My short trip to Estonia

A good 4,300 km took me to the north-east of Europe – and safely back again.

The road from Mariapfarr in the Lungau to Narva at the north-eastern tip of Estonia, separated from Russia by the river of the same name, leads through six countries and many landscapes. The Czech Republic and Poland show what they have made of their countries since joining the EU. Excellent roads lead through many industrial and commercial estates. All the big brands are present, some with huge building complexes, creating the picture of a “modern industrial state”.

Then come the Baltic states. The roads are in perfect condition here too, but now they are no longer lined with the company buildings of big international corporations but with wide open countryside, free of the forest of billboards and of architectural outpourings in nested boxes. The eyes can rest on wild meadows, huge fields, large areas of scrub and above all forest, forest and more forest. You can feel how the memory of untouched nature also lightens the heart. The landscape brings rest to the soul as well, so the countless speed cameras, which are clearly signposted anyway, hardly bother you any more. After 26 hours and 2,170 km on the road, Narva is reached.

Here, too, you notice that everything is laid out generously. The blocks of flats from the Soviet era – in the GDR they were called “workers’ lockers” – stand far apart between well-kept lawns criss-crossed by footpaths, along which the dog owners walk.

It is clean: there is no litter by the roads and paths, nor in the meadows. Looking at the cars in the car parks, you would think you were in a particularly wealthy area. Department stores, supermarkets and shops are stocked with branded and quality goods. There is less hustle and bustle in the department stores than in our welfare-and-throwaway-society states. People shop according to need and budget, not according to what tempts the eye. As a legacy of communist times the flats are relatively small, but well and comfortably furnished. Now they belong to their residents – a gift from the state. What is saved on rent goes on living costs, and perhaps in one case or another on the big, expensive car. The people of Narva are of Russian descent. Russian is spoken too, at least by most people there. And since this city, once a purely industrial town, is separated only by the river from the former motherland, Mother Russia, many Russians also spend time in the city. And the people are like us, just a little more introverted and quiet. There is practically no noise at all.

If you spend only a few days in this country, which I found beautiful and pleasant, your impressions are bound to be limited. Four days is simply too short to notice the problems that every country and every region has.

Besides, anyone who travels only to find out how bad things are there and how good they are at home would be better off staying at home. After a trouble-free journey home, many beautiful, interesting and exciting impressions remain in my memory – and in my soul the wish to visit this country and this city again.