Exploring Estonia: the island of Prangli

Another sunny weekend in Estonia. This time, a friend of Katri suggested going to visit the island of Prangli. Prangli is a tiny island in Northern Estonia. It is accessible by ferry with a one hour ride from Viimsi, the first municipality East of Tallinn along the coast. It takes about 1 hour by bus from Tallinn to reach the port. During summer, there are two rides per day and it is not rare that the boat is fully booked by tour groups.

The little port of Prangli, hosting yachts on a beautiful Saturday afternoon

Every little detail counts to make your stay enjoyable

Not surprisingly, Prangli looks like a miniature Estonia. The island surface is just above 6 square kilometres and its population is around 100 inhabitants. The landscape is similar to the other islands: forests, juniper trees, meadows, boulders along the seaside.

Enjoying the quietness of the Prangli seaside

Although there is not much to visit, it is a popular day-excursion on sunny days. There is a tiny port that fills with small-size yachts. There is a museum and a culture house, a church and one busy restaurant where all visitors seem to go at the same time. There is also a camping. And, on this September weekend, all visitors head back to town with a certain amount of mushrooms. 

After visiting Prangli, locals told me that I have seen more of Estonia than most Estonians.

The Tallinn team of experts studying the local fungi species

Mushroom picking in the forest of Prangli

Our pick of mushrooms in Prangli

Understanding Estonia: the Kopli peninsula

On this nice Friday evening, we decide to go on an adventure... we go and explore Kopli! 

Kopli... this name is probably the most known and mysterious at the same time. Everyone in Tallinn knows the peninsula and still, I am pretty sure not many people dare going there. Why? Kopli is synonymous of poverty, pollution, ship factory, abandonment. 

The sunset view from the seaside of Kopli

The Kopli peninsula extends North of Tallinn from the Balti Jaam train station. It is easy to access, with the legendary old tramway going all the way to the end of the peninsula. The place is said to have a huge potential, but no one dares to invest there. The municipality of Tallinn has tried several times to attract investors and real estate developers but without success to date. So people are waiting. Waiting for the area to boom, because it will have to happen. 

Burn down houses are a typical view of Kopli

The Kopli peninsula has views on the sea side and on the old town. It has good public transport and a lot of green spaces. On the other hand, the end of the peninsula hosts a ship factory which is at times noisy and smelly, it is said that sometimes the smell of gasoline is so strong people don't dare lighting a cigarette!, and the water around is polluted. Except for a few high-end streets with a dense network of private houses, most of the area feels abandoned, with an impressive amount of houses burn down and the others used as squat by the homeless and drunk, who seem to concentrate here.

As Katri put it: we must keep an eye on this area. One day, Kopli will become a highly valued area of Tallinn and developers will rush to build luxury properties on the peninsula. 

Alien in Estonia

Networking

There is nothing odd about being a foreigner in Estonia. There are quite a few actually. People often ask me what I do in life... this is, maybe unfortunately, the world-wide primary question people as to strangers (not only foreigners) when they meet for the first time. I said unfortunately because it is often out of purpose and it often triggers a (subconscious) categorisation of people. I am not afraid of telling people I am an engineer, even though there is a risk of being seen pictured from the start as boring. I know I should work on my networking skills, but what I learned is that, when you meet someone new, you should rather focus on what you have in common and what brought you together: a shared hobby, a sense of belonging to the same community, a (often hidden) common desire for something. A skilled networker would then manage to establish a relationship where the other feels free to talk about his passions and challenges. This may yield opportunities for the future, being making business together or simply finding a new friend. I often miss this second step... 

Why do I talk about this? well, because it must be the first time I face so many integration challenges at the same time. A new country, a new home, away from my family and friends (except of course, my girlfriend), a new job... everything (or nearly everything) in my environment is new, and I need to establish links otherwise I will get mad soon. 

It makes me think of the song "Englishman in New York" by Sting: "I'm an alien..." and still, he spoke the same language. Indeed, my zero-knowledge of the local language, combined to the rather distant behaviour of locals, make the challenge harder. 

Belgians in Estonia

Registering to the Belgian ambassy as a resident provides some nice surprises. I thought it was just an administrative step, or related to security issues. Actually, the Belgian ambassy organises some activities and I am now in the mailing list. There are, to date, 34 registered Belgians in Estonia. 

Olivier Rochus and Ruben Bemelmans talking strategy during their double game.

This week, the Belgian tennis team is in Tallinn to pay the Davis cup match agains Ukraine. The match was to be hosted by Ukraine in Kiev, but it was moved for security concerns after the unrest in the Eastern part of the country. The Ukrainian federation choose Tallinn to host the game. Great! So I got invited to a small reception with the ambassador, the team members, representatives of the Belgian tennis federations (as usual, in Belgium, you need three federations: one Flamish, one French-speaking, and one on top), some aficionados supporters following the team, and a bunch of Belgians living in Estonia. And we got free tickets to see the match during the weekend, at the condition that we would wear red jerseys and support Belgium! We had a very exciting Saturday afternoon, the double match being fought hard for over 3 hours. It was also a special moment as Olivier Rochus, my favourite player, had previously announced he would retire at the end of the season. Seing him playing and winning for its last game under the Belgian colours was great!

My outfit at the Davis Cup game Ukraine vs. Belgium, in Tallinn...

Olivier Rochus falls into Johan Van Erck's (coach) arms after winning the double match

The Belgian supporters team gives a standing ovation to Olivier Rochus for his last Davis Cup game

The final result of this hard-fought double game. Belgium eventually won the draw against Ukraine thanks also to David Goffin's wins on Friday and Sunday. 

Networking, part 2

So here comes the second most asked question to foreigners: "Why are you here?". Locals do not always ask, other foreigners do. And with this we often find something in common: over 90% of the male expats living here have (had) an Estonian girlfriend. This is the main reason for expats coming here. I also met a couple of ladies who moved here for an Estonian partner. Rare. 

I also met a couple of guys who made the decision based on a less emotional background. Independent workers with an internet-based business or not linked to a specific geographical location (one of them even didn't need to ever travel to meet his customers, wow). These guys have soon understood that they can make a good living in Estonia if they have customers abroad: creating a company here is easy and straightforward, and the cost of living is lower if you avoid luxury goods and expensive travels abroad. And the dark winter is often over-compensated by the general quality of life, especially during the brighter months of the year. 

On the other hand, people with an employee status often regret the low salary and the nearly non-existent social security: ridiculous pension and very little compensation if you get fired. Although they seemed to like Estonia, many of them were planning to head back West sooner or later. 

Circles

So far, I managed to get some positive social interactions within the tango community and a group of Frenchies. The tango community is rather tiny, but quite relaxed. There are people at all levels of progress, so it allows me to fit into the mainstream group of dancers. At the last milonga (social dancing event), it was pretty crowded on the dance floor, so I had a bit of time to chat with a couple of guys at the bar. And between songs, there is always time for a quick introduction with dancing partners, but that's not much. Anyway, I start liking my tango maestro. He's Turkish, married to an Estonian lady. He's a very classy dancer and smily. But what makes me feel good about him is that he's not able to speak a word of Estonian!

The atmospheric Milonga Art Nouveau in the Scheeli restaurant, in the Tallinn old town.

Are all people more likely to feel connected with someone speaking their language? I don't know. I think my English is sufficient to hold any type of conversation with another non-native speaker (yes, sometimes natives speak too fast or use expressions of their own). But I have to say, I like French people. It might be the comfort of the language, but I think it's more in their culture: French people like to debate, to contradict, to challenge ideas, ... nothing is obvious, and everything can be discussed, there is place for opinions! Okay, I might generalise a bit here, but still, I like being in company of French people and reinvent the world. Somehow by chance, I found a Facebook group "on parle français à Tallinn" and joined. They organise meetings every Tuesday night, around a barbecue when it is nice weather, around music, games or sauna otherwise. Half the people in the group are locals eager to improve or maintain their French, the rest are French expats. This way, I also got to know the Institut Français d'Estonie, which has a cool mediathèque and organises events from time to time. 

Living in Estonia: local produce

Estonia is up North and therefore it does not offer a wide variety of local produce. However, the large amount of space per capita allows many people to grow large quantities of vegetables and fruit, and the wilderness offers even more on its own. You just have to pick them.


Berries

During summer, berries are everywhere in forests and you can find myriads of them. I would try to put them in the order I think you find them, from July until September: strawberries (really tiny, but super tasty), raspberries, cloudberries (probably the most rare), black and red currents (although these are in gardens), blueberries, cowberries, blackberries. There are also some other varieties, but I need to rely on Katri to distinguish those you can eat from those you should not...

Of course, all of them can be grown in a garden, but it is so much fun to pick them along a hiking route.

Red current from the garden in South Estonia: it was not a very good year, but  this will make good juice or jam

The most common berry is the blueberry, called myrtille in French and mustikas in Estonian (I find this name very funny, because you do have to fight with mosquitos - moustiques in French - when you pick them in the forest). It is hard work to pick them, not only because of insects, but because it feels like a never ending task to fill your bucket with this tiny balls... but they are so tasty!

Katri even went for a day trip with friends to specifically pick blueberries for jam. And the result was great: she made 7 jars of jam. 

Once in a mood for jam making, she also bought nectarines from the supermarket and made another 6 jams. 

Katri's magic trio of homemade jam: blueberries, nectarines and zucchini

In Saaremaa, the land of juniper, you can also pick the berries from this small tree. Juniper berries are  dark, small and hard, and can be used as a spice, as a substitute for pepper.

Apples

The most common fruit now in September is the apple. Estonian apples are small and tasty, and are for sale for less than one euro per kilogram. Actually, you don't need to buy them. There are apple trees a bit everywhere around, even in town. We have one apple tree in our property and there are a few along the streets nearby. You just go for a walk and pick those which are ready. Sometimes, there are evidences that the apple trees have been planted and that you are actually on former agricultural land.

Pick and eat apples as you go. Here, on the cliffs of the Paldiski peninsula. 

Mushrooms

As I said in another post, mushroom picking is one of the favourite activities of Estonians at the end of the summer. You never fail to meet people with full buckets along roads and on Sunday afternoon at the train station. Everyone has its favourite spot and locals are not keen on sharing it with others.

The yellow girolles are the first to appear in July and the easiest to process: you only need to brush them softly to get rid of the dirt around. Moreover, they are among the most tasty and, surprisingly, they do not seem to attract worms. They are excellent when cooked in a pan with butter and onion. You can then serve them with sour cream or with cooked grains (buckwheat, for example).

Our catch of girolles in South Estonia

A bit later in the season, you can go and look for the all sorts of mushrooms. Especially, the boletus, including the famous and appreciated porcini. Estonian forests are often home to many, many sorts of mushrooms, and it can be very confusing for the novice. There are mobile apps now that can be used to identify mushrooms, in order to avoid toxic ones (some of them are mortal) and pick the tastier ones.

We picked some 3-4 different families during a 2 hour walk in Saaremaa. Just to make sure, we boiled the mushrooms to eliminate any potential toxicity. Funnily, they shrink quite a lot. 

Our Saaremaa forest mushrooms after cleaning and boiling (to get rid of any potential toxicity): now they are ready to be cooked

Katri asked me to prepare a mushroom risotto with it, while she was on a business trip abroad. So, I looked up for a recipe from an Italian webiste and prepared my first completely own-made mushroom risotto (well, I didn't grow the rice myself). You can see for yourself how it looks like. As for the taste, you will have to trust me: it was delicious!

My mushroom risotto is getting ready... 

Vegetables

Most people here, at least outside town, own a garden and grow some vegetables. Katri's brother has brought us quite a few cucumbers and some huge zucchini. We ate some of them and with the excess we made an experimental jam which turned out to be delicious. I never thought it was possible to make jam out of zucchini, and I am sure you would never guess what it is made of if you taste it... to me, it feels like a citrus mix. Oh, and since he also cares for a few bee hives, we also received honey. I think I have all I need to enlighten my breakfast...


Fish

Obviously, fish could not be forgotten in this list. Fish in the baltic sea is often small, but there is quite a good variety: haring, flounder, eel, ... And then is fresh water fish. Last weekend, we went for the first time to the Saturday morning fish market of Tallinn and we decided to visit it more often.

The Saturday morning fish market in Tallinn. 

What I miss here

Although everything is connected today and you can find a lot of imported products, I have to say that the selection of cheese here is rather poor. Actually, I took the habit of visiting the cheese section of every supermarket or market I step in for the first time. I am always disappointed. You may find some French or Italian cheese, but often at outrageous prices, and the selection rather short. So, we are taking every opportunity of travels abroad to bring back cheese... and you, reader, are welcome to bring cheese if you visit us!  

Exploring Estonia: Paldiski

Paldiski is a town located at the extreme North-West of the country. Surprisingly, it is not even mentioned in the LonelyPlanet. From Tallinn, a 50 minutes train rides takes you directly to this town, making it very convenient for a day trip.

The brand new station of Paldiski

Paldiski was first inhabited by Estonian Swedes. In the 1960s, under Soviet leadership, the town became a nuclear submarine training centre. It hosted two nuclear reactors and employed 16 thousand people. This remained one of the main nuclear centres of the Soviet Union until 1995. Since then, the population has decreased but the Russian speaking minority remains important.

The walk along the cliffs on the Paldiski peninsula and the lighthouse in the distance

Today, the economic activity of Paldiski focuses around the port, which is a transit hub for cars arriving to Estonia, and the LNG (liquefied natural gas) terminal.

The cliffs along the peninsula of Paldiski

Among the interests for the visitor, there is a beautiful peninsula with cliffs hosting hundreds of birds and, of course, a lighthouse. There are two islands in front of the city. And a brand new train station building. 

Estonians and the environment

Nature is definitely the biggest asset of Estonia. Although it is difficult to give a numbered value to it,  several studies (my favourite literature about it is "Une écologie du bonheur" by Eric Lambin, http://www.editions-lepommier.fr/ouvrage.asp?IDLivre=392) have concluded on the positive impact of nature on the human being. 

Nature is everywhere

"Estonians are lucky", I often tell myself. We are in 2014, the world is filled with advanced technologies, and the Estonian territory is still "rather unspoiled". 

My country, Belgium, has access to the same technologies but the activity of the two previous generations have completely destroyed and reshaped the country ; there is nothing left of what nature has created in millions of years: every bit of green space you see is man-made, there is not even a single square meter of primary forest and the fragile equilibrium of nature has fallen completely in the hands of the human. The seaside is awful and unattractive, there are tall buildings in sight everywhere, except in tiny little stretches of natural reserves. 

In Estonia, a large part of the country is unspoiled. A large portion of the seaside is original and little impacted by human activities. So, there is a huge potential! Potential to value this territory, on one side, but also potential for destruction, on the other side. Yes, because if nothing explicit is done to protect the nature, sooner or later the short-term economic interests might take over. 

The story of the cultural kilometer in Kalamaja

I already mentioned the "cultural kilometre" in another post. It is a walk and bicycle track on the seafront, located on the Tallinn bay at the beginning of the Kopli peninsula. It goes from Linnahall (the building hosting the sailing races of the 1980 Olympics) to the end of the old fishermen village of Kalamaja, along the former Soviet prison of Patarei and the Seaplane Harbour museum.

We were informed last week that the cultural kilometre will be cancelled and replaced by a transit road. And works would start within two days. A transit road, on the seafront? aaaahh... so sad. The location of the cultural kilometer, very close to the old town and on the seafront, gave it such a huge potential. Potential for green spaces (there is one, but it is not actively managed), pedestrian area, cafés...

Despite a shy demonstration at the city hall (apparently, the city government noticed only then how popular the promenade actually was), the works are now ongoing. And I plan to keep an eye on what will happen. There were talks about not only a transit road, but also some building projects. Wait a minute!... what about the rule that you cannot build anything within 250 meters from the shoreline?! well, apparently, it is not too difficult to cheat on that one if you have powerful friends (and money), it all depends where you officially set the shoreline...

We often had evening walks on the cultural kilometer. I will try and enjoy it as much as I can until it disappears totally. And hopefully the municipality will ensure the seafront will be embellished, at least preserved, and tall buildings will not grow as mushrooms like at the Belgian seaside.

Wide spaces 

Space in Estonia is virtually unlimited. Even in Tallinn, you rarely feel much constrained by space. Traffic might be dense in some arteries during peak hours and payed parking appeared in the centre and around the train station. Nevertheless, I rarely experience the stress of not finding a parking space when going somewhere, unlike in Brussels. 

Also, Tallinn has been mostly built horizontally, rather than vertically. Here, you need to make an exception for the three Soviet style buildings areas, Mustamäe, Lasnamäe and Õismäe. All the rest of town seems to be built with the intention of never being in the shade of another building and never having a direct view inside your neighbour's windows. This leads to a quite extended town and to many districts being made of multi-familiar 2 or 3 storeys houses with a stretch of ground circling each house on at least 3 sides, used for open-air parking or shared garden. This is the typical architecture of Kalamaja (it is the most famous of these districts, but not the only one).  

Oh, just a parenthesis. When you move through Tallinn and you see the contrast between the Kalamaja style habitation and the Soviet blocks, you would wonder "Why the hell would anyone go and live in Mustamäe?". Today, the answer is clear: the price. But back in time, the houses of Kalamaja were old and rundown. Most of them had one bathroom for 4 to 6 families. People had to go to the public sauna to get properly washed. The Soviet blocks, on the other hand, had "all the modern facilities", that is, district heating, warm water, and individual bathrooms. And Soviet planning was robust: each building block had all you needed, shops, a kindergarden and a school, and a bus stop to take you to town ; if you needed to, because most people actually didn't need to leave their block at all. 

The ordinary Estonian's approach  to the environment

Estonians are blessed with nature, but sometimes I wonder if they acknowledge it. People are used to go in the forests. They pick berries and mushrooms, and it is allowed. Currently, it seems that nature gives more than Estonians take. So, why not? I also take part in it and enjoy it. In the end, for most people, it is more a fun hobbie than a need.

Sometimes however I feel like it's going too far: even if what I am doing "right now" is allowed and I am able to afford it, it might not be sustainable in the long term if we all do it... and I wonder if the ordinary Estonian considers sustainability.

I'll try and illustrate my fears with a couple of examples. The first one is the approach to transportation, which is in some aspects an image of the policy in Brussels before I was born. Public transport is for those who can't afford a car. In public transports, you don't meet many middle-aged people and parents with kids. It is much more practical for them to move around with a car. Road planning is done to improve the car traffic fluidity and reduce transit times for commuters (viaducts and new transit roads are being constructed right now in Tallinn), nothing is done to discourage people from using cars. And, of course, Estonians like big, fancy cars: you need to be able to drive on forest roads during the winter, right!? and to show off a little bit too!

I suggested several times already that privacy is unique in Estonia. People have grown used to having "all the space they need"... for doing what they want, when they want and where they want, because there is little risk of being disturbed by or disturbing your neighbours. Personally, I see this as a bad habit: the absence of explicit rules does not mean "first come, first serve" and should not refrain you to implicitly respect others, even if there is no one (yet). I experienced this feeling when going to public spaces like free barbecue spots, where people "take possession" of the place as if it as private and play loud music. I also experience it when I come back home at night and there are several bikes in the entrance hall, and I seem to be the only one to complain about it (there is a basement with a bike room, after all).


Hopes for the future

I might sound unnecessarily critical towards Estonians here. Maybe. Maybe if Belgians seem to "do better" from the sustainability perspective it is only because some people (like me) have realised there  is no possible other way to be today and some even have some pride to show they are "green". In today's Estonia, there is no urgent need to change the behaviour, people can continue and no tragedy should happen in the short term. However, I would like Estonians coming back home after living abroad or visiting another country not to think "thank god, we do not need to be strict like that here, there is space and the air is still clean!".

Yes, precisely, I would like Estonians to proactively preserve their clean air. I would like the country leaders to plan and manage the territory so that bogs and natural areas will never disappear, the seafront remains natural and unspoiled, and to educate people to sustainability and set up rules if needed. I would like the ordinary Estonian to think that when he drives 70 km/h in our small street, he is actually disturbing me. And the solution is not building houses further away from the road and civilisation, the solution is within every single person: to behave in a more environmentally friendly way in order to reduce its immediate (noise, smell) and long term (pollution, destruction) impact around him.  

Ignorance cannot be used as an excuse: consequences of bad environment management are well known and illustrated around the globe while good practices as well as technology are accessible...

Saaremaa

This first weekend of September, we head to Saaremaa, the biggest of the Estonian islands, as we have the chance of being invited by friends of Katri who recently built a summer house there. In normal times September is already autumn in Estonia but it seems that this year summer does not want to leave and offers us great weather once more. 

I prayed to have good weather and it seems to be successful: despite being already in September we enjoyed a  sunny, warm weekend in Saaremaa (photo taken in the Episcopal castle of Kuressaare)

Enjoying Estonian privacy at its best

Blessed by beautiful weather, hosted like princes, we did enjoy for one last (?) time this summer the Estonian luxurious privacy: birdwatching and fishing at sea, barbecuing, mushrooming. Everything in a highly remote place. 

A typical Saaremaa village and its Main Street

Fishing was not very successful: our host caught one fish (released immediately) but we didn't, although Katri had a fish biting her hook before managing to escape. And the motor stopped on the way back. It's okay, we didn't mind paddling in the sunset, it was even enjoyable. 

Sunset fishing in Saaremaa

We previously heard on radio that the mushroom season in Saaremaa was exceptional. The summer had been long and dry until mid August, before two weeks of rain gave birth to a large amount of tasty mushrooms, including the appreciated Porcini. Even if it is getting late and most mushrooms are getting old, locals told us where we could find them. I have never seen so many of them. Katri warned me: "In Estonia, not many things can kill you, but mushrooms are among these deadly things!" (another one is meeting a moose on the road while driving at night). As a novice, it is so frustrating not to know which ones to pick... It is better to have a local guide but today you can manage with a mobile phone app (we found one in Estonian). And then, once at home, you can start cleaning and cooking them... it is not surprising why Porcini cost so much: it is not "pick and eat" as I thought!

The Amanita Muscaria (or fly amanita) is found a bit everywhere in Estonian forests. Photogenic, but not good to eat. It will not kill you but it tastes bad and it has hallucinogenic effect. Me: "Really, let's open a coffee shop!"... Katri: "No, its hallucinogenic effect is so weak that it is not even famous for that, people just leave it."  

The Hype of Saaremaa

Saaremaa is the second most popular summer destination of Estonians, right after the town of Pärnu, the "summer capital". It is also popular among Finns, who come all year round and enjoy the numerous spas on the island. 

Before coming here, the only thing I knew about Saaremaa were that Estonians love it and that there is a factory that produces lovely (but fat) little sausages that we often take as emergency food when hiking in remote places. 

Why Estonians love Saaremaa? I'm not sure. It is beautiful, but so is most of the country. It has the sea, but it is not unique in a country with nearly 4 000 km of coastline. In any case, there is a lot of partying in the summer and every single public figure seems to own a house here. From central Tallinn, it takes about 3 hours to get there, including the short ferry ride (25 minutes) between mainland and Muhu,  an island connected to Saaremaa through  a land bridge. 

While the inland is covered in thick forests, the coastline is the terrain of juniper, a small tree with a divine smell, often used in handicraft. Juniper is the symbol of the island.

Saaremaa vs. Hiiumaa 

Two years ago, we spent 5 days on Hiiumaa, the second largest island of Estonia. Therefore, I couldn't help but compare both islands. Our stay in Saaremaa was too short and we didn't explore enough to forge a proper opinion. Nevertheless, it seems that Hiiumaa has more to offer to the nature  lovers while Saaremaa is more vibrant and equipped to please the tourist. On Hiiumaa, there are several RMK trails and wildlife observation posts, large sandy beaches and you can also hop from one lighthouse to another. In Saaremaa, you will find an actual town with a medieval castle, plenty of spas and even a vibrant nightlife during summer. Among other reasons, the 90 minutes boat ride to Hiiumaa seems to scare most people off, especially for weekend trips. 

One of the touristic highlights of Saaremaa: the Episcopal castle of Kuressaare (14th century)

Owning a summer house 

Visiting Saaremaa restarted our debate-relection about whether to buy a summer house in Estonia. Virtually, every family has a summer house in Estonia, whether their own or relatives'. It is a Nordic thing. It is often a bad financial investment: it is strictly for your own pleasure and enjoyment. During summer... yes, because most of them are poorly insulated and its equipment is limited: electrical connection is the norm, all the rest is not. Most houses have their own well, some have running water. 

Estonian luxury at its best: quietness, privacy, sunshine

In any case, Saaremaa is a bit too far away for our tastes and beyond our reach. Finns and Swedes have bought here and contributed to an increase in the price to levels comparable to Tallinn's centre. At least, we have started listing our criteria of what we would value in a summer house. Currently, I would only reveal two points: privacy and an apple tree. 

"Rosso di sera, buon tempo si spera" (old Italian say, which seems to exist in every single language) and so it was!

The Rummu quarry

Located 40 km West of Tallinn, on the way to Haapsalu, is one of the most surprising sites of Estonia: the Rummu quarry (Rummu karjäär). 

Last swim of the season

We discovered this place quite randomly. Mid August, we spent a sunny weekend in West Estonia and on the way back we drove through the little village of Rummu where there was an unusual congestion due to the amount of cars parked on both sides of the road. While Rummu is at a significant distance from the sea, people were in beachwear and that always indicates the proximity of a swimming spot. Once home, Katri investigated and found out the quarry of the old prison of Rummu had turned into a swimming spot. 

So, on this nice, early September Friday evening, we decide to head to Rummu and have a last (?) swim before the winter. And it will most certainly be the last swim of the season as the water was already on the chilly side, somewhere between 12 (my guess) and 15 (Katri's guess) degrees, even after a full day of sunshine. No surprise we were nearly alone on the site and there was only one other  enthusiastic swimmer. The swimming season is really getting to an end... mind you, according to locals it has been exceptionally long!

The Rummu site: on the left, the huge prison ; on the right, the quarry with the swimming spot

Site history

The Rummu quarry used to belong to the adjacent Soviet prison, which hosted up to 7 000 prisoners during its peak time. The prisoners spent most of their time extracting limestone from the soil until the quarry was abandoned in the 1970s and prisoners activities turned to wood and metal work instead. After the mining has stopped, the quarry naturally re-filled with water (no water pumping taking place anymore) and most of the site, including some buildings, is now underwater. 

The prison next-door continued operating until end 2012. The site was then put on sale (I don't think anyone bought it yet) and completely abandoned. 

Welcome to Rummu!

Rising popularity

I guess locals discovered the place in summer 2013 and since then the voice has spread. By now, thousands of people know about the Rummu quarry thanks also to this impressive video made with a drone:

As you can see in the video, it has become a popular swimming spot this summer. It is remarkable for  several reasons: the setting is impressive, a blue lagoon with abandoned buildings surrounded by sand mountains  shaped by the wind ; the water is deep and crystal clear, making it the best spot for scuba divers in Estonia. 

Crystal clear, deep waters and plenty of jumping opportunities: a heaven for divers of all sorts

At your own risk

I was personally amazed by the place and I was even more surprised by the lack of security measures. Indeed, the quarry is accessible to anyone thanks to an opening in the outer wall and there is merely a warning sign that the buildings are at risk of collapse. The water might be deep, but there are building rests all around, concrete and iron, including barbed wires. And as you saw in the video, people climb the buildings to jump in the water. And the sand mountain is a tempting but brittle climb to get a view of the whole site. 

I would not be surprised (or at least, that's what municipalities in Western countries would do) that by next year the place starts being managed, with either restricted access or some security measures. To my knowledge, some minor incidents have been reported, but no major injury so far. Fortunately. 

The scraps of the mining activity were accumulated in an artificial mountain rising a few tens of meters above the ground and visible from the road

Living in Estonia: the big neighbour

Unless you were familiar with Estonia before finding my blog, I guess you had a quick look to a map in order to locate this tiny country. This way you probably realised how North it is but also its position at the edges of Europe, next to the huge Russia. 

Russia, as well as everything related to it - and in particular, Soviet occupation -, is a tricky topic with locals but it is everywhere around: from Soviet style architecture and buildings to Russian markets, from the dependency on Russian gas imports to the rundown Soviet industries spread along Põhja-Tallinn (the district between the Balti Jaam train station and the Kopli peninsula). 

I have no qualification on any of the topics related to the matter. Moreover, I have at least as many Russian friends as Estonian ones. Therefore, I will avoid any complex analysis or judgement and just tell about my personal experience with the atmosphere. 

Actuality: fear for imperialism

Russia is in the headlines of the press in the whole world at the moment, due to the recent events in Crimea and the ongoing issue in Eastern Ukraine. In Estonia, on the other hand, Russia is always in the headlines in one way or another. Estonian people have suffered from Soviet occupation and this collective memory seems to fear, over 20 years later, that Russia would want to take back its old possession. The above mentioned conflicts emphasise this fear and justifies for many people that Estonia highlights its connections to Europe, NATO and, above all, the United States. 

The Estonian president is with no doubt pro-American. He used to live in the United States and keeps personal and official links with America. Being part of Europe and the military alliance of NATO was apparently not enough to give Estonians a safe feel. US President Obama himself had to come for 24 hours in Tallinn and deliver a speech to the Estonian people on September 3, 2014:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/2014/09/03/president-obama-addresses-people-estonia

This guy knows how to talk to people. I will refrain to comment on the background of the speech (I mean, the foreign affairs policy of the United States), but Obama definitely made friends with Estonians, praising their attitude since gaining their freedom in 1991, taking Estonia as an example to follow for  the other baltic countries and not only. Also he certainly made feel a lot safer all the people who had a fear for Russian invasion, especially the military officers in the first row. 

History: ethnic Russians in Estonia

Before Obama's visit, I actually thought that such a "show" would be a useless provocation in the face of Putin. It feels that Estonia has been long forgotten by Russia. Why should we raise a US flag in front of Putin and remind him of the existence of his tiny neighbour? And, moreover, what is so valuable in Estonia that would justify for Russia taking the risk of attacking an EU member state? The natural resources (except for wood) are rather scarce ;  there is nothing here that Russia doesn't have... 

I repeat, I am not a specialist, but I don't think I am wrong about the lack of attractiveness of the Estonian territory to Russia. But I have neglected one thing: the Russian speaking minority. Yes, Estonia has a large number of Russian speaking inhabitants, around one quarter of the population. Indeed, one of the strategies of Soviet Russia to decrease the power of its republics as well as the risk of upraises was to move people: many locals were brought away to the other edges of the Soviet Union while many comrades (not always Russians, but speaking Russian) were brought in. And even when there were concentrations of similar people in a specific area, the Soviet power drew physical borders in a way to avoid the creation of a nationalist feeling among the majority of people - the mix of people (on top of all other repressive measures) was often sufficient to dilute any crowd power. 

Although history has not always confirmed it, "Russia cares for Russians". So, it is not 100% excluded that Poutine would not want to get back Estonia for - among other potential reasons that I ignore - the sake of the Russian speaking minority in Estonia. Indeed, despite Russian being used in administration (it is not an official language, but my Belgian experience would let me call it an "administrative language") there is a debate about the success of Russians integration. I found a very good article on the topic: http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/article/russians-estonia-twenty-years-after. 

If you are interested in the post-Soviet Estonia, I can recommend these two sources:

• The TV documentary "Farwell comrades", in 5 episodes of 50 minutes, made by ARTE (http://www.farewellcomrades.com/en/), gives an overview of how the ex-Soviet republics experienced the end of the USSR.  

• The fiction book "Purge" by Sofi Oksanen (http://www.sofioksanen.com/books/purge/) has been translated in many languages. It is written from the perspective of women who have lost their freedom (in all possible meanings) under the Soviet regime. I would not recommend it to light-hearted people as it is sometimes very hard.