It is Sunday. It is a beautiful day. What better than to drive to the country. We are going to visit the Lahemma National Park and also the Viinistu Art Musem which lies within the area. 

 This national park is Estonia's largest. It lies about 70km west of Tallinn, and it was interesting that as we drove west we saw a road sign for St Petersburg (280km)! The park consists of four peninsulas, therefore a lot of coastline and more than 700 sq metres of pine forest, We have seen sooooo many pine trees this trip, and of course many more to come. 

Our first stop was at Altja, a very small village of wooden houses with thatched roofs. The village is only accessible to walkers, and it is obvious the former fishing village is now a place of holiday houses. But a lovely remote place. And unfortunately for us, at this time of year provides no such luxury as a coffee shop. 
 


Kasmu was next on the list. This place is known for the large boulders strewn in the sea. They were left by the retreating glaciers after the last ice age. This is a larger village, with many beautifully maintained holiday homes and guest houses. There were a number of walking trails through the very beautiful forest and along the coastline. We took the walk out to the head of the peninsula to view the Kasmu Boulders, and with the new green growth and the quiet of the forest it was a lovely walk.           
 
But still no coffee and it was 1pm, so I was happy the when we got to the Viinistu Art gallery and saw a restaurant. Where we headed first.
 
The restaurant and Viinistu Art Museum came about because of the dream of Jaan Manitski, who became successful as the business manager for ABBA. But he has done far more than this with his life. He was born in Viinistu, but as the Russians were advancing during WWII his fisherman father fled with his family in their boat to Finland. They later arrived in Sweden as refugees. When Estonia gained independence Jaan returned and among other things became the country's first finance minister and part-owned a newspaper. Now he has built a restaurant and turned a derelict fish canning factory into a museum for Estonian art.

It is all beautifully done. We walked in past an outdoor installation of concrete suitcases, Every case has a name-tag for 'John Smith', but each from a different city. They represent the fact that when Estonians were being deported to Russia, they found out only at the last minute that they could only take one case. Therefore many were left behind.

The restaurant is beautiful simplicity. Just timber and black and white with touches of deep blue. And the sea from the windows. Every item made or chosen especially for here. Even the staff uniforms match the theme, And delicious was the fish with mash and cauliflower (10 euros!). With that and some coffee we were set up for the gallery.

We were the only visitors, but it was certainly worth seeing. The old factory is much as it was, with rough white washed walls making a perfect foil for the Estonian art of modern times. Even one of the old boiler tanks is used for display, as Manitski has 600 paintings on display and 300 more in reserve with no space. A great display, and surprising so much good art is available in this small country.