fluffymark | FINLAND, RUSSIA, ESTONIA (part I)

Traveling and exploring the world is fun! It's sadly true that adventures and romance only take on their adventurous and romantic qualities at second-hand. Hence, it's high time I told of my Baltic adventures, stealing an idea from the lovely

mal1 by presenting it in A-Z form. So here goes, hope you enjoy....*deepbreath*

A is for art treasures. Being a huge fan of Art Nouveau I was delighted to find the Baltic is an unexpected treasure-trove of all things pretty and swirly. Nevskiy Prospekt in St Petersburg is a goldmine of Art Nouveau architecture, and I got more and more excited with every new discovery. Tallinn is the home of Maiasmokk, Estonia's oldest cafe (1865) with a stunning Art Nouveau interior, and I made the most of stopping there for coffee and cakes (delicious, if a bit on the sweet side). Being also a fan of late 19C French art (naked women, naked women....and yet more naked women...) and Impressionism (naked women drawn in cubes...), in Helsinki I explored the Ateneum art gallery, which was displaying a pretty special exhibition of such romantic works (fortunately my French was even up to translating the names of the paintings!), as well as their permanent display of Finnish artists, which I'd not previously encountered before. The art depicting Finnish myths and legends were *amazing*, I was particularly taken in by Gallen-Kallela's "Aino-taru" (1891), a three-part painting depicting the Aino myth (a very sad tale of a maiden drowning herself). The lovely

isobell took me on a tour of the Kiasma gallery of contemporary art. If you think the Tate Modern is otherworldly, think again - Finns take weird and run with it all the way. I think it's safe to say it broke my brain, and was very pretty in so many right and wrong ways.

B is for a boat voyage across the Gulf of Finland. Tallinn and Helsinki sit only 50 miles apart across the Gulf of Finland, making it a quick voyage not unlike a crossing of the English Channel (the comparison is doubly apt considering the Finns make booze trips to Estonia to avoid the high alcohol tax in Finland. Hmmmmm). I considered the Helicopter option (tempting, expensive, but not impossibly so, maybe another time...*dreams*), but in the end decided I'd leave Tallinn via the fast Tallink Express hydrofoil. It was delightful, taking in the fresh sea air and watching the towers of Tallinn recede behind me. The area is littered with islands, some inhabited, pretty little havens in the sea. The area near the Finnish coastline is a huge archipelago of offshore islands, making for delightful views from the boat. I used up the last of my "Eesti Pank" money by indulging in a beer, and chatted to many friendly Finns on the boat. At the end of the voyage there was the amusing sight of seeing the bemused look on the faces of Estonians who got waved quickly through the EU channel at Helsinki port.

C is for Club Schatten. For a fun last night in Finland, I ended up (with some trepidation) going gothclubbing at Club Schatten in Tampere, the home of quirky Finnish goth oddness. Curiously this made me feel both at home, but somewhere totally alien - the goths in Finland look the same as London goths, and I repeatedly caught myself foolishly looking around for people I knew, but it was the differences that made it so exciting. Everyone speaking in elvish (sorry, finnish) for a start - when random people tried to talk to me they were stunned to find I only spoke English, and seemed incredulous that the club had a visitor all the way from London ("You're visiting Finland? WHY?"). The Rachel Huntingdon print top I was wearing got recognition even over there. Weird. The club is two-level, and because the venue is a restaurant duringthe day, there was no shortage of tables to sit at, and there was even a outside chillout cafe area (with yummy hot chocolate!). Mmmmmmm. The music was a wonderful mix of familiar goth, 80s and industrial songs, and much unfamiliar, but lovely music. Looking at the playlist, theres a lot of bands I've never heard of, which I must investigate more. I had lots of fun dancing the night away with

isobell

vierasesine and Satu, who all took me along to Schatten and whom I shared a room with afterwards. I would love to go back there someday. *bounce* *bounce*

D is for the Dostoyevskian atmosphere of the Idiot Cafe.

alektoeumenides has been praising the wonder that is the Idiot Cafe for longer than I can remember now, so it was with a heightened sense of expectation in my mind when she took me to a hidden doorway just off a canal and down the stairs into this cellar cafe. To say I fell in love is an understatement of the highest order - the cafe is all of what I'd dreamed St Petersburg should be. Imagine a dark candlelit cellar with a low poky arched ceilings. Add wood furniture and comfy chairs. Decorate extravagantly with paintings of angels and pretty folding screens. Add libraries of books and intellectual games. The romantic atmosphere of a revolutionary hideaway of the 19C, it was like I'd stepped into a Dostoyevsky novel, which is, as the name suggests, exactly what it's supposed to be. To top it all, the food is lovely, We had a delightful lunch - it's a vegetarian cafe, and I indulged in a lovely Armenian Feta Cheese. Mmmmmmm yummy. It was relaxed, cozy, and intimate and a good place to flop around and chill out. I loved the idiot so much I had to return there on my final evening in St Petersburg for Blini, beer and coffee whist waiting for the Tallinn coach. And if that wasn't enough already, its the only place in Russia I found where they speak English, and theres an unexpected free shot of vodka with every order.

E is for Estonia going EU crazy. I'd not realized when I first decided to travel at the beginning of May, that while I was on my travels, Estonia would suddenly join the EU. So I ended up in Estonia just days after this historic event, and found them still celebrating. They even all followed me when I went to Helsinki, where I found a "Welcome Estonia" outdoor event in the main public square, with a lot of tents and stalls showing off the delights of Estonian life and culture - most popular being the beer tents, inevitable. So I spent a good hour drinking beer watching pretty Estonian girls dancing in choreographed formations to 80s music, an unexpected bonus. The EU expansion is a Very Good Thing in my book - here will I confess to being a total Europhile. Even if at midnight on May 1st I walked past a nightclub in Tampere and heard the DJ had put on "Europe - a final countdown" which was Wrong and evil in so many ways. Many people I talked to mentioned how wonderful it was that Estonia was now in the EU, it appears that Finland and Estonia share a very similar culture and welcome now both being in the same Union. My view is that, from a purely practical point of view, the EU stands for travelling around to pretty places lots easier, and watching pretty girls dancing while having a beer. Who can object to that? :)

F is for the Fortress of Suomenlinna. On one of the islands in the archipelago a short ferry ride from Helsinki is the island of Suomenlinna (actually several interconnected islands). Upon this island is a historic sea fortress, which was the scene of a siege and captured by the Russians in 1808 from the Swedes, whereupon the Tsar moved the Finnish capital to Helsinki from Turku.

isobell and myself took the ferry to the island (the ferry ride was nice all by itself!) and indulged in a picnic amongst the ruins of the fortress. There was cannons still point out to sea, and walls to explore - it was all very exciting, although sadly, being out of season, we couldn't have a guided tour to tell more about the place - it looked fascinating. Wonderfully, people still live on the island in the old buildings dotted around the island, and the whole place could be thought of as a lived in outdoor museum. We found a delightful toy museum on the island, with a selection of the most wonderful, scary and disturbing toys imaginable - i worry about the children that had to play with some of the scarier toys. Eeeeep. Overall though it was a lovely relaxing calm day out.

G is for gothspotting in Finland. Finland is full of goths. I couldn't avoid spotting some on every street I walked down - it was most odd, and slightly disorientating. It appears goth culture is considered a lot more mainstream over there. The Hostel I stayed at my first night in Helsinki handed me a small booklet showing me places to visit in Helsinki, and the *one* shop it recommended a visit to was the local goth shop! (I tried looking in there but sadly it was closed at the time). And if Helsinki was bad, Tampere was worse. My guidebook describes Tampere as "The Manchester of Finland", which didn't really sell the place to me, but once there, I found it would be much better described as "The Whitby of Finland" - it is where they throw a goth festival each summer, so I guess that makes sense this is where all the goths hang out. And of course, you know, they all speak Elvish. Fantastic! :)

H is for the Hermitage. The Hermitage museum, located in the Winter Palace in St Petersburg, is so big it's silly. One of the largest art collections in the world, it would take months to look around everything on display. I spent a full day visiting there, and was overwhelmed by all the expected and unexpected delights in there. Paintings by all the old masters with large pretty collections by da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Titian, Rembrandt, Rubens and van Dyck and many many more. I spent hours wandering around making very happy noises. To my delight, there was a large collection of 19C french art (more nude women!) and unexpectedly, there was modern art too, so I had the niceness of van Gogh, Picasso and Matisse. Yaaaaay. And best of all, hidden away in a side room, a whole roomful of Kandinskys! So so so pretty! And there was much more than paintings, sadly the Egyptian room looks sad compared to the treasures in the British Museum, but the collection of classical statues was impressive, so I played a game of "Guess which Greek God each statue is", and found that a lot of them were Dionysus. Each room in the Hermitage is a work of art in itself, each different with exquisitely painted ceilings and walls, and I probably spent more time admiring the prettiness of the building itself than the art inside - it's more than a fitting home for such a stupendously large art collection. Then there were the state rooms, the grand staircases, etc etc etc.....no wonder the Revolution happened - I'd be jealous of some Tsar in such excessive luxury in this most magnificent palace. Truly one of the wonders of the world, and on its own a reason to visit Russia.

I is for Igor the Hedgehog. Cuteness!!! I'd never realized how strokable and cute hedgehogs are! Me and

isobell spent a night at Satu's (

sadutar) pretty house in the forest near Helsinki and Satu has a pet hedgehog named Igor. He's so cute and cuddly and shy at first but then gets curious and starts sniffing around with his little nose and he's got cute eyes. Aaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwww. I had Igor in my hands and stroked him! :)

J is for the joke of a film that is Van Helsing. Oh my! Oh myyyyyyyyy.

vierasesine and

isobell took me to a cinema in Tampere, and we went to see the farce that is Van Helsing. I was in a fit of giggles throughout, it's the silliest film I've seen in a long time. Fortunately in English, but I got the bonus of Finnish and Swedish subtitles, which only added to the amusement value. The film is every horror cliche rolled into one big joke, which knows this and takes the piss out of itself, and also manages to be a good film at the same time, and with pretty outfits (mmmmmmmmm corset....*droooools*). What more could one want from a film?

K is for killing my feet walking around Petersburg. Russians like to make things big. Big buildings, big squares, big parks, and big cities. I'd not really noticed how big St Petersburg would be compared to everywhere else I traveled, and I made the mistake of not looking at the scale on the map. Nevskiy Prospekt turns out the be the longest street in Europe! I thought the hostel looked a walkable distance from the station when I arrived, and it took over two hours to walk there, and that with a big heavy bag on my back. My poor feet just gave up and died. And then I went out in search of prettiness - Dvortsovaya square, with the Winter Palace, and the Admiralty, and the beauty of the Neva - so peaceful and relaxing in the sunshine. Munching ice-creams while wandering along the beach (bizarre, but true!) on the Neva by the Peter and Paul Fortress. Crossing back and forth over the bridges. St Petersburg has the architectural feel of continental Europe, and it's odd that the city is only 300 years old - the lack of ancient buildings is somewhat disturbing for such a major city. The "Church of the Saviour on the blood" is one of the classic Russian cake-like churches, and one of the marvels of Peterburg, but it's Russian architecture is so in contrast with all the other buildings in the city, which are all pretending not to be Russian. Oh and what is it with Russians and their love of shoe shops and pointy shoes? Every other shop sells pointy shoes, and not pointy in a good way - they're awful. Russian fashion has a lot to answer for. Aaaaaaargh! (don't get me started on the pointy New Rocks. Wrong. Very Wrong).

L is for language misadventures. So I bravely set out alone on my travels, knowing only the barest bits of Russian, and nothing at all of Finnish and Estonian. A walking disaster waiting to happen? At least in Finland and Estonia most people are fluent in English, and I coped well, in Russia I survived on sign language. The hostel me and

alektoeumenides stayed at in Petersburg had claimed English speaking staff, and I'd gotten my visa through them, by an email exchange in English, when I arrived, despite the signs in English on the doors, none of the reception staff spoke English. It took a while for me to convince them I had a reservation. Aaaaargh! Thankfully,

alektoeumenides arrived the next day and saved me from miscommunication, she knows enough Russian to communicate with, and managed to sort out my ticket to Estonia, which I really don't think I would have managed to do on my own. Whist waiting for the Tallinn coach, I got into a broken conversation with a Russian who knew very little English, and managed to accidentally tell him in Russian that I was an англичанка (Russian for Englishwoman, me not knowing the word for Englishman, but you know, I found it amusing...). When I finally got to Tallinn, I forgot I wasn't in Russia anymore and to the first person I spoke to I asked "простите, вы говорите по-английски" (Russian for "Do you speak English?") to which their bemused reply in English was "Are you Russian?". Which I didn't help at all be responding "нет....argh I mean NO!". Stupid stupid stupid! *sigh*

M is for Moose Korma and other culinary oddness. I ate lots of strange foods on my travels. None was more strange than in Tallinn, when, after the strangeness of food in Russia, I'd decided to feel at home and ate at Elevant, an Indian Restaurant, thinking that the food there couldn't possibly surprise me. I was so wrong. After spotting an unusual selection of meats on the menu, how could I not try out the delight of Moose Korma. Which, if you really want to know, tastes a bit like venison. Also in Estonia, there was "Unidentifiable Pie" for breakfast at a cafe. In Petersburg,

alektoeumenides made me try out the Petersburg version of швавма (Val, how is it spelt?), a cheesy meaty takeaway food topped with a divine sauce. Yummy! We also ate at a Georgian restaurant, because Georgian food is so deliciously scrummy. In Tampere,

isobell took me and

vierasesine to her favourite Spanish restaurant, which was unfortunately a little crowded. Everyone and their mother were there. Turns out it was mothers day in Finland, and everyone takes their mother out for lunch. As this was one of the nicest restaurants in Tampere, it was a bit full. Despite this, we found a table and indulged in some yummy vegetarian treats. Mmmmmmm.

Part II to follow, have patience.... *smallsmile*