Wednesday: Linnar Viik‘s Skype van: turns out, he also loves windsurfing, and apparently needed a vehicle big enough to carry his and his buddies’ gear to reach the best spots. So what did he do? He bought a big, fuck-off SWEDISH MILITARY TRANSPORT vehicle at auction, from a colleague who bought it at auction. (Thanks to Siim Teller from Skype for setting me straight!) Oh, and it has on-board CDMA/WiFi, and power outlets, naturally.
Wednesday: There’s this neighborhood on the edge of Tallinn, near the airport, called Ulemiste. It used to be a major Soviet industrial center, but is now going through major gentrification and revitalization. There’s a huge project to tear down nearly everything in site and build swanky new office buildings and retail spaces, all re-branded as Ulemiste City. But this old warehouse says “Soviet Union Communist Party Forever!” over the entrance. That worked out pretty well, didn’t it?
Tuesday: On Parnu Street, one of the main east-west drags in Tallinn, and near the old site of the Bronze Soldier of Tallinn, where there were riots earlier this year, I spotted this spray-painted on a wall: “In case of stupidity, break everything.” I’m not 100 percent sure this is related to the riots, but I think there’s a good chance it is.
Sunday: I think this photo says a lot about Estonia society. Dude, you can bike within a few feet of the President’s house? Even Senegal is more restrictive than that.
Sunday: So it turns out that in addition to the really beautiful (sadly, now defunct) train station (and museum), there’s a Communications Museum in Haapsalu. This northwestern Estonian city is where the first radio broadcast was, and now houses a ton of great old communications technology, ranging from letters to radios to televisions. It’s maintained by a volunteer curator, who keeps the candle burning for six hours a day, four days a week.
Saturday-Sunday: While we were in Haapsalu last weekend, it just so happened that there was an “American Car Show” going on in town. Veljo and I stopped in for a look, and saw a few usual suspects that you would expect at a real American car show, like this 1950s Chevy. But what I didn’t expect to find was Confederate Flag after Confederate Flag after Confederate Flag. Oh, and did I mention that one Estonian guy running a massage table (WTF?) was dressed up like a cowboy? Oh, and one guy had a posted picture of the KKK. Don’t ask me why.
Saturday: Before Haapsalu, we were in Hiiumaa, where we found a few remnants of Soviet activity left. They built towers, bunkers, and this really weird-looking Wellsian tripod thing. I have no idea what this is supposed to do.
