estwärts

Seven of us met in Tallinn in September 2023. Our aim was to get to know the country (further) over the next two weeks, spend time together as a group and look at potential farms for our project. Part of the group had already arrived a week earlier and hiked the south of Estonia with its “Great Egg Mountain” – the highest elevation in the Baltic States. Once everyone had found each other in Tallinn, our journey first took us along the west coast. In addition to the coastal town of Haapsalu and the Matsalu National Park, the trip also included the town of Paldiski. It was an important military base in the Soviet Union and civilians were not allowed to enter. The ruins of a fortress built by Tsar Peter I near the town are much older than the Soviet-era buildings. Today, the ruins are home to small paths, bike trails and a disc golf field. Disc golf is very popular in Estonia and many new fields have been built in recent years.

After spending the first few evenings and nights on campsites behind the dunes, with sunsets and sometimes more or less wind or anglers on the beach, our journey then took us into the interior of Estonia, first to Viljandi. The city is known for its large folk festival, its alternative scene and the great old town. While exploring the city, we discovered the café at the music academy and enjoyed a drink on the sunny roof terrace overlooking the ruins of the castle built by the Teutonic Order. In Estonia, there are huge swings on which you can swing with 2 to 10 people (depending on the size) and they serve as a meeting point and a place for people to talk.

A little further north, we spent the next two nights at two campsites by the Pedja jõgi (= river). There is an Estonian militia training area close to the campsites, the sound of which formed a stark contrast to the peaceful landscape. On the meandering river, we were able to watch kingfishers, swing high above the water and even swim in a deep spot. In the dark, we then had to skilfully slalom around the cow pats on our campsite and bravely protect our breakfast bench from a herd of cows.

After lots of departure and arrival cookies, we visited a friend’s farm near Paide in the middle of Estonia. There we had many meals together with soup, lots of cake and hapukoor (= sour cream). We enjoyed the sauna, which is in an old log cabin and is powered by a wood-burning stove with a water tank attached for hot water. Traditionally, you beat yourself or each other in the sauna with bundles of birch branches. This promotes blood circulation and also makes the sauna smell very special.

We then set off from the farm to visit various farms that could be suitable for our project. The farms differed greatly in size, location and condition. To make it easier to tell them apart later, we jokingly named each farm after a fruit that we found or ate there. We were able to gather many impressions and exchange ideas on these tours, we discussed and spun around together, discovered details and felt like Petterson and Findus. In between, we also went for (moor) walks and cuddled the dogs, as well as converting the old veranda into a playhouse for the children and the batuut (=trampoline) at our friends’ house. On our further journey towards Tallinn, we even had the opportunity to visit the “Kirschhof” from the inside and take a closer look at the Rehe construction method. This is a type of construction in which there is a high room in the house with a large stove without a chimney. This room is used as a utility room and as a drying room for the harvest and its walls are usually black with soot.

We spent the last night in the tent on the north coast of Estonia. For dinner, we prepared a giant zucchini that our friends had given us and had a lovely evening with candlelight and the sound of waves. Unfortunately, we were surprised by heavy rain the next morning, so we decorated the rooms in the Tallinn hostel with tarpaulins.

In the capital, we then had to say goodbye to our little bus, which had even been given its own hand brush. We spent the rainy day in a café and in a second-hand bookshop, where we were all able to stock up on postcards. Over the next few days, we visited the art museum (KUMU) and made the acquaintance of René, the self-driving bus. After shopping for socks and visiting more museums, we didn’t want to miss the festival of lights in the park with horses and fire. We spent a day at the Estonian Open Air Museum. There you can see many farms and houses from different times and regions of Estonia and some of them look very real with their “inhabitants”. On the last evening of the trip, we held the second general meeting of the association and then rewarded ourselves with burgers in the “Peatus” restaurant. The next day, we had to depart together from the bus station, taking the Luxexpress and train via Riga, Vilnius and Warsaw to Berlin.