We stayed at MacKay's Hotel on Corran Esplanade. The pics show the view from our window, the stained glass in the front door, and today's view from the front.
Our cabin may have been tiny but the beds were comfortable and the buffet breakfast was passable. There was mass queuing to get off the ship but once out of the terminal building we easily caught a taxi to our Radisson Blu hotel just in time to miss a downpour. At the hotel we initially thought our clothes and luggage stank of cigarette smoke from the ferry. While smoking was banned in cabins and other inside areas of the ship, we could smell smoke everywhere. It now seems not to be our gear causing the smell but someone smoking in this non smoking hotel! When we contacted management about it they at least came to our room and agreed there is a smell of cigarettes smoke, and said they would investigate. The European Choir Games are taking place in Riga and we can hear a choir performing in the park across the road. This is a new hotel with air conditioning but there is a narrow floor to ceiling window that can be opened to let in fresh air, and which also allows us to hear the choir....
With six cruise ships in Tallinn on the same day the streets were crowded with tour groups. The port is walking distance to the town but we were transported by bus. The benefit of this was being dropped off in the high part of town so we only had to walk downhill to rejoin the bus at a different location. Walking on the cobblestone streets can be challenging. Cruise ship tour groups are issued with individual devices which allow each person to hear the tour guide through an earpiece. Our guide had a sensible approach to counting everyone in the group to make sure no-one had accidentally wandered off or become lost in the crowds - she simply got us all to raise an arm until each person had been counted. Our ship is second from the left.
Dogs are not allowed on the section of Jimmy's Beach near our caravan park, so I left them with Anita while I had a dip (after emptying our toilet cassette at the dump site). That job used to be unpleasant but with new septic-friendly chemicals it is not so bad. Anita spotted a snake cross the track to the beach so all dogs stayed on leads. It is warm so we wet the dogs before they walked the track. Both of our dogs are very reluctant to swim these days and that is such a change from when they were younger. They still play in the sea and seem to enjoy themselves. We saw one dolphin swimming close to shore parallel to the beach. This afternoon we have retreated to the air conditioned comfort of the Bushtracker.
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