Oh cursed jet lag! Sleep for 3 hours then awake from 1am. Consequently we slowly eased ourselves into the day. Breakfast at our hotel was uninspiring but edible. Caffeine was essential to be able to explore the shops along Orchard Road. Again we were lucky missing a couple of downpours since we had not taken our umbrellas. After a session in the shops and lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant, we returned to our hotel for a quick swim - quick because the water was cold compared to the warm water in the hydro pool on the ship. The hotel has a sauna, steam room and gym, but I doubt we will use any of them. Anita enjoyed a Singha beer with our Thai dinner. The glass was so cold it must have been stored in the freezer. Alcohol is expensive in Singapore because of high taxes. One local beer at the restaurant cost $9.50 Singapore (about $9 Australian).
It rained on and off most of the day which is normal for Bergen where it rains 275 days of the year. We have noticed a lot of wet weather gear for sale in the shops! I made the mistake of visiting the Bergen aquarium where tropical fish and crocodiles are on display! The sea lion show was impressive but the space for the fish and other wildlife was way too small. It has also been disturbing to see seal skins for sale along with reindeer and moose hides, and to learn that orca whale meat is often eaten by tourists. The buildings in the picture all have chimneys, but the smoke is coming from our ship's funnel in the background. There is a wide variety of styles in the historic buildings in this city because over the centuries there have been many fires that have destroyed large areas of Bergen. This resulted in architects being brought in from all over Norway and other parts of Europe to design the replacement structures.
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.
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