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Livonia, Estonia
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| Our hike to Toompea |
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| Alexander Nevsky Cathedral-Tallin |
Monday, July 26th dawned bright and sunny. Temps went up to the mid 80’s so our self-guided walking tour turned out to be a great day of exercise. Our tour took us up to Toompea, but because we took a wrong turn we climbed up 6 flights of stone steps to reach the top as opposed to walking into town via the front gate. Toompea is where the first stone fort was built in Tallinn and is the highest land point in the historic part of the city. We looked around the area, visiting the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, the Dome Church and the fort before gradually making our way downhill to the Old Town with its many shops and restaurants. I had researched where we wanted to eat prior to our arrival in Estonia and we found the restaurant Balthasar which specializes in garlic dishes. The restaurant was named after a notorious writer, Balthasar Russow who wrote his masterpiece “Chronicle of Livonia” while residing in the very rooms that now house the restaurant. Balthasar overlooked the town square so it was pleasant watching all the tourists while we enjoyed a delicious garlic laced meal. We walked around the quaint town square and soaked up the history of what used to be called Livonia before making our way back to the ship. Estonia is steeped in history and was one of the main reasons we chose this itinerary for our cruise, so we were very glad to visit here.
Our next and last port of call on Tuesday was Stockholm. We did a Disney excursion here that showed us the Gamla Stan (old town) section of the city and other city highlights of this town spread over 14 islands. After a short bus ride out of town we came to Sigtuna. Sigtuna is an idyllic little town with wooden houses, narrow streets and the smallest Town Hall in Scandinavia, dating back to 1744. We enjoyed some free time here where we were able to pick up the rest of our souvenirs for folks back home. We enjoyed a Swedish lunch of meatballs and boiled potatoes with the rest of our bus group before heading back to Stockholm. From the quick visit we had of Stockholm, it is definitely a city worth more exploration.
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| Historic Stockholm-Gamla Stan |
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| Sigtuna Town Hall |
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| Main Street in Sigtuna |
Our last two days of the cruise are spent at sea as we make our way back through the Baltic Sea and into the North Sea. An interesting tidbit we learned about why our time in Stockholm was cut short has to do with the amount of ship traffic expected in the English Channel and the docking times in Dover. The dock times are 5:30am and 11:00am and the Magic has to be in port by 5:30am so passengers flying out on Friday can catch their flights. We are spending an extra night in London so we plan on hopping on the tube and exploring some more of the city.
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