nice
Estonian products. We would have liked to spend more time in Tallinn
to discover more of the old city. For many centuries Eastern
Prussian,German and Swedish Noble families ruled in Estonia, many
worked for the Tsarist government until independence in 1918 only to
loose it again to the communist and Stalinist forces in 1941.
Several interesting old Lutheran churches and one Russian Orthodox
Church dot the old city. You do need good walking shoes because the
street grade can be steep at times.
We sailed too soon for Stockholm.
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