Our last full day in Tallinn, we went to the open-air museum. The museum has a series of farm homes and other historical buildings so that you get an idea how people lived a few hundred years ago. We learned some of the games children used to play on the farm and some of the customs and regions beliefs from prior times.
Came back to the city center for our tour at the Viru hotel. The hotel was built in 1972 by Finns who were contracted by Russia who ruled Estonia at that time. The hotel was built for foreigners and the press who came to visit Estonia. The hotel has 23 floors but officially it only had 22. The KGB controlled the 23rd floor and the elevator only went up to the 22nd floor. Locals were not allowed in the hotel unless they worked there. It was an interesting tour that explained to us about how things worked when the communists were in control.
We heard how a copier was put in by the KGB. Use of the copier was tightly controlled. People had to have a permit for each copy made with a supervisor signoff. KGB were always in the radio room which had windows facing the copier room to ensure nothing unauthorized was going on.
We had just enough time to make it to the Sea Harbour Museum. The museum converted an empty seaplane hanger into a museum. It was really cool. They designed it to look like it is part of the ocean. It’s a very interactive museum and has some great things to keep both kids and adults entertained.
Our time was up in Estonia. We flew to Stockholm, Sweden the next day.