As we were waiting to get off the boat in Estonia we suddenly see smoke coming from behind our moho. We're all stuck and can't move anywhere so it's rather concerning. Officials come past and the fire hose cupboard is opened. As it's coming from directly behind us we jump out to make sure we're safe and it's nothing to do with our van. Luckily it wasn't and we were all fine, the van behind us had a small electrical fault which had caused all the smoke. They managed to get it working enough to drive it off the boat so hopefully they were OK. It took a while to get out of the docks even though it had gone midnight, no traffic lights were on, they were all set to flashing orange and we had no idea who had right of way. To add to the carnage there were hundreds of people flocking to the streets, so different from the emptiness of Helsinki, it wasn't even a weekend so couldn't have been a bar crawl as I first wondered. I notice many people with flashing devil horns then spot loads of people wearing matching AC/DC tshirts.

A quick google tells us they were playing in Tallinn this evening so that explains that. We're staying really close to the pier so don't have to drive far bit there's still a fair bit of noise from the crowds so I stick in the ear plugs in hope of a good night's sleep. In the morning things have quietened down and there's not many people around, we seem to be just on the edge of the commercial area and it's a 20 minute walk into the old town. Al and I had visited several years ago on a cruise but this time came in from a different direction, we did recognise the old market square although the really dodgy waxworks museum with its explicit area was no more 😂 The plan for today was non existent so we just started off with a browse around the shops then a visit to the tourist information.

A couple of museums that came recommended for children were the puppet and invention museums so off we went, on the way there we found a bakery selling the largest cookies we'd ever seen but it wasn't open yet so we promised the kids we'd return if there was good behaviour after the puppet museum. The museum itself is housed inside a theatre dating back to 1952 and the rooms have been cleverly designed to sit within the cellars with exposed brickwork. We soon discover it's very hands on and the first thing the kids do is put on a puppet show for us using stick puppets.

We leave them to play a little longer whilst we discover more about the history of puppetry in Estonia dating back to the 1950s. Drawers are full of original sketches of costumes, set designs and the puppets themselves. The next section has sand drawings and shadow puppets to keep the kids busy then we look at all the various puppets, many of which have been in shows at the theatre here. The kids are tasked with choosing their favourites and they were also given an activity booklet with things to find.

We learn more about the history of marionettes with the first considered to be made from terracotta in Central Asian civilisations. In Pakistan farm animal shaped figurines were found, dating back to 2400 BC. They have also found them during excavations of the tombs in Egypt, and also in Greece, where they were pictures movable with strings. In the Middle Ages marionettes were used in churches to perform morality plays with the term "marionette" deriving from the content of the morality plays - the Little Mary. One of the theatres plays was called The Little Gavroche, the story of a street-boy in Paris who is described as a little rascally guttersnipe, but with a big heart. This phrase makes Al and I laugh and I'm sure before the end of the day Liliya will do something to earn the title.

Even the bathrooms were amazingly decorated in an Alice in Wonderland style and as we were the only people in the museum Robert and Liliya looked in each other's bathrooms. The kids got to wear some rather ugly looking masks then we sat down for a while to look at old footage from various performances.

The final section was the anatomy of puppets which showed them in various states and invited you to feel the different materials they were made from.

The kids put on one final show this time using hand puppets then it was back to the bakery to get one of the giant cookies to share (I also couldn't resist the giant chocolate baileys truffle but one bite was too rich so it may last the whole rest of the trip).

As the invention museum was in another part of town we decided that would wait until the end of the day it would be nice to soak up some ambience of the town whilst getting a bite to eat. Al wanted to go to a brewery he knew and liked and turned out they had a lunchtime deal on burgers so we found a semi shaded spot on the courtyard and the boys had a game of chess whilst we waited for the food to arrive.

As suspected it wasn't long before we got to call Liliya a guttersnipe as she's using her fingers to scrape the last of the ketchup out of the pot!

The kids weren't a fan of the burger and the chips weren't going to fill them so we went to the mini pancake vendor. We'd told the kids they had to have the savoury ones after having the huge cookie which didn't impress madam who wanted them covered in sugar like at Efteling but she soon changed her tune when she actually tasted the cheese ones.

I had read about the oldest cafe in Tallinn that had a marzipan museum so we walked over to that, either the information was incorrect or the museum was very hidden as we could only find the cafe but everyone was too full and had been put off marzipan after trying it in Lubeck. It did happen to be opposite the Russian embassy which was now surrounded by posters and signs condemning the war in Ukraine. It must be hard for many people here as their native language is Russian and of course they share a border. By now the kids are keen to get to the invention museum but we tell them we've got to first walk up to the old walls where we get a lovely view of the old town and also buy another new piece of artwork.

Prior to buying baubles, artwork used to be our thing (we also tended not to go to so many countries in one holiday as we wouldn't have enough walls to carry on with that tradition!) Although we already have a bauble from Tallinn as we haven't been here with the kids before we do get another for our collection along with the obligatory van sticker. The invention museum is a 25 minute walk away, kind of in the middle of nowhere and the public transport doesn't look as easy or frequent as Helsinki so I check out how much an uber is and turns out it's only £4 versus €8 on the bus. It's a no brainer and helps save some tired little legs in this heat. The invention museum is part science lab, part fantasy playground. Within a large industrial hall, once used for shipyard machinery, were a variety of immersive VR adventures such as piloting a hot-air balloon, diving to the ocean floor, or pedalling a flying bicycle through the sky.

The idea is to learn about science through play and it was very well done. We had fun playing with light making photos and the kids spent quite a while building vehicles from card, straws, rubber bands and tape (which of course fell apart of the way home but of course they still want to keep them).

We caught an uber back to the shopping centre not far from where we'd parked to get supplies for a beach picnic tomorrow but whilst we were there they also had a variety of hot food on offer which we figured was easier than cooking so Liliya and Al shared some meatballs, which she found the sauce too spicy so daddy became the meatball licker before she'd eat them which of course amused both kids no end, Robert got a giant meatball and mash and I had some pork fillets with Al and I also sharing a delicious dish similar to potato gratin.

It was then back on the road for a two hour drive to the Estonian beach resort Parnu. Once we left the city of Tallinn we barely saw anything until we were 10 mins away from Parnu other than new roads being built and Google maps having a hissy fit as it thought we were driving through fields. There are still remnants of the country's soviet past with abandoned concrete buildings with the windows all smashed in, quite the contrast to all the new developments that seem to be taking place in the area.

Tonight we're stopping in a car park (well I say car park, it's a random piece of land with a sign and app you pay through, same as we used in Tallinn). It's just a 3 minute walk to the beach so it's an ideal place to stay for €10. I still need to log a run in Estonia so after helping get the kids to bed I have a very pleasant jog along the sea front. It's a shame the kids need an earlier night as it would have been lovely to enjoy an evening stroll together, there's still people in the sea at 9.30pm as well as bars playing chillout tunes.

It's rather large too so hopefully there will be plenty of space for everyone to enjoy the beach tomorrow. I manage to sit outside the van to write the blog for about 20 minutes before the bugs get too annoying and we retreat for the night. It looks like the bars stay open till 1am and we can faintly hear the music so another night with the ear plugs for me (more so I'm not envious I'm missing out 😝)

Everyone slept well and by 10am the kids are up, dressed and raring to go. Of course we're nearly the first people at the beach so we set up camp and the kids are straight into the water. It's actually really foggy and the water stretches for almost as far as the eye can see only being knee height so it feels really safe for the kids to paddle.

Within an hour the fog has burnt away and the beach starts to get busier but it really is huge with enough space for everyone.

Before we leave we let the kids have a little play on the park then it's back to the moho for lunch.

It's a double beach day for us today. So once we've eaten up we will head to our first proper campsite of the trip so far to a beach in Latvia.