After breakfast we all took a local tram out to Kadriorg Park to see the outside of the palace built by Peter the Great for Catherine l. The gardens were beautiful and are said to resemble the gardens of Versailles. 
We also walked over to the pink residence of the President of Estonia. Miina told us the latest news about the President’s present and past wives. It seems as though many government leaders have sexual scandals.
The highlight for me was the tour through the KUMU Art Museum where Miina is a docent. This museum was designed by a Finnish architect, and it is quite modern. It was interesting to see what kind of paintings the Russians allowed to be painted when they were in control of Estonia. (They had come to rescue the Estonians from the Nazis, and they forgot to leave for fifty years!). There was also a special section of sculptures in the museum. I was the most fascinated, though, with the immense ballroom filled with dresses. We could see the changes in formal dresses from 1837-1900. This was both Linda’s and my favorite part of the museum.
The KUMU Museum
Room of Sculptures
Boy and the Violin
Approved by the Russians
Some of the period dresses on display
I love the back of this dress.
We left the museum via a beautiful flower gardens. We walked over to a coffee shop for lunch. We had the standard Estonian pork, mashed potatoes, carrots, beets, and brown bread. The bread here has been excellent. The dessert was traditional Kama, a powder that is mixed with milk to make a pudding, topped with strawberry jam.
Then we took the tram back to the hotel. This morning we had ridden one that had been built by the Russians. This afternoon we rode a modern one that had been built by the Estonians. When we got back to the hotel, some of us prepared to go back to the old town to shop one last time in Estonia. Miina took us to some requested shops, then we were on our own. Linda and I each got a small cookbook with Estonian recipes. There were no brown bread recipes in any of the books, though. I tried on some shoes in a fancy shoe store, but nothing felt good. Linda found a couple of t-shirts. Then we walked back to the hotel.
The modern tram
We were in front of the hotel, when suddenly Linda tripped on a bolt that was sticking out of the concrete walk. She fell on her arm and was in pain. She was able to get up and walk into the hotel. I asked for ice to be brought up to her room, then we went up. The ice arrived in her room just after she got there! I spread some Polysporin on a couple of scrapes. Then I went back downstairs to the bar and brought up two glasses of Pinot Grigio. She called Bob, and I called Paul. Then the two of us talked about how much fun we were having on this trip and other trips that sounded interesting. I could see that she was feeling better and nothing had been broken, so I left her to pack for tomorrow’s drive across the Russian border to St. Petersburg. It should be an interesting but long day tomorrow.
Estonia has no natural resources, so they consider an educated population to have the highest value. Today is September 1st, the first day of every school year. It is a short school day, and traditionally the parents go with their children to school. The children bring flowers to the teacher.