Estonia

We left the ship for our shore excursion in a driving rain. We were warned not to put up our umbrellas because the wind was so strong. Catherine's palace was small as it was a summer residence and if the weather was anything like what we experienced, it is no wonder that she only stayed there once. After the tour, the rain finally let up so had a quick walk in the garden. We have met an English couple who are birders and with their help, I added a few more birds to my life list. We had a quick bite for lunch and took the shuttle into town where we wandered around more cobblestoned streets inside the original walled city and admired the architecture. We walked for about two hours and got our exercise so indulged in a nap before dinner.
We checked out the stores here - not a great selection of clothes. The jewelry was beautiful but nothing under $5000US. Looks like we'll be having lots of spa treatments.
Met up with two widows at the singles "meet" and enjoyed their company for dinner. After a cognac at the nightclub, we retired to wake up in St Petersburg docked next to the Crystal Symphony where I can see the room I was in this winter.
We have been warned to be very patient here as the Russian bureaucracy is at high alert and things like disembarkation get done very, very slowly. Traffic is supposed to be nightmarish and it takes forever to get anywhere. We'll find out as we leave on our first excursion this afternoon.
By the way, it is foggy, rainy and cold here and this weather is supposed to be with us the whole time we are here. I didn't bring enough winter clothes and all they sell in the ship's boutiques are light weight summerwear. I think they would make a fortune if they had some sweaters for sale.

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