In our never-ending mission to find strange and less traveled locations, we found Tallinn’s Patarei prison. Just on the outskirts of town, the abandoned Patarei prison is one of the strangest museums we’ve ever been to. It’s complete with execution room, medical ward and a ghostly feeling to it. The best way to describe the experience would be as a sort of ‘shock tourism’ and exactly what we love to see.Patarei prison hasn’t always been a prison. Originally it was built as a sea fortress to protect the sailing routes of the Russian empire back in the 1800’s. It wasn’t until 1919 when the country had almost no prisons left standing after WWI that it was converted into a prison.It was as normal and happy as a prison could be, with around 500 prisoners, a few of which even had a lovely view of the sea from their cells.Then, in 1940, the Soviets took over the country and the prison changed completely.It quickly went from 500 to 3,000 prisoners and even 5,000 at its peak.

Most of them were held here as political prisoners because they spoke up against the communist regime.Related post: Is visiting the Chernobyl nuclear plant safe?Rumors have it that the KGB loved these prisoners so much they tried many things to keep them inside, even going as far as to inject them with hallucinogenic drugs. This made them seem constantly crazy which would justify why they were locked away.This all kept going on in Patarei until the soviets were kicked out of the country in 1991. It was then turned back into a normal-ish prison, until it was finally closed in 2004 when Estonia joined the EU.The building then sat empty, apart from the occasional underground rave, for a couple of years. Then in 2007, it became a ‘cultural park’ or a nice way of saying that nobody actually wants to deal with it.The government doesn’t want it in its current state but has no money to fix it or get rid of it. The public doesn’t want it, but the private sector doesn’t want to shell out the cash either.

Related post: Backpackers guide to 48 hours in RigaSo, it’s just sitting there as a sort-of museum come abandoned building with little to no upkeep. This, though is what gave it that scary ‘shock’ factor you don’t normally get.There is no sign that it’s a museum apart from the ticket booth and the only information sign in the whole place is for the hanging room. Otherwise you and your imagination are left to run wild!Executions were common in the prison and were either by a shot to the back of the head or hanging. Both would result in your body being dragged through the grounds and tossed over a cliff into the sea. Even Estonia’s head of state in 1941, Jaan Tõnisson, was rumored to have been executed in Patarei. These executions happened until as late as 1991.Artists have taken over at some point and left all sorts of art exhibitions and graffiti throughout the grounds.Related post: Backpacker guide to 48 hours in VilniusSo, if you’re in Tallinn and want to get away from all of the medieval re-enactments and hipster cafes, this is where you need to go.

Easily one of the best ways to see what went on behind the ‘iron curtain’ and get a feeling for how bad times were not so long ago.Related post: Soviet time capsule train ride through Eastern EuropeIf you want to get the most out of this place we would highly recommend taking the tour or buying the brochure at the least. puma urban mobility backpack ebaySince there are no signs a lot could be lost on you if you don’t do some research.laptop backpack - citi pro 6There are tours run throughout the summer and by appointment in winter.myog backpack plans The Challenge: Cutthroat is the 20th season of the MTV reality game show, The Challenge.uav backpack arma 2

Filmed in Prague, Czech Republic, Cutthroat features a first-ever three-team format, with cast members from The Real World, Road Rules, Fresh Meat, Fresh Meat II and Spring Break Challenge all competing. The season premiered on Wednesday, October 6, 2010, and concluded with the "S#!% They Should Have Shown" special on December 22, 2010. This season of The Challenge features a brand new format, consisting of three teams — Red vs. Blue vs. Grey. A race to the "Gulag" was held to determine the selections of the teams. The three players that finished last in the race — Camila Nakagawa (Spring Break Challenge), Shauvon Torres (RW: Sydney) and Emilee Fitzpatrick (RW: Cancun) — were chosen as the team captains. Those three selected players, alternating between male and female, until each team was split evenly — five men and five women on each team — see Cast and Draft sections below. The three teams will participate in numerous challenges (sometimes called "missions"), which are followed by an elimination challenge, known as the "Gulag."

The team who wins a challenge will receive a cash prize of $20,000 to be banked in their team bank accounts, as well as winning immunity from the Gulag. The two losing teams will then be forced to choose one player of each gender from their own teams for possible elimination. Each player will cast secret votes to decide which two men and two women will battle in same-gender Gulags. The winning players will rejoin their respective teams and stay in the game for a chance at a share of $120,000, while the losing players will be eliminated from the game. Cast members who had been eliminated were removed from the opening credits, leaving only current members of the three teams left. It is the first (and so far only) time in challenge history that this has occurred. In the event a vote is tied, a run-off vote is conducted. If the run-off does not resolve the tie, the player going into the Gulag from the opposing team selects any (same-sex) member of the other team to send to the Gulag.

Host: T. J. Lavin, BMX rider The final challenge begins with each team sprinting to the first checkpoint, "Seeing Spots," in which each team has to designate one player to stand in front of a wall containing five white targets, and one teammate has to hit each target with a paint ball gun before advancing. The next checkpoint is "So Tired," in which teams have to roll oversize tires on the tarmac. The next checkpoint is "Down & Dirty," in which players have to slide through an obstacle course containing a dirt pit. At the "Free Ride" checkpoint, one player from each team has to lie on a stretcher while their teammate carries them to the next check point. (Note: Since the Blue Team only had two members — Emily & Jenn, they instead carried a mannequin on the stretcher.) At the "Hard Wood" checkpoint, each team must transfer a pile of wood to the top of a hangar in a designated area before advancing to the "Sign Language" checkpoint, in which each team has to memorize the placement of a sign post containing Czech road signs, then crawl through an obstacle course through mud and under barb wire, then swim through a lake.

After swimming through a lake, each team has to slide a series of Czech road signs through a pole to duplicate the sign post from the earlier "Sign Language" checkpoint. If a team slides in each sign correctly, they can advance, otherwise, they have to return to the original "Sign Language" checkpoint. The final stretch involves a sprint to the top of a castle named Bezděz. In contrast to past seasons of The Challenge, the title sequence features only the players that are still in the game for that episode. (In the past, every player that participated would be shown, even after elimination.) The Challenge: Cutthroat Reunion was aired after the season finale on December 15, 2010, and was hosted by Maria Menounos. The cast members who attended the reunion were Luke, Sarah, Brad, Tori, Paula, Tyler, Dunbar, Derrick, Emily, Laurel, Abram, Cara Maria, Eric, Johnny and Jenn. During the third episode of the season, which aired on October 20, 2010, Fresh Meat II castmember Laurel Stucky drunkenly directed a series of insults at Fresh Meat castmember Eric Banks, regarding Banks' body image.

[ instead of apologizing to Banks in person during filming, though Stucky claimed that Banks brushed her off following the incident. ^ a b c Paula was disqualified for repeatedly grabbing the boundary chains in the "Pole Me Over" Gulag, after host T. J. Lavin forewarned her that doing so would result in a disqualification; therefore, Emily was declared the winner by default. ^ a b c d Chet was rushed to the hospital after he suffered a concussion at the "Surf's Up" challenge in Episode 5.[7] Prior to the "Sky Hook" challenge in Episode 6, T. J. Lavin delivered the news that Chet was medically prohibited from competing, and he was subsequently removed from the competition. ^ a b c d Abram and Sarah were removed from the "Czech Point" final mission, after they both fell severely ill midway through the final race. They both earned a share of the $100,000 that the Grey team earned in the team challenges that they won, with each Grey team player earning $20,000. ^ a b c Katie and Shauvon were set to compete in the "Die Hard" Gulag in Episode 3;