The Monk's Bunk

We stayed at two different hostels during our trip - one in Estonia, one in Sweden. Since Estonia was our first destination, our hostel there - The Monk's Bunk - was the first hostel I've ever stayed in. I wasn't sure what to expect; I'd been told that hostels were like hotels, but smaller.

Well, the Monk's Bunk was not like a hotel at all! But I daresay it was a lot more fun.

The Monk's Bunk is in the heart of Old Town.
This was the perfect location for us; it kept us right in the center
of the tourist stuff, and we never had to walk too far
to get where we needed to go.
(Also, Old Town is just cool. So it was fun to be able to stay there.)

(Remember what I told you about there being many animals?)
This bull sits just outside the door to the Monk's Bunk.
See, the Monk's Bunk is situated above a steakhouse.
\You have to climb two flights of winding stairs
- lugging around your baggage -
in order to reach the hostel itself.

And here we are! This is the living room area of the Monk's Bunk.
Notice the colorful, eccentric artwork on the walls.
This should be your first clue that the Monk's Bunk is designed for young people.
There were very few people there who were older than 30.

This was our room. (Well, a portion of it, anyway.)
It's got five sets of bunk beds in it; so, ten beds total.
I actually slept on the top bed of that foremost bunk right there.
(Now that I think about it, I slept on a top bunk
in everyplace we stayed. Even on the ferry!
Nobody else wanted to, and I think it's fun to be so high up.
A convenient compromise.)

This was the kitchen bar table. It had two computers
with internet access, which was fantastic.
Right now, you can see Clarie, Heather, Kaylie, and Leslie
(left to right)
trying to figure out a plan for the next day's activities.
There's always so much to do, and so little time.

The hallway at the Monk's bunk.
Down this hallway, you'll find two dorm rooms (ten beds each),
two bathrooms, and two shower rooms (one stall each).
There were problems with doors being left unlocked,
so I was particularly cautious about exactly when I showered.
Most often, I opted for early morning.
(People at this hostel thought it insane to wake up before noon.)

Almost everyone at the hostel, both guests and workers, spoke English.
But as you can see from the sign, there were occasionally translation errors.
(In case you can't read it from the picture, the sign reads:
"CAUTION: Do NOT touch wires! Ask Staff before use!
May resort in Electric Shock! Thank you!)

Another fun sign from the Monk's Bunk.
This one was taped to the cooler in the kitchen.

The was the manager for most of the time we were there.
He's South African, and he was very helpful.
That's Jodi there talking to him. Probably asking him about
the prison tour. Alas, that's a story for another day.

This is Corey (with the hat). He's Australian.
He works at the Monk's Bunk, and his duties on this day
involved cleaning all the empty bottles out from under the sink.
There were a lot of them. He needed help.

We met a LOT of foreigners on this trip,
but this guy isn't one of them. He's American. From Virginia.
He had a lot of stories about how cancer was cured three times
but the government keeps it hushed up so you never hear about it.
His advice? Stay away from microwaves.
(Left to right, that's Clarie, Leslie, American Guy, Jodi, Kaylie.)

This guy IS a foreigner. He's from England.
He was helping us to figure out a plan for Stockholm.
We met so many people at the Monk's Bunk, from so many places!
Among them were people from
Ireland, Morocco, Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Lebanon,
England, Australia, and the USA.
And all of them spoke English! It was delightful!

Living at the Monk's Bunk wasn't really like living in a hotel. It was like a college dorm - complete with strange posters, a lot of alcohol, loud music, public showers, and labelled food. The only difference (aside from the fact that most people only stayed for a few days) was that there were people there from ALL OVER the world. And nobody was doing homework.

It was a great place to stay though. If I ever go back to Tallinn, I'm looking them up again. Highly recommended!



Next time, on Singing Devil: "How was YOUR Halloween?"