So I will say this shabby house did catch my eye mainly because it's shabby. But that was before I noticed it has a sign on it saying something like this:
The single-family house-type residential building... dates back to the 1890s. It was probably a so-called communal kitchen type of apartment in terms of its floor plan. The building represents the oldest strata in the area... the residents of teh house had a duty to maintain and sand the section of the road in front of the house, called Pispala's Narrow Road, which was previously much steeper than the Pispala main road.
That's me trying to make sense of a slightly garbled google translate version. I could have got some of it wrong.
I just love the mickey mouseisation of a local landmark such as this, madness, it's a reference to this, which I may have shoved in your face before, sorry if so. A shot tower.
Do you want to know about it? No? Too bad.
The Tampere Shot Factory began operations in 1856 on the southern slope of Pyynikki. This unique industrial facility consisted of a tall, wooden tower with a wooden cabin at the top, the upper foundry, and another building at the foot of the tower, the lower foundry. The molten shot dropped from the high uper foundry formedinto rounds on their way in the air current and, as they cooled, solidified into their final shape. The lower foundry was where the shots were post-processed.
I never want to argue with the men and women of long ago because I bet they know better than me but this seems like an incredibly involved process for some round balls. I suppose they needed them very round and very... untouched by human hands? I really don't get it. Couldn't they have just put them in a tray? Why do they need to be so round anyway? Anyway, the real question you're asking is, why isn't that a wooden tower? Here's why...
In 1908, a steel-framed shot tower was purchased from Germany and transported in parts to Tampere. It was erected in Pispala....[it] is 55 meters high.... The shot factory's workforce consisted of two families, the Heinänes and the Järvensivuts. A liftetime contract was made between these families and the shot factory management, which obliged the families to keep everything related to the work at the shot factory secret. The work was passed down from father to son.
OK, so there's a secret. I shouldn't have judged it as being easy or simple or lame.
The shot tower business closed in 1973 and the city bought the structure, so it's a monument of sorts but as far as I know, not used for anything. The above information by the way was grabbed out of this book:
So anyway the trip to the cafe involved ascending the insane stairs which are basically a rite of passage here and I guess everyone does it, constantly, without thinking. It reminds me a bit of Wellington, where people are all used to gamboling up steep hills like goats, but I'm from Melbourne, you know, we expect the next step to be the same level as the previous ones and we think that's normal.
This wasn't just an uphill, it was a bit of a downhill-with-the-knowledge-that-this-downhill-would-later-be-an-uphill too, you know, when you come back. I mean it was possible to get a bus (I'm not sure where to) back but that would be quitting wouldn't it.
This is the cafe. Full of people (so why don't they open earlier!!!) and great pancakes, I am a fan.
Gave me adequate strength to tackle this again...
