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| View over Tallinn, Estonia, from a scenic overlook. |
Yesterday was a day we’ll never forget, not only for the exquisite sites we visited in St. Petersburg, Russia but for the challenging experience of my attempt to navigate over 12,000 steps in one day with my lingering painful legs situation.
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| The town well. |
No doubt, a month ago, I couldn’t have conceived I’d make it through such a day as this but somehow, with Tom’s unrelenting help and emotional support, overall we’d stayed up with the group of 15 passengers in our group, only avoiding a few less critical additional walking sidelines during the entire day, beginning at 8:30 am and ending at 6:00 pm.
It wasn’t easy. It was painful. But I knew I wasn’t hurting anything by forging ahead. Ultimately, maybe my legs would become stronger after this cruise with all its walking while attempting to recover after over six months of pure hell.
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| The remains of a historic castle tower. |
I’ve “sugar-coated” it long enough to be tough, resilient, and strong. Yes, attitude is a big part of recovery, and I credit myself for remaining upbeat and hopeful. But, at times, I have felt hopeless and fearful that I’d never recover.
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| There is stunning artwork on the many churches within Old Town. |
In the next several days, we’ll be posting, time allowing, the fantastic photos we were able to take while on yesterday’s St. Petersburg tour. However, last night we decided we would not be going on Day 2 of the prepaid tour since I knew I wouldn’t be able to spend another day like yesterday.
We are disappointed to lose the non-refundable fees we paid for Day 2, but this decision had to be made. And now, as we sit comfortably in the Park Cafe on deck 5, we’ve totally at peace with our decision.
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| We didn’t enter the churches due to the many steps and long queues. |
Yes, today we’ll miss a few choice locations popular with tourists to the magnificent city, but yesterday provided us with considerable information regarding St. Petersburg’s rich history and culture.
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| The winding streets of the walled city of Tallinn, Estonia. |
To follow a sequential course for our posts as ports of call as they occurred, today we’re sharing photos of Tallinn, Estonia, which we visited two days ago. We hadn’t booked a tour for this city and decided to “wing it.”
Instead, we were planning to use the shuttle bus to get us into town, and from there, we’d figure out how we’d get around, fearful that being on foot may be too much for me when the more extensive tour lay ahead following day in St. Petersburg.
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| Here we are on the motorized bike. |
No more than a few seconds after we exited the shuttle bus, we were approached by a clean-cut looking young man in his 20’s who had a motorized bicycle with a cart attached, perfect for the two of us.
It was pricey for one hour at Euro 153, US $170, which we’d already negotiated down from Euro 189, US $210, but after about 70 minutes, we couldn’t have been more thrilled after seeing most of the highlights of Old Town.
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| Historic churches and buildings lined the streets. |
About Tallinn, Estonia from this site: “Tallinn (/ˈtɑːlɪn, ˈtælɪn/; Estonian: [ˈtɑlʲˑinˑ]; names in other languages) is the capital, primate and the most populous city of Estonia. Located in the northern part of the country, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has 434,562. A part of Harju maakond (county), Tallinn is Estonia’s major financial, industrial, cultural, educational, and research center. Tallinn is located 80 kilometers (50 mi) south of Helsinki, Finland, 320 kilometers (200 mi) west of Saint Petersburg, Russia, and 380 kilometers (240 mi) east of Stockholm, Sweden. It has close historical ties with these three cities. From the 13th century until the first half of the 20th century, Tallinn was known by its historical German name Reval.”
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| Many churches with architecturally interesting steeples filled the rooftops. |
The cobblestone and brick roads were bumpy but didn’t cause a problem for either of us. And this young man knew his way around quickly maneuvering between crowds and other vehicles to take advantage of every moment.
When our bike tour ended, he dropped us back at the shuttle bus, and minutes later, the bus arrived at the pier as we tackled the long back to the ship with a smile on our faces for a day well spent.
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| We crossed a red-painted wooden bridge. |
As for the remainder of the cruise, we continue to meet more and more passengers with great stories to tell. At night, we tend to stay out late enjoying the music and entertainment in various venues throughout the ship. It’s been such fun to be out and about after all this time.
Tomorrow, we have another port of call and hope to post when we return later in the day.
Thanks to all of our readers who continue to “look for us” online and send endless good wishes and encouragement. We so appreciate every one of you!
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| While back in Zambia for another “visa run, “Tom was busy reading the extensive menu at Café Zambezi, trying to decide what to order. It was nice to be back. For more details, please click here. |