First stop after leaving Tallinn proper is at Maarjamäe Castle where finding the parking is a bit difficult. In fact we get to the top near the castle where there is no parking before we return and find the actual parking at the bottom with some nice views of the sea. From the parking we can see cormorants, seagulls and even the Helsinki-Tallinn ferry, cool!
After climbing the stairs back to our original parking spot we are in front of Maarjamäe Castle, which houses the history museum of Estonia and we really wanted to see. There are other attractions on the grounds also that we want to see and it is already past noon so in we go.
Outside the grounds are well maintained and there is even a weird bunker here, hopefully it is not used for any explosives or something like that.
We enter the museum and pay for the combo ticket allowing us entry to all three museums on the grounds and then start the visit on the ground floor which besides an old car that you can climb in has only one meeting room with communist decor.
Next is a temporary exhibit that we assume is about dogs and how they helped humans. We assume only as nothing is translated into English so we are just guessing based on the images.
Luckily the history section is translated in English with good exhibits for us allowing us to understand the history of Estonia and how it was able to become independent when the Russian Empire fell apart.
The next exhibits are dedicated to the interbellum period when Estonia was independent and happy showing different aspects of life during that period.
Next comes the second Russian/Soviet occupation after Estonia was conquered again post WW2. Estonians in fact due to proximity to Finland and the ferry to Helsinki had a better standard of living and understanding of how Western countries citizens lived. It was also quite surveilled by the KGB of course because of this.
And then it is the current period, freedom again with a hope of Nato guarantee of security. Who knows what the future will hold but we certainly hope for the best!
One of the major attractions in the palace is the single tower that you can climb for a nice few of the area. In our case we were surprised looking back to the sea where suddenly a regatta was going on.
Next we take the obvious red carpet to the Film Museum , the second museum included in our combo ticket.
Interestingly the entrance is below ground level and there aren’t many visitors so in we go. As soon as we enter we are blinded by flashes, it actually simulates how you would feel on an actual carpet.
There are some interesting exhibits but the one we find are the most fun are the interactive ones, like acting on a green screen and being inserted in various clips. Each of us does one of the clips for fun and you can send them to your personal email address for safekeeping.
There are sections dedicated to the film craft including one showing different props from movies. The temporary exhibit is about the movie Stalker, we had no idea a movie existed even though we read the book and played the games.
The last museum we can visit with our combo ticket is the glass museum in the stables. As the name implies it talks about the history of the glass industry in Estonia which to our surprise is quite extensive.
There are quite a few exhibits from different glass factories, many of them closed over time. As far as we understand only one or two survived making bottles for vodka and/or strong liquors.
The last part that we want to see on the grounds is the outdoor exhibit of the Communist statues that were removed from their various places of honor and brought here to spend their rest of their lives in relative obscurity. The comments for the statues can be quite interesting including the one for the Communist Revolution in Estonia that claims that the statue represents everyone that has taken part in it….
