Cruise to Tallinn (6 June to 8 June 2006)

Ah... Tallinn, Estonia. What can I say about that place.

Beauty, culture, entertainment, history, excitement, fun and excellent company. All rolled into one.

We (Melanie, Christof, Sandy and I) started on our cruise to Tallinn on board MS Romantika on 6 June 2006 at 1800hrs. Ooo... What a nice name. The weather was cool. It was an overnight cruise that will arrive to our destination at 1000hrs, Estonian Time.

We began our trip by taking a comfortable stroll around the ship and ended on the sun deck while waiting for the ship to depart. Stockholm archipelago is beautiful. Five hours on the trip and we could still see islands on both sides of the ship. Some so tiny, that they held only one small cottage and a few trees. Despite the chilly wind, we stayed on the deck, drinking our beers, talking, and taking in the scenery for 3 hours.

At 2200hrs, we headed to the performance stage where there was a lucky draw held and a dance band playing. I think the cruise is meant for seniors. Other than us, there were only two other groups of youths. But it was really enjoyable to see those senior dancing and concentrating on their steps while us young'uns simply shook our booties.

*grin*

There was a performance at 2300hrs by the ship's cabaret dancers called Galaxy. Well... it was enjoyable. Not excellent, but for a criuse... Now, I understand why Simon Cowell from Americal Idol kept saying cruise singers are not really good. The singers and performers really aren't.

After the show, we head over to the karaoke lounge and joined the rest of the young crowd. It was really cute. We filled our cards with the name 'Uppsala Students' and when it was announced, they cheered so loudly and shouted, "Uppsala, Uppsala..." Just like in a football match or as if we were some kind of stars. Our first song of the night was "Lemon Tree' and some of the people even went up to the dance area to do their thang. For our next song, 'We will Survive', we introduced ourselves as '3 Germans and 1 Singaporean'. Ah ha... That was a major hoohah. Singaporean? Those around turned and looked at us. I'm exotic.

*grin*

But it was all good fun though. Two of the guys from the other group (there was only two, including us, that night) ran up the stage to join us while we were singing.

Seriously, I would never have done this in Singapore. But no one will ever recognise me. I don't see why I shouldn't live it up. Embarrassment? What's that?

We headed to the disco, the Space Disco, after the karaoke lounge closed and stayed there until 0200 before heading back to the cabin. But not before Melanie was picked up by some Russian boy hoping to score. lol. He was shot down fast.

We arrived at Tallinn at 1000hrs. Believe me when I say, it was beautiful. No wonder it's a UNESCO world heritage site. Words can't do it justice. I'll mount the photos here when I have the time. We climbed up St. Olav's tower and had an extremely good view of the city. Visited the many churches there and explored the city wall and many other attractions. Two days would be perfect to explore the entire city, for both sights and museums. On our way back, we stopped for ice cream. My goodness! Compared to the prices in Sweden, the ice cream in Tallinn was sold for peanuts! We must have looked really dumb drooling over ice cream that day cos a local girl actually came up and asked where we came from. Yah... Another planet, where ice cream goes for three times the price in Tallinn. It was all good though. She offerred to show us around and the pubs at night. But we had to head back to the ship... From our conversation, we could see that she was happy that Estonia, or Tallinn is now receiving so many more visitors to the place, especially the younger crowd.

Estonia Facts
Population: 1.3 million
Population in Tallinn: 350 000

And true enough, we did see quite a number of tourists. But they were mainly Germans. Yup... We only saw three other groups of Italians, Japanese and French. The rest were all Germans. Interesting to see the spending power of these Germans. They travel so extensively.

Our ship left the port again at 1800hrs (Estonia Time) and we made our way back to Stockholm then Uppsala. Our time was spent exactly the same way as the previous night. Shows, karaoke, and disco. But all more fun though. There were many more younger groups and the karaoke was a lot more fun.

While disembarking, we saw the Swedes pulling loads of alcohol along with them. I can uderstand. The beers and spirits in Tallinn and on board the ship were so much cheaper than the prices in Sweden. But 6 to 8 cartons of beer??? Instead of putting the baby in its pram, they put alcohol in it! Where the baby went, I have no idea. No wonder I was told that the Swedes go on this cruise to get drunk and buy alcohol. Amazing.

It was great fun, good company. I enjoyed myself tremendously. To Riga next, if I have the time and comapny.