Maritime Museum

Estonia has a long maritime history. In fact, it's always relied on the sea, so it has a maritime prehistory as well. The Maritime Museum covers the earliest to the most recent history. Almost everything has an explanation in English along with Estonian and Russian, a first among the museums we've been to. It's located in "Fat Margaret," the old cannon tower next to the gate facing the sea.

I really liked the copper deep sea divers claustrophobia inducer. It was never actually used, but it looks like a prop from a horror movie. The home made, open, 13-foot boat that was rowed from one of the islands to Sweden was memorable to say the least.

Museum of the Occupations

We went to the Museum of the Occupations. I liked it. I think it gives you a feel for life in a Soviet occupied country.

Most of it is everyday life, a phone booth, Soviet automobiles, clothing, kitchen utensils. The descriptions tell about how hard it was to get an auto, and how the owner toweled it dry if it ever got wet. It also tells how the designs for many things like automobiles were "liberated" from factories in East Germany.

There are videos, you

can choose your language to hear a translation and see people talk about the occupation.

There are 2 things that stick out in my mind. The first is a display of prison doors in the middle of the museum. Just a long line of steel doors with peep holes and slots for food. The other is in the basement. Next to the toilets there are 7 or 8 larger than life statues of Soviet heros. Now they just sit in the basement, sort of guarding or perhaps welcoming you to the restrooms.