Outlandish

Estonia has actually two Independence Days. The first one was on 24th February, when they celebrate the Independence Declaration made in 1918. After the Second World War, though, they were occupied by the Soviet Union and the country was forced into communism. In 1991 when the Soviet Union was crumbling, Estonia declared itself independent again while the Soviet tanks roamed the countryside trying to stifle all hope of becoming independent again and soldiers were trying to take over the TV tower to shut down all communication channels (which obviously was much easier back then). But despite all Soviet soldiers' efforts Estonians stood their ground and on Saturday 20th August they celebrated their 25th year of Independence.  Estonians are quite patriotic, especially when I compare them to their brother nation, Finland. They take their independence seriously and Tallinn was filled with all sorts of concerts and markets and Estonian flags. In Finland people just...

Finnish Summer, the tragicomic phenomenon and a global laughing stock. It is something that we Finns have developed a very black sense of humour for because otherwise we couldn't cope. We "proudly" advertise this special phenomenon in the social media where it has lately gathered quite an audience all the way in China. You always know how it's going to be and still you are every year just as or even more disappointed as last year when it was colder in July than in December and when after nine months of waiting for the sunshine all you get is black clouds that spit on you constantly. And then comes Autumn with a little bit less rain, but rain nonetheless, and the deepening darkness.  BUT! This summer so far has been surprisingly gentle. May and June were very sunny and warm, I even managed to tan so much that after a dozen years I finally got my freckles back! Obviously it rained every now and then but not all day every day. In Tallinn June was even bett...

Stara Trznica is a beautiful building used only for special occasions. Like Beer or Food Festivals. Last weekend was dedicated for International Foods. I wanted to go there already on Saturday but because the weather was still a nightmare I saved it for Sunday when I would also have company there.  They had countries from all over the world but not all of them served food, which was a little disappointing. For example Portugal and Germany were only serving wine tasters (which we tasted of course, Vinho Verde was a new and very pleasant acquaintance) and India's table consisted only of books and leaflets. I love Indian food and, as far as I know, there is only one Indian restaurant in the whole Bratislava and it's very expensive and not worth the money, so that was a shame. From Nordic countries only Norway was represented. Their stall was our favourite, they had gotten the correct idea: instead of huge portions they had small tasters of bread with sa...

Finland has been an independent republic since 1917. Yesterday it celebrated its 97th birthday. I don't think I could appreciate independence as much as I do if I hadn't lived abroad. Also the fact that right next to us there is a country with very little civilization, no human rights and no freedom of any kind helps to appreciate the things that might normally be taken for granted. For about 600 years Finland belonged under Swedish rule. Because of Sweden we have the Western culture and civilization that prevails in the country these days. But since we have been stubborn from the beginning of time we never succumbed to the Swedish language. We had our own and it was there to stay. Swedish is still an official language in Finland but few people away from the seaside speak it. After Swedes came the Russians. But instead of forcing Finland under their rule we got autonomy: we were able to keep our language, laws and religion. The one thing they screwed up though: becaus...