After the Tallin Song Festival Grounds we visited Pirita Klooster (St. Bridget's Convent), a monastery, for both monks and nuns, the Bridgettine order being open to both men and women as a ”double order.” The completed church was consecrated on August 15, 1436.

The Pirita Convent was brutally destroyed by the Russian army's short invasion in late January 1575. The local inhabitants never restored most of the buildings. As late as the last century – in the 1930s - potato fields covered the former nuns quarters and the potatoes were stored in the abbess’s residence.

In the convent's cloisters.

About 600 years of history here.

Graveyard outside the convent.

After St. Bridget's Convent our tour took us into the old walled medieval town of Tallin itself. Here we pass through one of the city gates.

One entrance to the old fortress city.

Church spires rise above the battlements.

The inside wall.

Transported back to the Middle Ages.

Narrow winding cobblestone streets and alleys.

Interesting old doorways.

With interesting panels overhead.

Colorful buildings.

The Great Guild Hall in Medieval times, now the Estonian History Museum.

Church tower clock.

Some places in Tallin were like walking through Harry Potter's Diagon Alley.

This lovely shopkeeper sold me my "Estonia" baseball cap.

Nancy with Estonia's Raggedy Ann.

An interesting building.

Built in 1656.

This alley way leads to the central market square.

The central marketplace.

Old churches abound.

Cool spires.

Check out the rain spouts near the roof.

Festive!

It was Estonia's Independence Restoration Day, celebrating Estonia's restoration of independence from the Soviets in 1991. Many people were out and about.

Bill shows off his Estonian hat to the restaurant hostess.

The sign on the wall points the way to the Apothecary.

This drug store dates back to 1422, 70 years before Columbus' voyage.

Two cuties, one in traditional Estonian garb.

Need directions? No problem.

If you think those clouds look menacing ... they were.

We passed this sign on our walk back to the boat.

The skies opened up and it dumped *buckets* for about 20 minutes. We scrambled down the alleys of Hogwarts and finally took refuge in a shop until it let up.

When the rain stopped we made our way back to the cruise terminal.

We were happy to get back to Norwegian Star after several hours of sightseeing. It was great, but tiring.

Not a bad looking cruise liner.

Back in our stateroom, we took a last look at Tallin. Such a beautiful spot!

Just a really neat little place.

Close up.

Our towel animal was waiting for us and notice that we were about to lose an hour of sleep that night.

Relaxing after the day's adventure. I had to call for help in getting our room safe open.

Nancy taking a picture of our bathroom. The "head" is just off to the right.

We both decided we needed a nightcap, so we checked out this duo, Tino and Ashley, in one of the many lounges onboard. We really liked them and made this an evening habit for the rest of the trip. Check them out at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpxiXnJLWEs.

See the pics of tomorrow, Day 5 in St. Petersburg, Russia. Or return to the Main Menu to see something else.