+ 1. There really is a lot more public Wifi. Everyone's sick of the low-hanging "Estonia/incredibly wired/innovative/competitive" meme, so let me get it out of the way fast. Before I left, there were hints that, as in other areas, this was one where the reality might not measure up to the claims, that it might be a case of a circa 2006-2007 claim overstaying its welcome. Nah. Face it, Estonia is much more wired than any other place. You can't take the gezellig out of Amsterdam and you can't take the ease of going online out of Estonia. And none of those OingoBoingo unsecured connections that just want your credit card, either. Sicily, where we were based, was not as bad as one might think -- just like Italians are the world FB leaders, they do like their Web, and that infamous 2007 terrorism act isn't really a big deal -- but in all categories of wired, Estonia prevails easily.
- 2. Supermarket produce sucks ass, and where are the streetfront greengrocers? Ha-ha, there are none at all. That's a tough one to get re-used to after a stint abroad. There's some decent groceries with carefully vetted, attractive and comprehensive produce selections -- NOP in Tallinn, posh-ish places like Stockmann are good -- then it's pretty much a wasteland. A county-seat Selver with sometimes literally rotting piles of fruit that no one bothers to check on or remove can be particularly bad. Maybe not all Selvers, and obviously I'm pushing it if I buy a coconut from Põlva Selver and expect south seas succulence. Still..
And...on the customer side, no one wears plastic film gloves when handling fruit and veg in the store, or is expected to! But they should. Not wearing gloves when handling produce is like me not removing my shoes when entering an apartment.
+ 3. Prices. Refreshingly low, for the most part. Some establishments rounded up their prices and some dutifully left them where they are, even though it means the euro price is something like 1.695. Those are just +/-1 % concerns, anyway, though they do usually say something about the establishement. In general, it's still a -10% country in the EU, and that's a good thing for you and me. Don't court change for the worse by buying things for more than they're worth.
+ 4. The country sure looks a sight. Very neat and crisp. Even relatively unmaintained forests have a severe beauty (which I was mighty sick of when I left in October, but...).
I don't even think there should be so much preoccupation with cultural landscapes and adding value to forests by maintaining them. Just let some hectares here and there go, don't touch them for 10 years, and see what happens. It'll probably look fantastic and they'll discover a new orchid there.
- 5. Drunks are out and about. From 2003-2010, I was a big fan of universally 0.5 L beer bottles in a world of silly 0.3L cans. But now I am not sure about alcohol policies and traditions (though of course the culprit is more the 2L plastic bottle and producers are trying to be more responsible). For the most part the population looks healthy. Very healthy. More than Italians, even. But then there are the folks who are wasted in broad daylight. Not many. Maybe it's a Saturday afternoon at the Tartu bus station - not the Ritz-Carlton, in other words. But there are a few people there who are simply wasted. Not schizophrenic homeless, which I wouldn't write about here. These are two ordinary guys who have FAILED, they're sitting there and making substantial progress on a dorm-style pyramid of beer bottles in plain sight. It shocked me, and I did not try to be shocked. Then the two shitfaced guys are trying to get on a bus to Tallinn without a ticket, And the driver was very professionally explaining that they needed to BUY a ticket. See, if I were the driver, there would be no conversation. You're drunk - you can't buy a ticket OR get on the bus. You messed up this time, today, you drank too much -- it's embarrassing for us, it should be awfully embarrassing for you -- good man, now cut your losses and make yourself scarce. GO HOME.
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Actually, the drunks were one of the main things I noticed when I visited Estonia for the first time. As I was getting about the country on a bicycle, I made regular stops at corner stores in most towns along the way. I'd say about half of them had some drunk hanging around outside, just waiting to sober up enough to go in and buy another bear.
Most of them were just indecorous, some of them were out-right affronting. There were at least two shops where I felt like I should be on stand-by to help defend the shopkeeper from the abusive drunken man.
I have to say, it wasn't a good look.
There are drunks at the A ja O in Viljandi who can barely order more alcohol. They just sort of stutter and mumble while the sellers politely point to different bottles of vodka until they nod. It's terrible. They look like the witches from Nukitsamees. Art imitates life.
Beer. Although it would have been entertaining if they ordered (and were duly given) a bear, I meant beer.
The most popular beer for a while in the maintenance drinker countryside dweller segment was Bear Beer.
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