Monday, August 28, 2017

Viking Sky, Day 3 (Tallinn, Estonia)

Arrived in port approximately 7 a.m.  and were pleased to see it was a bright, sunny, and cool day that would be good both for taking pictures and walking. Went to get breakfast in the main dining room about 8 a.m. and then worked in room a little before heading out. 

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.


A little before 6:30 got a cup of coffee at the Viking Bar, which is located conveniently in the area right outside my room, and then headed off to see Commander Michael Cheshire's lively presentation on Imperial Russia. Chatted with him a little before and after, including a bit about his last command in the Royal Navy being HMS Victory

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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