Estonia - Part 1 - A Close Shave With Russia

zigzaggingtheworld
6 days ago
7 min read

Tartu is Estonia's second city, and nominated European Capital of Culture in 2024, it has the country's oldest and most prestigious university known for its arts and science. I'd been looking forward to visiting it, but the wet gloomy weather took the edge of the first impressions. We parked in a central car park by the river, and our first job was to take advantage of a nearby launderette where we took our still wet and muddy cycling gear, as well as bedding and towels. While in there I got chatting to a retired English couple from Milton Keynes who were on an Explore cultural trip of the Baltics.

Once the laundry was done we walked into the town for a look around. The normally busy outdoor bars and restaurants around the main square were quiet, and the square was being prepared for the finish of the first day of the Tour of Estonia cycling event the following day which was setting off from Tallinn. There were to be time trials the day after next. It was a shame we were going to be missing it.

We wandered up to the Toomemagi area on the hill above the town where the old cathedral sits which is now owned and used by the University of Tartu. There is also an old observatory up here and parkland with glimpses of the red roofs of the historic centre of the town. We had a wonder round the central streets in the town. It was all very pleasant, but felt a little flat in the cold missly weather. We had a drink in a sheltered bar, and decided we should try something traditionally Estonian to eat. After checking out numerous restaurants, we stumbled across a busy Italian restaurant that was packed with locals so we ended up having a nice meal there. We strolled back to the truck along the river. We now had another UK campervan next to us. They'd been travelling through Finland and said they'd not seen many British vehicles on their trip and they recommended a good place to park up in central Tallinn.

We had planned to revisit the town in the morning when it was a bit brighter, but felt there wasn't much else we'd want to see, so set off on our journey to the city of Narva on the North East tip of Estonia. Part of the route took us alongside Lake Peipsi, Europe's fifth largest lake which is shared by Estonia and Russia. We called in to a picturesque little village called Nina where a lighthouse overlooks the lake. There was some beautiful property here and we thought what a lovely place to live, or would it be with the threat of another Russian invasion seeming so possible?

We had a quick look at Alatskivi Manor near here which was said to be based on Balmoral Castle - we weren't entirely convinced.

The outskirts of Narva were a mass of ugly old Soviet apartments. The original Swedish built old town was razed to the ground in 1944 during a battle between the Nazis and Russia and it is said only 2% of the original buildings remain. The town is now the border town literally facing it's Russian counterpart town of Ivangorad across the river, separated by a footbridge.

We parked up next to the impressive castle and wandered into town to grab a bite to eat.

We then had a walk around the town seeing the two cathedrals, the memorial to the victims of Soviet repression, which stands in front of the impressive train station, and some incredible views of Narva Castle and the imposing Russian fortress just a stone throw away across the river.

The town with a predominantly Russian population definitely has a different feel about it. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russians living on this side of the river were worried their rights would be restricted in the new Estonia. They even declared a referendum in 1993 to become an autonomous state which had a 97% majority in favour of this, but the referendum was not recognised by the National government. Today you can imagine Putin could use this as his case for a grab of this area in Estonia, although it would be interesting to have another referendum today to see if views have changed now Estonia is economically stronger and stable. There is a concert held each year on the Russian riverbank that is said to be watched by many of the people of Narva which is said to demonstrate that much of the population still align with Russia.

The bridge that links Estonia and Russia is the border crossing point and the border control operates around the clock. While we were there, there was a constant queue of people waiting to cross from both sides.

We then visited the castle and the museum housed within it. The castle was originally built by the Danes in the 13th century, and was later added to by the Germans, Swedes and Russians. The museum provides details of the history of the city through the ages until now.

With the current geo-political situation it is a clear image of the edge of NATO territory and the start of Russia. Both forts fly their respective flags clearly with the addition of the Ukrainian flag on the Estonian side.

After the castle we had a stroll through the more modern part of town past the City Hall, then walked along the promenade by the river back to Lolly.

We didn't particularly want to spend the night in Narva, so drove about 40km along the north coast to a small town called Toila. We stopped in a campsite attached to a spa hotel. The weather forecast didn't look great for the following day, so we decided to 'have a day off' and park up for a full day to do some jobs and route planning for the rest of this trip.

Now, while I was looking forward to a chance to get the blog updated and do some admin jobs, Colin is like a caged animal at the thought of not having something specific to charge at. I did try using his mothers old tactic of 'go out to play and don't come back until tea time' - unfortunately that didn't work, so some more baby sitting was required. We got out on the Bromptons to explore the local town. From the campsite there were cycle paths that took us down to the fishing harbour and up through Oru Park - the grounds of an old palace owned by one of the wealthiest men in Russia in the 19th century. The palace was totally destroyed in World War 2, but today it makes a lovely serene park to walk or cycle though.

In the harbour we watched the fishermen deposit their catch of sprats, a small fish popular in the Baltics. We'd failed to find a coffee shop open in the area, and were just about to buy a coffee from a vending machine in the harbour, but luckily spotted a young guy putting cushions out in the cafe restaurant by the beach. He said they weren't opening for half an hour, but he could get us a coffee. Result! We had a look at the food menu which all sounded delicious, so stayed on for the food service which was delicious and the place had a very chill out vibe inside.

Back at Lo11y I sent Colin off to cycle round a bit more, then when he returned we went to play Crazy Golf at the hotel. We got discount by stopping at the campsite, so how could we refuse? Sadly after 2 rounds Bolton beat Spurs - our only audience were a couple of baby jackdaws who look a bit bewildered. I did give Colin a fright by getting a hole in one on my first go - luckily for him I'd peaked too soon.

We awoke to beautiful bright sunshine the next morning, so we set off early to have a full day exploring the Lahemaa National Park areas on the north coast. Our first stop was in Oandu where there were several walking trails. After calling in at the visitor centre we did a short trail around a pretty lake. There were lots of information boards telling us about the flora and fauna.

We continued on a short distance to a small coastal town called Altja, where there was another walking trail that took us on a coastal path, them back through the forest. Its was absolutely beautiful. There are lots of boulders in the sea here which are known as 'erratics'. These were carried in glacial ice from south Finland around 20,000 years ago. The glacier melted around 13,000 years ago to leave these boulders. The rock Colin is propped up against below is a Big Erratic strangely (that's the rock, not Colin...).

Next stop was another pretty coastal town called Kasmu where we walked another short trail out onto a peninsular. There was a popular restaurant here called Kaspervik, so we enjoyed yet another delicious lunch in the sunshine.

Having made good progress this day, we still had time to call in at the Viru Bog where a series of wooden paths lead you through bogland. There were plenty of educational boards along the way explaining the ecosystem here. At this time of year the paths are lined with fluffy white flowers called cottongrass The boardwalk section was around 3.5km and then there was a 2.5km walk back through a forest trail. It was absolutely stunning in the late afternoon sunshine.

We headed 25km north of here to a remote place called Parispea which is the most north westerly point of Estonia. We parked up for the night (with a few other campervans) on the peninsula with stunning views out to sea, and a great sunset.