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Took a shuttle from the port to the Old Town section of Tallinn (and glad we did, as it was further than it looked and would not have been a pleasant walk), and then spent a couple of hours exploring the walled medieval city. Were pleased to discover that it still has many well-maintained or restored walls, towers, gates, and buildings from the 13th century and beyond. Is also very touristy, with a high proportion of shops catering to visitors, along with numerous restaurants and a surprising number of small museums. To an observant visitor it is easy to identify hallmarks of the various eras in the history of Tallinn, to include its foundation as a city of the Teutonic State, its membership in the Hanseatic League, the German ethnic roots of many of its people, and its years as a state within the USSR.
Had lunch in the World Cafe and then worked for awhile in the room. Went to the spa around 4:30 and had a sweat in the sauna, a cold dousing with the ice bucket, as much of the steamroom as I could handle, and then about five minutes in the snow room and finally a nice soak in the jacuzzi and then a shower before heading back to the room.
Breakfast: Was pleased to see that lamb chops are a default item on the dining room breakfast menu! In anticipation of lots of walking and not getting back in time for lunch, I had two medium-rare lamb chops, two over easy eggs, some hash browns, a very nice melange of sauteed mushrooms, a bunch of cherry tomatoes, a glass of V-8 juice, and a couple cups of coffee.
Lunch: Piece of fried battered fish and some tempura vegetables, which paired together very nicely; small piece of grilled lamb with Bordelaise sauce; some fennel salad, two pieces of gruyere cheese, and one piece of another blue cheese; two glasses of red wine; one scoop of peanut butter gelato in a cone.
Dinner: Ate at the specialty restaurant Manfredi's and confirmed that the good things we had heard about it were completely justified. For a starter I had the octopus carpaccio (which was OK, but not fantastic) and some of the mozarella from Diane's huge caprese salad (which was wonderful). For a main course I did justice to a huge, beautiful ribeye that had been marinated for 72 hours, along with a side of very nice creamed spinach. Enjoyed it all with a couple glasses of red wine and had a piece of pistachio torte for desert. (Diane had a very nice osso bucco for her main dish and nutella pannacotta for desert.)
A glimpse of the beautiful, and fragrant, flower market outside the medieval gates of Tallinn, Estonia.
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