Tallinn, Estonia

Enjoyed a few awesome days here. Tallinn Old Town area is amazing. It is straight out of medieval times, we even visited a pharmacy that has been operating in the same place for the last 600 years!
We saw; Toompea castle; Alexander Nevsky Cathedral; Church of the Holy Ghost; and the Virgin Tower.
We also visited St Bridget's Convent (founded 15c and destroyed at the end of the 16c) and saw the Brotherhead of the Blackhead's building.
Went for a walk along Pirita beach and saw the Pirita yachting centre built for the 1980 Olympics.
Enjoyed the cuisine in Tallinn at a supermarket which had a hot deli with delicious salmon and other dishes plus salad bar. We could enjoy our food at the food court upstairs, and Darren could even drink a beer there.
We stayed at a nice Bed & Breakfast in someone's home. Estonian breakfast included sweet and savoury pastries, and even a greek style salad one morning.

Helsinki, Finland

Flew into Helsinki to snow cover, so were very pleased to have our new winter coats. It hovered around a nice 5C after that though, so the snow was gone the next day.
Helsinki is a pleasant city, it was very easy to find our way around. Our hostel was nice, and included Finnish breakfast which was porridge with jam, then hard bread with luncheon, tomato, cucumber, cheese & gherkin on top. Interesting and tasty.
On the first day we went to the Helsinki Cathedral; Uspenski Cathedral; Botanical gardens; Kaivopuisto park; visited the fish market, and saw the Esplanade light up at night.
The next day we went to the Helsinki Zoo which is on it's own island. It was a well-laid out pleasant zoo with large enclosures for the animals. On our last full day we checked out the Olympic Stadium. In the afternoon we went to the Makelanrinne swimming centre for a swim & sauna Finnish style. Topped the day off with pizza & beer at Iguana cafe/bar.
The next day we caught a ferry over to Tallinn, Estonia.

Shanghai, China

We were only in Shanghai for one day before our flight. We tried to find a museum we had read about but it had disapeared between the Lonely Planet write-up and when we got there. In the evening we planned to go to an acrobatic performance but it was booked out & then we couldn't find the place anyway!
But we did look around a few areas and made it to the famous Clothes Market & bought 2 t-shirts, a beanie and a Rolex!
We made our way to the airport early the next day by subway and the world's only commercial Magnetic Levitation Train which took us there at up to 431km/hr.

Nanjing, China

Flew into Nanjing to the easiest arrival so far, no worries about how we would get to our hostel & what it would be like. Dad met us and we caught a taxi to their apartment.
Manda's grandparents Nora & Brian were also over for a visit, so it was great to catch up with family.
We visited lots of places;
- Presidential Garden
- Confucious Temple
- Xanwu Lake Park
- Yangtze River
- Lion Hill & museum
- Xinjiekou
- Olympic Stadium
- Qinhua Riverside
- Xaoling Ming Dynasty Tomb
- Kite Park
- City walls & Zhong Hua Gate
- Purple Mountain
- Lion Hill
We also relaxed, bought DVDs, had winter coats & a suit made, ate out at the cheap yummy restaurants, and generally had a wonderful time. Amanda had her 25th birthday & bought her first pair of glasses!
Thanks Mum & Dad!