A visit to the Estonian Open Air Museum

Then it was my last day in Tallinn.  Ironically it was a year ago on this date!  Yes, it took me a year to finally get my Scandinavian posts done. (blame the scabies...I will be writing a post on that eventually...)  Now that I knew where to catch the bus to get to the Estonian Open Air Museum I decided to spend my last day there.  I'm so glad I did.  

Google maps told me to get off bus #21 at a certain stop and I did...Turns out that Google maps was wrong (wow! really?) and I still had a ten-minute walk to get there.  Of course, there was a stop right in front of the entrance!  Ah well...more steps on my Fitbit!  Luckily I had some Euros on me as the credit card machine was not working.  

This open-air museum is amazing.  It was opened in 1957 and houses around sixty-eight farmhouses in twelve farmyards.  The museum is definitely more rustic than Skansen in Stockholm was and much bigger.  I managed to walk through most of it and was mostly on my own with no one around.  I think at this point of the trip I just wanted to walk and appreciate nature so these will be pictures with not much else.  I don't know the history but here is the website for the museum. 

Both of us well-fed critters had a baaing contest.  No one but me and her? around so why not?  It was fun! (and I lost..) 

This is one of the many farmhouses.  Being as it wasn't the weekend there weren't as many staff members in costume.  That's okay; I appreciated the fact that there weren't many people around.  It was bliss after heaving Tallinn! 

If I had better knees and had a willing travel partner I'd have jumped on this swing and given it a go! 

There were many of these lovely tree-lined paths in the park. 

This is the Sutlepa Chapel which is one of the oldest wooden buildings in Estonia. The date over the door says 1699 but it is believed to have been around since 1627.  Wow.  It was brought from the village of Noarootsi to the museum in 1970. Services are still held here on important holy days. 

As you can see it's very rustic and charming inside. 

This is the Kuie School building which was built in 1887 and moved to the museum in 1999. 

This is one of the many windmills in the museum park. 

I never did see any goats! 

Now I'm not a big fan of cats (but I have to be kind of neutral as I AM a pet sitter after all...let's just call me a cat tolerator and leave it at that..) and I really don't like ginger cats for some unknown reason but this was just too good of a picture to resist.

This is one of the net sheds that were used for boat crews. They stored nets and fishing equipment in these small buildings. 

This is an example of a scene from a typical wedding back in the 1800's.  The Open Air Museum is a popular place for modern weddings as well.  

This is a typical rural fire hill.  This one was built in 1928. 

More windmills!!  

Okay, by the time I'd seen all of this and more I was totally knackered so I got the bus back to the Old Town of Tallinn and treated myself to a nice meal.  

This was a pork dish and very nice it was.  I always try to have a special meal on my last day in a city. (and a glass of vino) Sometimes it works out; other times it doesn't. 

I loved these drawings on the wall of this old restaurant.  Of course, it was just off the Square so was super touristy but that's okay.  I wanted a meal that was traditionally Estonian and this was probably as close as I would get.  

It was just past mid-afternoon by now (this was a very late lunch or early supper) so I did a bit more wandering.  I promised my friend in Germany I would send her a postcard from Tallinn and as yet I hadn't found one let alone a post office to get a stamp.  

This concert hall looked beautiful.  

I had a good laugh at this!!!  

And yes I did find a place that sold me a postcard AND a stamp - usually that's not a problem but it was difficult here.  

I got the tram back to the flat and found I couldn't get into the front door of the building!  I don't know if I was tired and did not put the key in correctly but I could not get in.  Luckily a few minutes later someone buzzed to visit a flat and I was able to sneak in after them.  I held my breath while opening the apartment door but I was fine.  I was planning a quiet evening in finishing up my snacks, tidying up and packing.  

The garbage and recycling was out back but after my trouble with the front door I was terrified to try the back door.  So I went out the front and tried to get through the gate going into the small parking lot which led to the back.  Well!!!  I went to pull it and a piece of the gate fell off with a long clang.  I tried to put it back on but that did not work.  I looked around furtively to see if anyone was watching and slunk back into the building and somehow managed to get in after pushing the key around a bit and praying to all the gods of keys.  That was it for me; no more leaving.  I was wracked with guilt over the gate thinking maybe people wouldn't be able to get out as it was electronic.  Should I contact my host and tell him.  My anxiety kicked into full gear but in the end, I didn't do a thing and spent the evening and night wracked with guilt. (have I mentioned I was a bag of nerves on this trip?) 

The next morning I packed up, left the flat.  Stinky garbage and all!!  After droppng the keys into their mailbox I headed over to have a look at the gate and it was back to normal.  I figure it probably does this all the time as believe me I hadn't pushed it very hard. I headed over to the coffee shop across the road and sat there with my luggage. I didn't have another fight with the key in me and I just wanted to get on that plane to London.  I texted the host when I was in the coffee shop and said "oops sorry, I forgot to take out the garbage and recycling!"  Liar! 

I made me and my luggage comfortable in this lovely little coffee shop for an hour or two with a flat white, pastry and my kindle  - they were probably wondering when I was going to leave!  

Then it was time to get the tram to the airport.  My host had recommended a taxi but I am nothing if not cheap when it comes to transit and I had plenty of time to kill.  I changed trams downtown and sat with a lovely lady from Finland chatting most of the way to the airport.  The tram dropped me literally at the door of the airport.  You can't get much better than that. 

I really liked Tallinn.  I think it has the prettiest Old Town I've seen. You need two days there to be able to visit the attractions and not be rushed.  If you do have a third day a trip to the Estonian Open Air Museum is a good way to spend it. 

On to London and three more weeks of adventures!