Open Air Museum

Just outside Tallinn, the Estonian Open Air Museum brings together 18th- and 19th-century rural buildings from around the country. The day we visited, a troupe of folk dancers was performing, dressed in the traditional styles of various parts of Estonia. We loved their energy and the twirling striped wool skirts in patterns unique to individual towns. We were struck by how dark and plain the wooden farm buildings were---long and low, with thatched roofs, no chimneys, and very little decoration. There was much less material comfort than in farms from the same period we’ve seen elsewhere in Europe.