Day 17 - Open Air Museum

​Today we had an adventure to the open air museum. I have not been to this place since I was 11 years old and it is a lot bigger than I remember. What struck me when we first walked towards it was some of the folk costume colours that made their signs up. I really liked their branding, it was really sweet and made me feel like I was in Estonia. When we started walking around, the thing I noticed most was how much forest was around us. I could really feel I was in Estonia but in an old world Eesti with all the farm houses and seeing the way they lived back in the day. The forests here are just so magical, incredible really. They are quiet, calm and in abundance, something I really adore, even the trees are different here. We were walking along the path and I was somewhat walking alone to a degree and I had some quiet reflections of where I was, where I am going to go in life and all the work I had done on myself. I was reflecting on Estonian Designs AU and some exciting things I am working on there, and could not wait to share with the world, and just really being in the forest in Eesti. I can’t even describe the feeling, and I got to share it with my parents and Eva’s family. As we were wondering down the path they had a little area which had boxes and each box had a nest in it showing each birds eggs but when you lifted the lid, it made the sound the bird would make. We found the barn swallow which is Estonia’s national bird, I had never heard it before. I really enjoyed it. I had seen them before a few years ago but never heard them. We continued on to areas which were set up like a family ‘Talu’ or farm house. There is usually one building for sleeping, another for communal things such as eating, another for food and grain storage and if they were well off, one for animal storage, especially in the cold winters. The way they create these buildings is incredible to see, just the infrastructure and engineering involved with not so modern things. We got to a windmill, it was massive and I head a tour guide share to his group we have 2 different designs in Estonia and this one was a Dutch design. The kids wanted to go behind it where there was a swing under a big oak tree and have some morning tea. They were having the best time on this swing, so much laughing and joy, it was very infectious! We then headed off towards the big swing, well I thought we were, clearly I could not read the map overly correctly and it lead us to doing more steps that really needed BUT it was nice walking through the forest. At one point I saw a little baby frog and pointed it out to Vincent who was mesmerised by this little frog jumping over the path and into the grass, I was also curious at where it was going to go. We then got to the children’s area and the big swing. Dad had a look at it and said this type of big family swing would not be to hard to reconstruct and I have been waiting over 20 years for a family swing at home, so I took lots of photos in hopes he will reconstruct it for me one day! Eva and Viktoria had a go at the swing, Vincent did not want to, he reminds me so much of my nephew Lekso, in so many ways. We then headed to the restaurant where they served traditional Estonian food. I managed to order our food all in Estonian, a proud moment but before we had food, when we walked in they were showing Tantsupidu on the big screen and one of my favourite dances were being performed, Kikapuu. I couldn’t help but watch. Once it was over, we went to order the food and I finally had some Kali, an Estonian drink made from rye bread or something like that. Fredrik and Eva tasted it and Fredrik shared it tasted like he was drinking bread. Not everyone likes this drink, it is kind of like the vegemite of Estonia, not everyone likes it. During lunch Eva and Fredrik were asking us what was the significance of the song and dance festival, so we explained to them how this was part of our fight for independence and now they stared to understand even more why our folk costumes, singing and dancing traditions were so important to us as a nation and our freedom. It was nice being able to share this with them so they could appreciate even more where they were and what they were somewhat a part of just by seeing it. After lunch Viktoria and Fredrik went on a horse and carriage ride and we headed to the gift shop, it was starting to rain. After some more purchases, we headed back into Tallinn, the old town.

​It was getting to be mid afternoon and in Sweden they have Fika (I may have spelt it wrong), where you have a coffee and some cake or fruit. Here, Eva and her family had coffee and ice cream, the kids really enjoyed it. It is nice to pause in your busy day, intentionally, and have a coffee and be a little social. Eva shared with us that at the same time every day at her work, they stop and have coffee all together bringing a sense of community and connection to the work place. I really like this idea, something I might do when I start my new job! The kids played in the park a little bit and of course there were some tears over the bus and who was to be the bus driver. We have seen many kids cry over this in the last few days. We then headed home for a little rest then off to dinner! We invited Eva and Hillar to dinner as well. It was lovely catching up with them too, some of my parents friends from Sydney. Eva told me she ordered the Käsitöö sausage however there were not rahvariide patterns on it, so she was a little disappointed. After dinner we headed home and went to bed. It was a lovely day filled with child like wonder and I was grateful to have shared some memories with everyone involved.
Until tomorrow
Marissa xx