Estonia to my mind is a country of contrasts. I had expected it to be mainly flat which was what I remembered from my previous trips to Tallinn and Saaremaa. There are quite a few hills going south and some picturesque rolling countryside complete with small lakes. The view from the observation tower at Suur Munamägi [Big Egg Hill] is quite spectacular as is the scenery around Otepää, which is noted for winter sports. At one point I thought I was approaching the Blue Hills but it turned out that these were huge ash piles from the oil shale industry that over the years had acquired a blanket of grass and small trees.
There are pretty small cities such as Viljandi, with its scenic lake and castle ruins. This was my favorite city followed by Tartu. Then there was Valga which was so grim and depressing and so Soviet looking that I did not even bother to stop. Perhaps the road took me through the worst parts and I missed the better areas. In any event some readers are sure to tell me that Valga does have some nice areas. Jõhvi was in between but that part of the country is so heavily populated by Russians that it has a different flavor altogether. This was the only place in Estonia where I got lost and could not get directions from anyone since they only spoke Russian.
The main Tartu University building looks great from the front but go around to the side and you find peeling paint. At the end of Jaani Street to the right there are some great looking old buildings but the crumble and decay reminded me of my first trip to Estonia in 1994. Just past the old town hall was a very large commercial building nearing completion. Nearby is the old market building which was a trip back to the 1950’s for me. Where else could you see a whole cartload of pig’s heads being pushed along to the sales counter. Across the river is a modern glass and steel high rise bank tower. Down the road is a large new modern prison and there are new shopping centers as we know them. Tartu is an interesting mix of old and new. It may take some time yet for everything to get fixed up. Oh well, you can’t fix up 50 years of neglect overnight although judging by the amount of construction going on everywhere it won’t take long.
People involved in the tourist trade are invariably very young, well dressed and poised. They all have a serious look about them, rarely smile or joke and are very efficient. The exceptions are the seniors minding churches or museums. They usually warm up when you start talking to them in Estonian and some are downright friendly. There seems to be no mandatory retirement age for senior military personnel. I saw one officer at the airport that seemed to be a full colonel and must have been at least a quarter century past normal retirement age. Perhaps he was in fact retired and the Soviet custom of retirees wearing their uniforms on every occasion had caught on.
Churches in Estonia seem to come in two varieties. On one hand there are fairly well maintained Lutheran churches that seem to have congregations averaging around 300 people. On the other, except for the Russian Orthodox churches in Tallinn,Tartu, Jõhvi, and Kuremäe, most others seem to be boarded up or completely ruined and roofless wrecks.
Pensioners are getting by somehow. Average city working people seem to be getting by better given the number of nice newer cars around and old houses are being fixed up or new houses being constructed. The upper class seems to be doing real well - given the number of high-end luxury cars I saw, particularly in front of the Palace Hotel and also at Sammi’s Grill located on the highway close to Paide. On the trip from London on Estonian Air I sat beside a couple that were just returning home after spending a couple of weeks golfing in Scotland. I gathered he owned a hotel and they spent their summers in Portugal.
Not much seems to have changed in the countryside except that gas stations are more frequent. You know you are in the former Soviet Union when you spot the roofs made of durable weathered corrugated sheet material called “eterniit”. Every farmhouse seems to be painted with the same yellow paint.
The place my son and I stayed at in Kuresaare was in process of being fixed up. It is operated by students at the local community college. Two doors down from Mardi Guesthouse was the former home of noted authors Johannes and Joosep Aavik. Their place was immaculate with a large well tended garden. In between was a 24 hour strip bar, complete with private shows and a sauna.
Early in the morning the yard was littered with raucous, inebriated young men drinking beer. As a joke my son suggested that perhaps we could go over there for supper and a show one night. The administrator who was a friendly woman overheard him, laughed and said that should not present a problem since there were some 10 or 12 girls that lived there and surely at least one of them would know how to cook. We decided to go to one of the very nice restaurants at the town square instead and ate wild boar which turned out to be tough.
In some ways Estonia is ahead of us. Particularly noticeable is that every house has a mobile telephone and most have internet. Bank machines are everywhere and many gas stations are completely automated. However, even in Tallinn some houses still do not have sewer hook-up, and still rely on indoor privies which they call “dry toilets”.
Estonia seems to be a land in transition. The improvements over the last 5 years are strikingly evident everywhere and the difference between what I saw on my first trip in 1994 is huge.
I wonder though, what do the former followers of communism think when they see the progress that had been made in living standards under the new system, which although far from perfect, has changed the country almost beyond recognition.
Many former high level functionaries probably don’t give it any thought at all as they climb into their high-end Mercedes limos.
Estonian contrasts
Archived Articles | 30 Sep 2005 | Peeter BushEWR
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