Estonian nature: bogs

In an earlier post, I already claimed my fondness for bogs (Summertime in Estonia). So, when a friend raised the idea to go racket walking in a bog, there was no possible hesitation. Yes, even if there is a chance of rain. It does not harm to get wet in wetlands. 

Therefore, on this August Sunday, off we go to Kõrvemaa for a day trip to the bogs. 

A bog lake at the border between the bogs and the forest. Beautiful, isn't it?

Estonian trains

This was also the opportunity for me to try the Estonian railway. I had heard much talk about it, not so much about the railway itself, but more about the high amount of accidents between the trains and trucks, cars and bicycles. 

In Estonia, contrarily to Western Europe, you still have many railroad crossings. I have to get back to my childhood to remember railroad crossings in Livorno, where my grandparents live. Building a bridge or an underground passage is costly and is not justified by the relatively small amount of trains in Estonia. All railroad crossings have a warning signal but not all of them have a barrier. The warning signal is usually a combined light and sound, but it seems that one accident happened in a village where the noise signal was lowered because it was considered too loud by the nearby habitants... It seems also that people ignoring the barriers (you can often slalom between the half road-width barriers) are many, cars, people and bikes. The last victim was a cyclist with headphones. Headphones or not, the trains are super silent. But they are bright orange. Now, I have to confess that I felt strange at the moment of crossing the railway in a rural station yesterday: the train came in silence, with no warning, no horn, no light. So, in Estonia, pay attention to trains!

From inside, now, these brand new trains financed by the EU feel great. They are spacious and comfortable, with plenty of sitting places, they have bike-dedicated areas with hangers to minimise the occupied space, and everything is orange and grey, from the seats to the clothes of the train controllers. 

The beauty of the bogs: isolation and colours

So we took the train to Aegviidu, a town 45 minutes away. It is the last stop of the electric trains. Beyond that, the line is not electrified and trains run with diesel. We meet our guide and we are brought by minibus to a bog located 30 minutes Northwards.

A perfect bog: a long boardwalk installed by RMK, surrounded by forests, an observation tower in the middle and beautiful colours all around.

Again, we land in a place which feels isolated from the rest of the world, despite the proximity to Tallinn. It is Sunday, so you meet other nature lovers and a few people coming to pick mushrooms. And here too, RMK (the Estonian State Forest management company) has done a great job, creating hiking trails, camp sites, barbecues and toilets, all free. But as you progress in the forest and reach the bog, you hear nothing but the wind in the trees, and as you climb the observation tower, you see nothing around you but bogs, lakes and forests. Bogs tend to appear in extended, flat, lower grounds. And even if their moss thickens with time, they remain low and the shortage in soil nutrients does not allow trees to grow very big. At the periphery of the bogs, you often have a hill circling the bog where trees grow normal size. This gives a very distinct landscape and a sensation of immensity, away from any human impact. 

Even after having visited a dozen of them, bogs still amaze me by their colours. They are all similar, with lots of green ; traces of blue from the lakes, yellow and red (among others, the carnivorous plant sundew). I think these colours have an appeasing effect on me. 

If you want to know more about bogs, you can start by reading http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bog. 

The forest there has a history. It used to be home to several villages until the Soviet army decided to turn it into a military polygon. The villages are gone and the military facility is still there, now used by the Estonian army. Even though there are not land mines (I asked, just in case), we were recommended not to touch any metallic item we would see in the forest. 

Racket walking

Many people are familiar with racket walking in the snow. Even if you didn't try it yourself, you have seen it on tv, and you can imagine how important it is for people living in snowy areas to be able to walk around with relative ease. The rackets used in bogs are exactly the same. 

On top: what happens if you don't have rackets in the bogs, you sink. With rackets, you have more chances of staying dry.

The dangers are also similar: the snow might hide a piece of ice covering frozen pieces of water, in bogs you usually step on a layer of moss which is simply floating and sometimes it is too think to be able to support your weight, even with rackets. The guide warned us to avoid dark spots, as they are usually a sign of very thin (or nearly none) moss. Another danger is quicksand (in French, sables mouvants). Some lakes are not deep but if you fall in them you will be sucked in. Apparently, the technique to get out is to avoid any fast or brusk movement and to slowly roll out... I'll keep it in mind, hoping to stay at the theory stage.

"Now it is your turn: walk at a steady pace, keep balance between both feet and avoid the black spots"

This guided tour was also some sort of initiation. You may rent rackets and go by yourself. The recommendation she gave was to start from a hill or observation tower and identify your way in advance. Indeed, there are times where you will be surrounded by lakes, and the flat ground will not allow you to find a way through. Moreover, to the contrary of snow, the moss will not clearly keep record of your track and you might not be able to walk back the same way (of course, the repetitive passing of racket walkers also creates trails). So, you better plan your full itinerary from the tower and take note of some landmarks to orient yourself. And always keep the tower in sight. 

Selecting your track from the observation tower: where are you going and how are you going to get through these lakes?

I thought of racket walking in bogs as an activity you would practice only for fun. But it might have been useful back in time, and still a bit today, to nearby villages. You find lots of very nice cranberries and some mushrooms in the bogs. 

And here is the swimming spot

Living in Tallinn: the people

I haven't talked about the people so far, yet it is the first thing you observe and experience when you go to a new place. I'll give it a try, even though I am not sure I am ready to give a good portrait of the Estonian people, especially since I am still facing the language barrier. 

Seasonal mood and human interactions

The official tourist information website http://www.visitestonia.com/en/ tells you that Estonians mood and general look varies across the year: they look sad and bored during winter while they are more joyful and smiling during summer. True, MORE joyful and smiling, but don't expect much smiles from strangers here. Even when it is sunny, Estonians look distant and don't smile to strangers. They don't invite strangers to conversation, and it is striking how silent public transport is: nobody talks to each other and you rarely see people looking at each other from close range.

More distinctively, people do their best to avoid any interaction or contact with others. When the bus is crowded, people spontaneously try to make space to others so that they can move around and fit without the need for anyone to ask for permission or asking for space. Everything seems to happen smoothly, and always in silence. So, if you want to do like Estonians, don't talk to anyone at the bus stop, even if you feel sympathy for these people waiting under the rain like you, and - when on the bus - look in the distance through the window. 

Estonia is not Québec (I have never been to Québec, but this is what everyone who went reported): people here won't spontaneously stop to help you if you look lost with a map or if you seem to struggle with an excess of stuff to carry. But I tend to think that once you ask someone something, even if they might be surprised, they will help you and be kind.

In the coming months, as I will improve my knowledge of the Estonian language and commute to work on the other side of town, I will have opportunities to experience this better and (with care) test more deeply the behaviour of Estonians. 

Drunk people

As you walk around Tallinn, there is one thing you can't miss: there are drunk people at any time of the day. Mostly, middle-aged men. In any city, it is not unusual to meet drunk people on weekend nights. But here, you will meet them even on a Tuesday at 11 AM, in any district of town. 

At first, you think this guy there in the distance has an odd limp, or a painful leg. Then as you approach you see that he fails to walk straight and needs to stop from time to time to recover balance before walking on. Most of them are lonely individuals. They do not seem scary or behave aggressively. They just try to get back home.

Alcoholism is a problem in Estonia. I guess it is a problem in all Nordic countries as a consequence of long dark winters. There is a ban to selling alcoholic drinks between 22:00 and 10:00, except in pubs with an official authorisation. If you go to the supermarket at 9:45 in the morning, you will see people starting to select beers (or vodka) and waiting impatiently for 10:00 - before that, the lady at the cassa will not let them through. And in the evening, shortly before 22:00, the same - the other way around: people rushing to buy drinks before the time. Oh I forgot to mention: in Estonia, supermarkets are open every day until 22:00 ; what a difference with Belgium! and some of them have an impressive alcohol section: just an example, you can find Vodka from a dozen of different brands and, moreover, in many different shapes and sizes of containers, ranging from the tiny shot in a plastic bottle to a "magnum" in glass. Until a few weeks ago, it was also forbidden to drink in public places. Now, you can go around with your beer bottle. I don't think it changes much.  

Women: so many, so beautiful

Maybe you don't see the transition between drunk people and women, but there is actually one: alcoholism among men in Estonia is one of the factors explaining the imbalance between women and men in the Estonian population. For every 85 men, there are 100 women: WOUHOU (expression of joy in French)!

I didn't make a research on the topic, but you can check by yourself on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_sex_ratio, select "total" as classification index and you'll see that Estonia comes second only to the Northern Mariana Islands, a small island in the Pacific I never hear of before and counting less than 80.000 inhabitants. Now, the world average is 90 men for 100 women, so don't over-estimate the issue. You'll also notice that the other Baltic countries and several former Soviet states are in the top countries. There must be some common factor, and not only the long dark winter. Nevertheless, you will also see in the tables that, at birth, there are slightly more boys than girls, but in older ranges, the imbalance becomes impressive.

Katri often told me that Estonian men don't take much care of themselves. Here I am facing a chicken-and-egg dilemma. Men might be pampered by the quantity of women around them. Middle aged men, even if they are not full of charm, might have plenty of ladies to choose from. So they don't pay much attention to themselves and don't develop skills and habits to lead a healthy life: cooking and eating balanced, healthy food, and not drinking (or at least, not often). So that makes the men's mortality so high.

Now, compared to Western European men, I have to say that Estonian men give the impression of being strong and skilled with their hands. Every man here can (at least, in my imagination) use a chainsaw, cut wood, build a wooden cabinet and manage a barbecue. Okay, I'm probably focused on things I'm not very good at myself. But I developed my own theory: men here are still expected to manage these tasks and they have many opportunities to do them, so that leaves them less time to contribute to cooking, cleaning and taking care of the kids. Interestingly, Estonia has a very Nordic approach when it comes to parental leave: both the mother and the father may take long leaves and they can split up to a cumulated 18 months with full pay and 18 more months without losing your job. But the fact is that men rarely take a significant part in this leave. Gender differences are still visible.

Instead of talking about women, I have been talking about gender differences. It's coming. Estonian women are, apparently, the magnet for foreign men. Yes, when I tell people I live here because my girlfriend is Estonian, people don't need more and say "oh, the classical story!". At a French-speaking barbecue, I met an entrepreneur who was proud to say "I like Estonia, and I didn't come here for ladies!". The same night, I met a French lady who moved here because she has an Estonian boyfriend. Now, that's original!

When meeting them (often at the first encounter), I remember being asked by several Estonian (girl)friends of Katri what I thought of Estonian ladies. That would normally be embarrassing, in presence of my girlfriend. But she openly told me from the start how good-looking were Estonian ladies. She didn't say that in self-promotion, but rather with admiration. She is right. At least, I share the same feeling. After all, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder", it is subjective, a matter of taste.

You are certainly able to figure with no effort a tv commercial starring a beautiful lady, with a cute smile and blond hair in the wind, wearing a nice dress or a tailleur - maybe, air hostess style - and seemingly moving in slow motion. Well, when I walk around Tallinn, I experience that every day, and more than once. At least in summer time. But what makes them so attractive? They certainly take care of themselves and they like to dress nicely, contrarily to men, who seem to prefer relaxed clothes. But that is not unique to Estonia.

The mainstream type here is the blonde with smooth hair. Yes, if you are into blondes, Estonia is a good place. But you find a bit of everything. And in August, some people are surprisingly tanned. Now, what I like here, is the way ladies get dressed. It is not the sophisticated style of Italians (which can be nice too). It is very different. I would call it "retro", nice retro. I am not a fashion expert, so excuse me if you think differently - it is just a personal way of sight. You take the best of the '60s and '70s movies, with colourful dresses but without the funny haircuts (you see some variety in hairstyle, but not so much), and you have a good glimpse of everyday Tallinn. I am not yet spending my days in an Estonian workplace, and anyway I'll certainly have mostly men in my office. But I imagine the fashion show in a normal (or rather, non-engineering) office.

I feel that ladies here like to dress well. I don't think they do it to impress men. I believe they like to do it for themselves and also for the other ladies - there might be some competition too. They are not afraid to show their legs, a skirt - even short - is not shocking. Colours are bright. I don't know what went wrong in Belgium that ladies feel the need to hide themselves and prefer not being noticed. Maybe the flip side of Estonians being so distant to strangers is that ladies don't feel harassed or looked at by men when they walk around, and so they feel free to dress up and look as pretty as they like.

Living in Tallinn: the old town, the sea, the rain

Tallinn is a touristic place. It actually deserves it. It is a very nice town to visit. Unfortunately, Tallinn's old town is the only thing most tourists see of Estonia. As I said in other posts, what I call the best about Estonia is its nature and open spaces. But most visitors here are one-day visitors, coming for a short visit, with a cruise boat, staying from dusk till dawn, before hopping to another Baltic city. 

Tallinn feels touristic inside the old town. At every street corner, there are people in medieval clothes selling some "local" finger food or making street shows, there are very expensive restaurants and plenty of handicraft shops. I heard more than once, from expats living here, that many locals try and avoid the old town because they don't like being treated as a tourist, i.e. being invited to look at the menu of restaurants or given flyers to visit the next-door exhibit, even though they are not dressed like tourists and do not behave like tourists.  I don't think any of these small annoyances can justify not going through the old town, it is a beautiful place and walks there are always pleasant.   

The old town

Again, last night, I felt lucky: we went out to a milonga (a social tango dancing event) in the old town and it feels great to walk back home across the Tallinn old town. It is particularly beautiful at night, when the lights are dimmed and you don't have to find your way among the crowds of day tourists or locals hurrying to their destination. And if it is rainy, it feels even more romantic. 

Tallinn's old town, view from the Tallinn bay

A few days ago, we went out for a small run. It was nice to run along the walls of the old town. It feels so quiet in the evening. And on the way back, we went by the seaside, which is just two blocks away from Paks Margareeta (Fat Margaret, the short but wide tower marking one of the corners of the old town). Unfortunately, the seaside of Tallinn is not well valorised and used. It is even more surprising, when considering the short distance from the old town. 

The sea

As I said in another post, Tallinn is a seaside town, a port. The docks close to the old town are dedicated to passenger boats, to Helsinki and Stockholm, and to the cruise boats. Along the Kopli peninsula, there are industrial docks. In between, there is the Cultural Kilometer, a seaside walking and bicycle track that takes you to the Paterei prison (an old prison which has been abandoned and you can now visit) and the Seaplane Harbour, a beautiful and somewhat expensive museum about maritime equipment. 

The seaside is under-valued today. There is one café next to Patarei and one restaurant beyond the Seaplane Harbour. But closest to the old town, next to the express boats to Helsinki, there is a huge concrete structure starting to fall apart, called Linnahall. You can still walk on it and climb its dozens of stairs up and down, and get a great view to the sea and the old town. It is a relic of the 1980 Olympic Games. Did you know that Tallinn hosted the Olympic Games? well, only part of it. The Olympics were held in Moscow, but as you know there is no sea in Moscow so they organised the sailing competition in the Tallinn bay. In over 30 years, that concrete structure in Tallinn was not much used, except as a skating ring for a while, and now it falls apart. It might take a long time before something is done about it, because it is too deteriorated to be renovated, and taking it away will be very costly.

Linnahall, the structure hosting the sailing races for the 1980 Moscow Olympics, and in the background Balloon Tallinn, offering one of the best views over the town and the bay.

Anyway, the sea offers some charms too. Last weekend we went for a small dinner-cruise on board the Kajsamoor (http://www.kajsamoor.eu), an old cargo ship built in Norway before WWII and recently renovated (with EU funds) for tourism activities. We faced some rain showers on our way to the dock from home, but once on board the weather was wonderful and we had a lovely sunset. The ship went up and down the Tallinn bay and gave us wonderful views over the area and the old town. The Kajsamoor is a sailboat, but there was practically no wind that evening. On the plus side, there were no waves neither, which seems to be a characteristic of the Baltic sea. 

On board of the Kajsamoor in the Tallinn bay: in the background, the old town.

The rain

I mentioned rain a couple of times here, so I wanted to come back on that. I have been warned about the weather in Tallinn: it is worse than in Brussels! that says it all. I said I like the sea air, locals also warned me that sea air means cold wind in the winter. We'll see. For now, I had two weeks of bright sunshine, and two weeks made of "tropical" rain showers. 

"There is no bad weather, there is only inappropriate clothing!". This is usually true. And in general I don't mind rain. At least, that was my view in Belgium. The thing is, in Tallinn, when it rains, you are going to be wet. Because often the rain does not come vertically, but nearly horizontally and it is impossible to hold an umbrella. And because you will at some point get wet by the cars driving into the numerous puddles. Yes, there are many puddles. Although the road are generally in better shape than in Belgium, in town there are a some streets where puddles create very fast, either because there are holes or bad plumbery or repetitive passage of heavy loads creating ruts (I mean, longitudinal waves in the road). So, I expect a hard, regular work of cleaning shoes and the bottom of my pants. Otherwise, as long as weather is warmish, I'll have to apply Katri's advice: short pants (or skirt) and a good pair of rubber flip-flops! 

Living in Tallinn: shopping malls, beaches and food

Before settling in Tallinn, I came here a few times, mostly during summertime. So I knew how Tallinn looked like. As a visitor. You know what there is to visit, what there is to see, but you don't know much about how people spend their time and how they enjoy themselves. 

Cafés and malls

During my short visits I had noticed Tallinn had a great café culture, certainly because it is so much different from Brussels. It reminds me of the Balkans in this perspective. There are lots of cafés, with comfortable seats, you choose by yourself where to sit and you can stay as long as you want, even if the place is busy (which is rare). You can also occupy a table for 4 on your own, no one will tell you anything. Nothing comparable with Belgium, where they have a turnover target and they tend to push you out as soon as you finish your drink. Moreover in most places, you have a free wifi!

I also noticed that the focus of urban life were the shopping malls. It is something typical of very cold or very hot countries, such as Malaysia and the Middle East. I imagine, it is so much nicer to do all your shopping in the shelter of a mall, hopping from the mobile phone provider to the supermarket, and going through the bookshop where you often also find a café. There is not much room for the proximity shops (so valuable to the inhabitants of Brussels), except the emergency pood or kauplus where people rush to buy missing ingredients or a last alcoholic drink in the evening (after 22:00, it is forbidden to sell alcohol unless you are a pub with an official authorisation).  

Beyond that, I knew not much about life in Tallinn.  

The air and the sea

Tallinn is a seaside town, a port for passenger and freight. And as such, it has also beaches. As in any other seaside town, you should go a bit away to find the nicest beaches. But it is nice to be a few steps away from the sea. The sea air always feels fresh and clean. And when I get there, I always have a though for what my family doctor told (when I was a kid) when asked what to do about my allergies: "you should spend more time at the seaside, the maritime air is good for you". 

Interesting facts about the sea and the air here. The Baltic sea has a salinity which is significantly lower than the ocean. If you want to know why, you can read  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltic_Sea#Salinity. I remember it every time I swim in it (after being frozen to death for a while): contrarily to the Mediterranean, you don't feel the urge to have a clean water shower after coming out of the Baltic sea, because your body is not covered in salt. 

And the air. According to a recent study (which reference I need to track back), the average quality of the air in Estonia is among the best in the world, i.e. the least polluted, second only to Canada. You can feel it and you can see it. Even in Tallinn, the sky is BLUE... when there are no clouds. The sky in big cities is never blue, it is always slightly grey or white, due to the air pollution. Even though Estonia's main domestic resource is oil shale (not shale oil, but oil shale), which is a very polluting energy source (I will have to blog about it, some day). The air in Estonia is clean!

Beaches

So, back to beaches. The Stroomi beach is the closest to the centre. And for me, it is just 20 minutes by foot from home. To date, it is rather preserved from development: it is isolated from the first building by Merimets (the wood by the sea), a rather wild green area - yes, it does not suffer much from the proximity to town - which hides the town from the beach, and vice versa. Today! yes, because it is very likely that the city government will concede more and more developments and tall buildings might grow like mushrooms in the future. This area is so valuable and the city population is growing (Estonia is witnessing a diaspora, young people leave the countryside and come to town). 

In the meantime, I enjoy the place. Stroomi is not a bad beach. There is a good stretch of pleasant sand and it is - like most Estonian beaches - equipped with changing cabins. It is located alongside the Kopli peninsula, famous for its industrial ports and for its historically poor population. Things are evolving, though, and it has a huge potential: Kopli has sea on both sides and it is not far from the city centre (there is a direct tram connection). 

Because of its location, Stroomi is never empty. There are always people strolling around, running, or walking their dog (even if it is forbidden on the beach), and I even met a couple walking their domestic pig... yes, pig, cute isn't it? And when weather is fine, there are groups meeting for a barbecue (even if it is forbidden outside the designated places) and - of course - some noisy groups of odd people, drunk at any time of the day, mostly middle-aged men (I will have to blog about drunk people, too). I didn't swim in Sroomi (yet): it is not that much inviting. You need to walk long in the sea before leaving shallow waters - it is the norm in the Baltic -, and the sea bottom seems a bit muddy. 

Stroomi is not the only beach in Tallinn. There is also Pirita beach, in the Tallinn bay, to the East from town. It is wider and longer, with a lovely green promenade at the back. It is bit more upscale with respect to Stroomi. A bus ride of 15 minutes from town takes you there. 

With a car, you can leave town and reach in 30 minutes the beautiful beach of Vääna-Jõesuu, 20 km West of Tallinn. We went there twice for a Friday evening swim and sunset walk, it was divine. In any case, the Northen coast of Estonia is usually known for cold water. If you want warm seawater, you must head to Pärnu, the summer capital of Estonia, in the South-West. 

The beach of Vääna-Jõesuu, 20 km West of Tallinn. Large spaces, good sand, no buildings in sight.

A Friday afternoon at Stroomi beach, in Tallinn. In the distance, the West end of the city, with the Estonian open air museum and the Rocca al Mare shopping centre (where the tall building is located). 

Sunset at Stroomi beach, in Tallinn. You can see the industrial installations of the Kopli peninsula on the Eastern side of the Tallinn bay.

The food

Food in Estonia is something to experience continuously. It is a combination of various influences from both West and East and it is in constant evolution. I am not a food blogger and I am not even a foodie. Nevertheless, when you open your eyes and your ears (and mouth), you notice things. 

Last night, we were out for dinner with a couple of friends from Brussels. The place we wanted to go was closed, due to the National holiday (it was the anniversary of the Restoration of Independence, marking the freedom from the Soviet union on 20 August 1991), so we went to Lendav Taldrik (the flying saucer). This rather recent place is, according to the other guests, one of the good restaurant in the area of Põhja-Tallinn (the area between the station Balti Jaam and the Kopli peninsula) and it has an actual Indian chef. We were there for a few minutes when we saw another couple of Estonians living in Brussels entering the restaurant. I was quite surprised. The others were not. They were used to come to Tallinn a couple of times a year for nearly 10 years, now, and the explanation is quite simple: "There are not many good restaurants with decent prices in Tallinn, so we often end up in the same places. But it is improving." 

They told me that, 10 years ago, there was nothing. Nothing except the very touristy stuff in the old town, not affordable for a casual dinner. There was no restaurant where you would leave thinking, "I will come again". And even in supermarkets, it was difficult to find what you were looking for, the choice of ingredients and products was scarce. A wake of the Soviet communist area? 

So, yes, today one can be satisfied. And if one is not, he might think about where the country was a couple of decades ago. I often had good experiences in restaurants. In the countryside, I know I will mostly have to settle for a Russian style soup, a seljanka or a borsht (I like it, but it often feels like fast food). But in town, there is an increasing variety. 

What I actually miss here, is cheese. I always have a look at the cheese section in markets and supermarkets. You actually find foreign cheese in the largest ones: something from France, Italy, Switzerland, Holland (nothing from Belgium, even though we have wonderful cheeses)... but mostly at outrageous prices. Moreover, the variety is low. And I will have to get used to not having the large choice of tasty beers I had back home. 

Estonians are big meat eaters. They love barbecue, and there is always barbecue smell in the air during dry, summer evenings. You can also taste some animals that you rarely see at the menu, like the bear and the beaver, which are local species here.  Both are killed in quotas every year: the quota was 40 bears last year, and 38 were actually shot, there are bigger quotas for most other animals. Bear is expensive, because not all animals give good meat (some have parasites). Not many restaurants serve it, and in general they don't have it all year round. 

I tried bear at the Sagadi manor house, in Lahemaa. It was pricey, 40 eur for the dish! Since the hunting season was long over, I guess it was bear from the previous season, preserved in the freezer and prepared in the oven. The meat was dark and tasty, I would say similar to game. I would not be able to tell it was bear if the waitress did not confirm it was (I asked twice, to be sure).

Eating bear at the Sagadi manor house in Lahemaa National Park

Summertime in Estonia

Summer in Estonia is something unique (well, probably there is a lot in common with other Nordic countries): the summer is short but days are long, people live in a very different way than the rest of the year, and most people stay in the country to enjoy it to the fullest.

Yes, Estonians stay in Estonia in summer. And Estonians living abroad come to Estonia during summer. There is no better place to be! But, WHEN is summer? mmmh... most people claim it is about certain in July. If you are lucky, it starts earlier and/or finishes later. Well, I arrived here on July 30... but I seem to be lucky: weather was nice for another two weeks!

So what do people do in Estonia during summer? At the program of most people, the Estonian classics: forest walks and camping, berries and mushroom picking, swimming in all sorts of bodies of water (sea, lakes, rivers), barbecue and sauna. And music festivals, as there is something going on in the open air every weekend.

RMK

If there is something I really like in Estonia is the RMK, the Estonian State Forest authority. You don't see them much, but they really do make you feel at home everywhere! How: they create and organise walking trails and camping grounds with all the required facilities around the country. There, you usually find barbecue places, wood logs, wooden toilets (often with toilet paper and water bottles), tables, and sometimes shelters or huts. And all for FREE!

One of these RMK campings with bbq spots, shelters, toilets and beach (behind)

Bog lakes and mushroom picking in South Estonia

My first weekend in Estonia and, since the summer is apparently and luckily not over (locals consider that August is already a cold month), we head to the South to visit family and explore the areas of Põlva (Põlvamaa) and Võru (Võrumaa). 

It feels like a contest to swim in as many lakes (järv, in Estonian) as you can. There are plenty of lakes in the area, most of them are swimmable (if not, it is written) and you often find swimming spots with a piece of beach and a changing "cabin". In South Estonia, most lakes are deep and the shores are quite abrupt, which makes them good for swimming, less good for children games. This explains why those with a piece of beach and a progressive slope are very popular.

Liivajärv in Paganamaa, at the Latvian border (those trees on the other side are in Latvia)

Our favourites: Palojärv, known for being among the warmest lakes of the country. Family friendly place, with a beach and a "child zone" surrounded by a wooden promenade. But the lake is super big and you can swim quietly away from the crowd. During daytime, there is also ice cream to sell!

The town of Rõuge in Võrumaa, with lakes all around and a lovely hilly landscape. There is the deepest lake of Estonia, 38 m deep. Very close to it, our "personal" lake, Kahrila järv with its Hinni canyon, the deepest canyon in Estonia, 11 m deep. We spent two nights on its shores, at the lovely Lätte turismitalu, and felt as if we were the only ones swimming and rowing in this long lake most of the time.

Enjoing the Lätte turismitalu on the shores of lake Kahrila

And then, you have the bog lakes... usually small and very dark, with warm, clean water and no fish. These lakes are created only by precipitations and snow melting, there is no river or stream arriving or leaving. The nicest thing about them, is that they are in the middle of ... bogs, of course! Therefore, they are remote, difficult to reach, and most of the time only accessible through a board walk (thanks again, RMK) through a bog.

Visting bogs in Estonia is certainly one of my favourite activities. I don't remember having seen bogs or anything similar anywhere else. It is like a bit of untouched nature. When I visited Estonia for the first time, 3 years ago, I was really amazed and today I feel the same every time I see a bog (even a bog I already visited). I always think about my hometown, Brussels. Its original name (if I remember well from my primary school history classes) was "Bruoc Sela" (or something like that), which means "the city on the mire". Yes, Brussels was built on mires, but there is no mire left in Brussels, or anywhere in Belgium for what I know.

A typical board walk on bogs

Sundew, a carnivorous plant you often meet in bogs: it waits for insects to come in its (sticky) leaves before slowly trapping and ingesting them. 

Mustjärv (black lake), in Luhaso bog, one of the biggest bog lakes I saw. The water is not actually black bur rather dark copper (reddish).  

Bog lake in the Meenikunno raba (bog)

Another fun thing to do, is picking mushrooms. Before going, you need to know which mushrooms to pick and which are dangerous for health. You usually go for one type if you are a novice like me. And it is also better to know where to search for mushrooms. You may have a feeling for a "mushroom forest", but you might walk a long time before seeing one! Katri's aunt, Tädi Sirje, was nice enough to show us two of her favourite picking places for girolles. And it was a very successful trip with the whole family. Girolles are sold at the market in Balti Jaam (Tallinn's main station) for 8 eur/kg.

With the "communist" bucket of mushrooms (containing the first day pickings from the whole family)

The privacy and beauty of South Estonia come at one single price: a bit of your blood! What...!? well,  unfortunately, it feels paradisiac down there, if it was not for the insects: at wakeup, you are annoyed by flies; during the day, you are harassed by horseflies (they bite, but they are slow) and wasps, and at night you are food for mosquitos.  And, when walking in woods, you often end up stepping by an ant trail. Ant bites can be painful too. But every time, one keeps forgetting about it and looks forward to the next summer!

Romantic hay balls in South Estonia

Smoked fish and camping in West Estonia

Second weekend, nice weather again... we rent a car and head West. To Nõva and the extremely popular Peraküla beach, also known for the singing sand. Singing sand? yes, when you walk on it, it "sings", or rather it cries... it is a funny feeling.

Just behind the beach, you have a huge forest filled with berries (especially, blueberries). Okay, blueberries picking is fun for 30 minutes, but then it gets exhausting: you are attacked by all sorts of insects, your bucket never seems to fill up, and you risk getting permanent stains on your beige pants (personal experience, but I received a magic soap that made them nearly disappear). But if you put in it a bit of effort, you can do marvellous marmalade. Katri liked this idea enough to go blueberries picking with friends a second time the next week, I didn't. I prefer mushroom picking. But it was worth our efforts (and hers, mostly): the blueberries turned into 11 jars of jam. Blueberries are sold at the market in Balti Jaam for 5 eur/kg.

Picking blueberries, a hard task.

And there is also a lake where to swim, in case the sea water is too cold. Not as good as the South Estonian lakes, though, because it is not very deep and its tiny "beach" is much less private.

As expected, the camping ground and barbecue places all along the beach feel very busy. It does not matter, we had already spotted on the map a lake 20 minutes away where there is also a camping ground.

Smoked flounder on the roadside of Növa

On the way, we go pass two ovens where they smoke freshly taken flounder (a flat fish)! They tell us they will be ready in 10 minutes, so we wait and start licking our lips! Katri feels greedy and decides to buy 10 of them for just the two of us. Okay, they are not big, but  5 each is a good number! 15 minutes later, we get back in the car and try to find a place to eat the smoked fish before the smell makes us crazy! We don't find a nice picnic spot around and head for the camping ground on Veskijärv.

The camping ground on Veskijärv feels the opposite of that in Peraküla: quiet, with only a few cars and tents around. We sit at a table under a shelter, and eat hungrily our fish. After that, we start scouting for a place to put the tent. We walk around under the suspicious eye of the people who have taken possession of the main barbecue and shelter place in the middle of the site, and we suddenly discover that there was a third, remotely located, barbecue spot with no shelter but... even better, a "private beach", a small stretch of sand leading directly to the lake. We have found our spot! And there we go for an evening bath (or swim) and a splendid, quiet, night ashore of a very peaceful lake.

Our "private" beach and camp site at Veskijärv, close to Növa

Estonian administration

This post was requested by Katri. She claims that, with respect to administration and services, Belgium is a hell while Estonia is well organised and simple. So let's see how it goes for me, as a non-Estonian speak (not yet, at least).

Finding the right address

This has not much to do with the topic, but - since I made the mistake myself - I thought it was good to tell about it.

The first thing I did after arriving in Tallinn was to register at the Belgian Ambassy. I looked up the address on the web and found out it was right in the middle of the old town:  Rataskaevu 2-9. So,  walk there the first morning, happy to get a nice walk across the old town and find immediately the street Rataskaevu, and number 9: no flag, no blinky board... odd, but okay. I look up for the bell, and don't find any name or identifier, other than numbers. I ask about the Belgian Ambassy to a guy who seems local, indeed, but he does not speak English... I call the Ambassy, saying I don't know which bell to ring: a lady with a tiny accent answers there is a bell with written "Ambassy of Belgium"... "Really? I see only numbers, here". "I come downstairs to open", she says. I wait, nothing happens.

As a matter of fact, I was in front of the wrong building: Rataskaevu 2-9 means street Rataskaevu, number 2, apartment number 9. Indeed, at that building there was a Belgian flag and a nice board announcing the Ambassy, and a dedicated bell.

The thing is: Estonians seem to praise privacy, so the apartment number is very important. You will rarely find a name on bells or on post boxes. So, when writing an address, the apartment number is always indicated very clearly, and immediately after the street number and "-" (which is different from Belgium, where we rely on the name, and the post box or apartment number is often optional and often wrong, and identified by "/" or "b")... Now I know, and won't make the mistake again!

Registering and getting a local ID

Katri came with me to the local administration, because she thought (rightly) that she needed to officially agree to my registration at her address. Therefore, she was leading and I didn't get to test fully how a non-Estonian speaker would be received.

We first went to the city authority, as the website said. Took a ticket of the appropriate kind from the ticketing machine (all in Estonian). A ticket fully in Estonian said that the service was closed and you should address yourself to the local manager. The local manager was in a boot right next and told us indeed that registration does not happen here, but in an other building on 9 Pärnu mnt. Afterwards, I tend to think that the lady would at least be able to tell me the same in English.

We arrive at the city register 10 minutes later, queue for 2 minutes and it is our turn. The lady gives me two forms to fill, all in Estonian, but gives me also an English template to allow me filling correctly. Good start! After 15 minutes, all is done and she tells me that I can go already on Monday (2 administrative days later) to the police station to request an Estonian ID card. There are three police stations for administrative issues: one close to the centre, and two slightly more remote.

On Monday, I go to the police station. I voluntarily choose one that I can reach by foot and which is a bit more remote: maybe there will be less crowd, but the risk is that they speak no English there... Interestingly, the web site of the police says that 2014 is a "peak" year, because of simultaneous expiry of a lot of ID cards and passports released a few years earlier. They recommend taking an appointment beforehand, but everything is full for the next two days and I don't want to delay my request for an ID. Indeed, I found out in the meantime that I needed an Estonian ID to obtain a mobile phone card with a monthly subscription and to be fully registered at the Ambassy.

To avoid queuing too much, I avoid the lunch break. It is remarkable though that the administrative services are open from 9 AM to 6 PM without break... Not comparable to the very short schedule of the Belgian administration. I enter and direct myself to the typical ticketing machine, which distributes numbers for the queues. Good thing: it is in 3 languages, Estonian, Russian and English. Before I manage to push on anything, a tiny lady in uniform stops me, asks me what I need and tells me that I need to first make a picture in the picture boot in front. I answer that it will just take a minute and that I could get a number already, but she refuses. There I could feel the rigidity which I associate to "Eastern" or "Nordic" officers. The rule is the rule (there are not so many "explicit rules" here in Estonia), so apply it! and it was also written on the wall just next, but I saw it only later.

The rest went smoothly, got my photos done in 2 minutes, got a number, waited for 25 minutes and it was my turn: "Do you speak English?", "No", said the lady who spoke quite well English anyway. I was getting used to hearing "I hope so" (the top answer I receive here in Estonia): lack of confidence or excessive humility?. But "No" followed by a decent English interaction was okay too. It took 15 minutes to the lady to fill the papers, then I paid at another boot, and I was gone: 45 minutes time, not bad! I was told I would receive an email within two weeks, notifying me when the ID card would be ready, and that I would have to go back to withdraw it.

Three (yes, 3!) days later, I get an email in Estonian saying that my ID is ready and I can go and catch it. Wow, that is fast! So, I go there again, take my number (another queue, a bit faster, but with more people), wait for 20 minutes and it is my turn. This lady speaks basic English and is not able to understand my request to receive a "certificate of residence" (requested by my Ambassy), so she tells me to go to the information boot and get a new number. Since I know I can download it online, I don't do it and just go back home with my new ID card.

Web services

I am a big fan of web services. In Belgium already, I did all my banking, my taxes and all what could be done as administration (which is, close to nothing) online. Estonia is among the world top countries with respect to web services, so let's discover what I can do.

After installing the eID reader apps required (every country has its own apps), I start logging in to the portal eesti.ee and immediately download and electronically sign a certificate of residence to give my Ambassy. I also quickly manage to pair my transport card to my ID. It is good to do so, because all residents of Tallinn get free public transportation in town and around.

Estonia: 12 points

Overall: very successful experience. I got an ID card and an official residence here in 6 working days, and without having to speak any word of Estonian! And I can now do a lot of things from home, with my computer. Great! nothing compared to the burden foreigners experience in my home country! (for the record, it took 9 months and 4 personal visits to Katri to get a Belgian ID card...)

How I explain this: Estonia is a small country, not particularly attractive to foreigners and expats (so there is no huge flow of immigrants, except a seasonal young crowd, not needing much administration), but open to international opportunities, and aware that its languages are not sufficient for foreign friendliness. 

Mina want to speak Eesti

Speaking the local language

I have travelled quite a bit in my life, and I always noticed that - wherever you go - local people highly appreciate when you try speaking their language, even when it it not strictly necessary. I often learned some basics before or while going to new places, in order to navigate around and ask for directions.

I knew I would move to Estonia long ago, but I have been lazy (or too busy) since then to seriously start learning. While I learned some basics nearly 4 years ago in Porto during a boring train ride after sunset, I haven't improved any bit since then. Now I seriously need to learn, even though I will most certainly work in English.

Until now, I can count until 9 (I always forget how to say 10), I can tell my name and ask for a beer, a coffee and the bill. Oh, and I can tell a lady she is pretty, but that might be inappropriate in most circumstances, so I tend to use it with extra moderation.

Eesti keel

The Estonian language... I would use the expression of Kaido, a French-Estonian I met here last week: Estonian is a "domestic language". It is only spoken by Estonians and a bunch of originals who decided to learn it, although it is not strictly necessary even for expats living in Estonia (at least, in cities).

It is close only to Finnish and remotely related to Hungarian. The rest of the world's languages are miles away... On the plus side: no genders (no masculine, feminine or neutral), cool! less chances of mistakes and clumsy remarks! on the minus sides: 14 (fourteen!) cases! do you remember learning latin? 6 cases, pfff... that was already a lot: rosa, rosa, rosam, rosae, rosae, rosa. For those who gave up latin very early, or even before starting, you got the same in German and in Slavic languages, with more or less cases. But 14 cases?? why so much? well, I still have to find out!

Despite the difficulties to understand, I have to confess I find the language quite melodious. It is very nice to hear, with a lot of vocals (a bit like Italian), and a lot of expressivity (at the opposite of French) due to the rhythms given by the duplication of consonants. Listening to storytellers (or simply, when I visit museums), it seems to me that storytelling and oral expression here is an art which is much more similar to what you find in Britain, rather than the boring talks of my mother languages, French and Italian. So, even if I don't catch more than one word every 10 sentences, it is quite entertaining to listen to.

I could not verify the information but I did read somewhere that the Estonian language, thanks to its remoteness to all the mainstream languages, was used during one of the world wars as a code. And most of the spies and soldiers who used it thought it was an invented code for the purpose, and never knew it was an actual language. 

Learning Estonian!

Well, so here I am, trying to learn Estonian. Since I got here in Tallinn, I took some information about classes or ways to learn. Surprisingly, I found more opportunities to learn French than Estonian! Really? well, that's what happens when you meet up with French speakers and end up (nearly) by accident in the Institut Français d'Estonie.

Seriously, remember: Estonian is a domestic language. There was an intensive summer school in July in town, but nothing in August (why?). There are new groups starting for weekly classes in September, but now in August, nothing. I will probably start a class in September, that sounds like a good way to ensure I will meet other originals like me and - at least once a week - feel forced to go out in the cold, dark evenings during wintertime.

In the meantime, I start learning by myself, thanks to the book that Katri bought me already 3 months ago... I try to study a bit every day, but I keep going through the first three lessons because I haven't yet managed to remember some basic principles and it feels already so "volatile".

I found an extra motivation to learn Estonian: I did read recently that one way to keep your brain bright and flexible is to start learning a new language from time to time. So let's go! Let's learn Estonian, use some brain cells in a new way, and maybe one day I'll be allowed to wear proudly that T-shirt I saw on the Facebook group "Foreigners learning Estonian" which said "I speak Estonian, what's your superpower?"

About Connected in the woods...

Why blogging ?

The idea of starting a blog was from Katri. She says it is a good way to give well-structured, uniform news about myself and what I am doing to family and friends, now that I have relocated to Estonia, far from them. After browsing around, I start thinking that blogging might be something I'll do not only during my time abroad, but also in the long term, not only for personal but also for professional reasons. But let's start first with my experience in Estonia, and then we'll see...

Connected in the woods ?

Professional bloggers recommend choosing a name for your blog which is easy to remember and catchy. I don't know if this one is catchy enough, but it represent well the current situation and a dream we started to share, Katri and I.

Simply said, Estonia is a large forest with here and there some towns, of which you could say only of 3-4 of them they are cities. Sparse population, but very high connectivity. The birthplace of Skype is one of the countries with the best internet coverage, and you'll find free wifi nearly everywhere!

We both love nature and Katri's definition of luxury is: privacy. Estonia is great for that, you don't need to go very far to be in a "remote" place, where you feel like there is no one around and you can enjoy quietness and relax. As every time we come to Estonia (whether for a short or a long stay), we wonder if (or rather, when) we will buy a summer house in the Estonian countryside. We often discuss about both having a professional activity that we could perform from the Estonian countryside (or any remote place we like, with a good connectivity): a web-based business? a consultancy job which I can perform from home? ...  I hope this year in Estonia will allow me experimenting remote work, and develop the needed skills and tools to make it successful. And then, maybe our vision will come true.

The view from Suur Munamägi (highest peak in Estonia, 318 m): mostly forests, some lake, few buildings.