Exploring the Past (Tallinn & Estonia History) - 11 - 13 July

Each night in Tallinn we worked with the training board, and each morning we looked through the previous night's notes and made modifications to the draft scheme. That left the afternoons to explore Tallinn, and we made the most of this time off.

As previously blogged, we arrived in Tallinn on Sunday, and then spent Monday prepping for the training board workshops, and finding the Harry Potter-esque chocolate cafe.

Tuesday was promising rain so we headed for an indoor attraction. First up, we took our planning out of the hostel and into an Old Town coffee shop. It was a fine coffee shop - noteworthy only for having a well in the toilet.



From there, we headed to the Guildhall Museum. This very old building has had a variety of uses in its life, and is now a museum on the history of Estonia. The Estonians are a very strong and proud people, who have survived despite successive invasions, and occupations. The various displays taught us about Estonian achievements, traditional ways of life, successive occupations, everyday life, and of course, just how awesome Estonian people are. The exhibit was exceptionally well curated (even though the layout was a bit illogical, and we learned a lot. Many of the exhibits were hands-on, and we had a lot of fun while we were there.

Why do Estonians love their country?

Shield & Helmet & GOLDie

Mozart's Manuscript

Leaving the museum, we had time for one more cake stop before our evening workshop. This was at Tallinn's oldest cafe, in plush surrounds.

Wednesday we went to the open air museum. Here, traditional buildings from rural Estonia have been saved from demolition, and relocated to a large site just outside of Tallinn. It was a fascinating look at the rich history of Estonian culture, and the regional variations within such a small area. Log cabin construction featured heavily, along with dry masonry and black smithing. We each had our notable affinity with aspects of the displays:
- Charlotte was right at home among the thatched roofs, and enjoyed the opportunity to learn about Estonian history
- Emily loved looking into every well, swinging on the village swings, and playing hide and seek in a strawberry patch
- Margaret was excited by the fire station and village swings
- Tamara got excited over all sorts of construction details
- Katie & Alyson were fascinated by the Estonian history on show

Thatched Roof	Village Swing #1	Village Swing #2
Wild Strawberries	Fire Station	Walking through the Woods
A farmstead

It was a beautiful and fascinating display. We could have spent longer there (we skipped a whole section), but we had to get back in time to meet the training board for our last session in this block.

Keep following our blog to find out what happened next when we headed to Tartu to deliver the draft scheme to the leaders 'on the ground'.