Outlandish

Having been born in Finland I am one of the few lucky ones on this planet who has had the best sort of starting blocks for life. Today my country celebrates its 99 th year of complete and unquestionable Independence so I think it’s time to note some basic points about this extraordinary country. The truth is that if I had been born in some other country, whatever other country, my life would have been very much different, and probably not in a positive way. Finland has belonged under great kingdoms and empires but still the Finns have always held on to their own language, own culture, and their own way-of-life. And because of that my country has been able to rise from the ashes of the crumbling Russian Empire, civil war, two World Wars and multiple recessions. It is a big country with a very small population, but still it has been able to keep its independence for this long and will probably continue to do so no matter what the future brings.     Finla...

Pirita is one of the biggest suburban areas in Tallinn and it spreads along the city’s Eastern coastline. It continues East-wards from the Kadriorg district, which means that it is a very wealthy area with amazingly beautiful and colourful private houses from huge manor-like houses to wooden “replicas” of small castles with turrets and towers. There also lies the Kadriorg Palace  and the gorgeous parks surrounding it. The area is well worth a visit, but because it is on the opposite side of the city from the Old Town 90% of the tourists never visit the area. I am not complaining though. It is much nicer to go for walks there when you don’t have to dodge photographing tourists every other step. The weird part is how between two of the richest districts there is the poorest and the most horrendous district in Tallinn: Lasnamäki. It is the “Russian district” where you do not want to venture. I had to get my ID card from a police station there and that was quite enough of Lasn...

I've spent so much time at home in Turku this past Spring and Summer that I'm not quite sure any more which country I live in, Estonia or Finland. But now I think it's time to leave the cruise ships in peace for a while and hopefully people will visit me, so I won't need to compare the times for buses and boats because they never really match the way I would want them to. But before I walk to Linnhall and wave my goodbyes to Finland for a while I want to go back to last weekend, which turned into a proper Turku Experience.  All sorts of little happenings and businesses offering things to do pop up around the city of Turku in the summer. Especially around the Aura River at the moment you can find anything from restaurants and river boats to a couple of very Finnish phenomenon; a mini sauna and a hot tub that you heat up with wood in a little stove. This hot tub is special, though, because you can sit in there while floating in the river. We found the idea...

If you like to choose your travel destinations according to food culture and great restaurants Estonia is probably not one of the options that pops to your head straight away. But it should be. Tallinn alone is bursting with world-class fine dining restaurants and awesome, innovative hipster cafés and restaurants. The restaurant that has been ranked number one in most travel apps and websites is Rataskaevu 16 in the middle of the beautiful Old Town and I must admit, I had nothing to complain last time we were there in March. The restaurant is in a very old stone building with narrow halls and small stone-walled rooms. The atmosphere there is quite dark but still cozy. Food is amazing of course and the most interesting feature is probably the toilet (at least the ladies’ one); it has a glass floor and underneath it there is a drop to a stone well. I’m not afraid of heights but in the toilet I didn’t feel exactly comfortable and I must admit I sat on the toilet sideways so that I ...

Finally my trainee period of 4 months has ended and I am officially a Project Manager. A title I’ve been aiming for ever since I entered University. Why I aimed for that particularly? Because a project is a completely open concept, it can be anything and there are usually many of them at the same time, which means it’s a perfect job for me, because I don’t want every day to be the same and, most importantly, I want to be in charge :D And since I am now officially an employee I am entitled to use the holidays that have gathered up so far. And what would be a better way to waste my one week’s worth of holidays than fly to Central Europe to see some of my favourite people and places! But before that I am traveling first to Turku to see friends and family, since there’s no need for me to be in the office when I can work from wherever. Ok, I might have organized things so that I wouldn’t have to be in the office in June and scheduled all new trainees to arrive in J...

One evening the weather was just so nice I couldn’t stay indoors so I put my jacket on and went for a walk on the beach. There I found myself smiling without a reason, which tells me that I am happy here. But I must confess a disappointment about Tallinn; people. They are not the least bit interested in making new friends. They are helpful, for example, I got exceptionally wonderful help in finding a flat, which I appreciate enormously, but when the time came for me to take the person out for a drink or some food to say thank you, I was thanked kindly and never heard from them again. Even the Brit I know here is more interested in hanging out with his own friends than helping me find new friends by maybe introducing me to his friends. He has Estonialized in a very short time, and comparing to Brits I can’t say it’s for the better. It’s not just Estonians, this is a very Nordic problem, extremely common with Finns as well. I've seen it even with my own friends in Finlan...