Viimsi and Merivälja - kolkhozes and UFOs!

To quote a piece of classic Estonian literature, "Sometimes Vestmann is on the bottom and Piibeleht on top, and sometimes it's the other way around." The same could be said for Viimsi and Merivälja. In pre-war Estonia, Viimsi was a poorer area that people moved away from, while Merivälja was a budding garden suburb. Viimsi's triumph began during the Soviet era. This is when the former poor fishing village became a model collective farm, where everyone dreamed of working but only the best were accepted. One could even argue that while the rest of the Soviet Union was dreaming of communism, it was already achieved in Viimsi. On this tour we'll explore what was behind this rare Soviet miracle. We will also look at Viimsi's military history, visit Viimsi Manor, and talk about the mysterious system of tunnels that the Soviet army, with the help of St. Petersburg subway builders, built under Viimsi. And, of course, we cannot avoid talking about the famous Merivälja UFO!