TALLINN - Just finding the Rocca Al Mare Open Air Museum is an adventure 's it is a long walk from the trolley station. Fortunately there are a couple of signs to help you to find your way a couple of centuries back in time.
Near the entrance of the museum, there is a handicraft shop where you can buy wooden kitchen utensils and other souvenir shop trinkets, as well as books, CDs and tapes with Estonian folk music.
The museum itself is on quite a large territory and covers many different aspects of how people lived a couple of hundred years ago. It is easy to imagine how they lived, worked and what their everyday life was like.
Buildings were wooden and incredibly small 's I had to duck to get inside. In front of the blacksmith's house there was an old lady explaining ancient Estonian traditions.
"In that way people showed their respect to the family who was living there. Nowadays no one bows before entering the house," she said.
The museum also has a church and a village school. Both are humble in size. I did not have the chance to look inside the school, but the church was old and simple, made entirely of wood. Many footsteps have left their mark on the plain floor, beating a path to most important and interesting places.
A blacksmith's sauna was tiny and compact, since smiths had to wash themselves on a regular basis. They were thinking how to conserve energy 's I was standing there and wondering how on earth one person could wash himself or herself in the area.
Then the smiling old lady next to me explained that the area was actually used by multiple people at the same time. It served as a stark lesson that people today do not always have to live big 's though the 21st century does have its advantages.
Besides all the buildings, lots of fresh air and the sea 's along with a stunning view of the Tallinn skyline 's the museum has thought about getting people to spend more time there than the standard run-through-excursion.
The site offers traditional Estonian food in a cozy little tavern, rides on a horse-drawn chariot and sunbathing on the shores of the sea. Small or big children can also use the swing sets.
Well, it is good to spend a whole lazy day there, getting to know another way of living and stretching your imagination. You cannot really tell from the museum what ancient people thought or believed in, but it is a great place to go anyway.
If you are also an animal lover, you can go to the nearby zoo as well. You can buy a ticket that includes both.
