At the Food Bank

Every two or three weeks, we have the opportunity, as a district, to serve at a local food bank.  We dress in P-Day clothes and go to what looks like an old warehouse.  Upon entry, we discover that it is indeed an old warehouse.  Inside are boxes of food that have been removed from the stores because the expiration dates have passed.  The organization gathers this food and packages several items together to form a "box".  The box is then distributed to the needy.  Our task is to assemble or load each basket with the 15-20 items that are being given.  There is always some bread, some yogurt, cans of some vegetable, pasta, cookies or candy and maybe a drink of soda or fruit juice.  Each person has a specific task to load certain things into the box.  It gets crazy with so many things being loaded all at once, but it's fun and we enjoy it.  Below are some pics.

Food boxes being filled

An evening at Old Town

Every so often we venture into Old Town.  What is Old Town you ask?   In the 13th century, crusading knights of the Teutonic Order built a castle on where Tallinn now sits.  At the time, it became a major center for commerce with much wealth. Remnants of the castle still remain and the streets are all cobblestone.  Yes, it will take you back a few centuries.  There are shops and eateries everywhere and people still live there.  Much of the castle wall is gone, but enough remains that will make you feel as if you've gone back in time.  The banner picture on this blog is of Old Town with it's distinctive red tile roofs.  One evening on our walk, we took a different route and ended up in an obscure area where we met angels of death.  Actually, they are monks.  They are found in what is called the Danish King Garden.  Legend has it that the Danish King Valdemar II, was at war with the people (in what is now Estonia) and was losing badly.  In a plea to heaven, a flag fell from heaven in the form of a lamb skin banner with a white cross on it (this, by the way, is the basis for what is now the Danish flag). The king showed it to his men and they took courage and won the battle.  Why are the monk statues here?  It could be that they were somehow connected with Bishop Anders Sunesen, who did the praying to heaven.  There are many versions of this story.  I'm going with this one.  

Danish Flag

Since the castle was built by crusaders, there are quite a number of churches in Old Town.  They are mainly tourist attractions now and aren't used much for religion anymore.  Also along our walk, we found surviving remnants of the wall and towers.  The country has done much to leave it the way it was back then.  One of the churches in Old Town is the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral.  It was built around 1900 when this land was part of the Russian Empire.  It was named for Alexander Nevsky who won the Battle of the Ice in 1242.  It was fought almost entirely on a frozen lake (south of Narva and northeast of Tartu).  That's the kind of winter we have to look forward to here in Estonia.  Yes, we saw our breath the other morning on our walk.   Really?  It's September! 

One of the many towers

Each wall has a story to tell

Alexander Nevsky's Cathedral

One of the many churches in Old Town