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| Vanalinn (Tallinn's Old Town) |
We
sleuthed out how to find and board the bus and where and how to pay
the fare (to the bus driver) and got on board for a rather sticky and
hot but thankfully short bus ride to Pirita. The bus wasn't
air-conditioned and you couldn't open the windows. The bus route
followed the shore line and we could see the outlines of Tallinn's
Vanalinn, especially it's standout church steeples and several cruise
ships tied up in the port.
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| my first impression of Pirita Convent |
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| cemetery at Pirita Convent |
We
got off the bus at, appropriately enough, the Pirita bus stop. The
Pirita Convent was just a couple minutes walk from the bus stop. The
convent is also known as St. Bridget's Convent for the founder of the
Bridgettine Sisters order. The convent dates from the early 15th
Century. It is a bit unusual in that it housed both nuns (60 sisters)
and monks (25 brothers) although the two were kept strictly apart,
their housing areas divided by the formidable more or less Olympic
size swimming pool church.
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| triangular facade 35m. high |
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| interior walls (side and rear) and floor area |
According
to the convent's website: “The
inhabitants of the two convents were allowed to talk to each other
and to guests in special rooms only, so that the principle of
enclosure would be observed. These rooms, the so-called parlours,
were partitioned, and there were little windows in the walls – it
was not possible to see through these windows, but to exchange
certain necessary information and objects.”
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| foundation of living areas and church |
Today,
Pirita Convent is interesting mostly as a ruin (and for it's
titillating—to me anyway--”parlours”). Love in the convent
perhaps? But I digress. The convent was destroyed in 1575, after only
150 years of operation during the course of the Livonian War by the
Russians. The sturdy walls of the church made of limestone completely
enclose the floor of the church (now only dirt) and the gable of the
front facade, a dramatic triangle, rises to 35 meters. Parts of the
living quarters have been excavated on the north side of the church
showing only the shape of the foundations.
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| by the sea (Gulf of Finland) |
We were hot and thirsty after climbing around the ruins for an hour or so and went off in search of a cool drink (euphemism for a beer). We wandered along the Pirata River towards the Gulf of Finland and stumbled on a beach but no beer joints. Lots of flesh though.
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| African motif painted on the walls and ceiling of the African Kitchen restaurant |
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| African masks on the wall |
After
ogling the flesh (me anyway) we returned to Vanalinn by non
air-conditioned bus, but at least this one had a small window opened
a crack. We finally got our beers near the Viru Gate and then headed
for a very interesting restaurant known as the African Kitchen for
dinner. The roughly plastered walls and ceiling of one room are
brightly painted in an orange and yellow African motif and another,
more subdued is decorated with African masks and scattered with
pillows of imitation animal skins. The menu uses various ingredients,
peanuts are popular in sauces. They also have a very good couscous
dish that complements the other dishes very effectively. Best dinner
we had in a Tallinn restaurant so far. Highly recommended next time
you're in Tallinn.
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| colorful menu and chocolate covered rum-soaked balls with peanut and sesame seeds inside |
We
were treated to a rather breathtaking sight on the way home from the
African Kitchen—some rather unusually clad young ladies. . .
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