Estonia - Submarine base, swings and bogs

In Estonia, I visited a waterfall, walked around manor houses and was told stories about ghosts and red-haired women who bite men.

I wandered around an abandoned submarine base, where they used to do degaussing, and stared up at the graffiti and crumbling concrete.

I tried swinging on a large traditional Estonian wooden village swing, standing up. They are often used for celebrations and many villages have them. I was told about kiiking, which is a sport, where you have to try to get the swing to go over the top of the bars, and they compete over who can do this with a swing with the longest swing arms.

I learnt about vodka socks.

I ate strawberry soup at a tavern, before wandering through the bogs, the mysterious bogs, in Lahemaa National Park.

( A few pictures )

More from Estonia

I explored an abandoned military base, which had a lot of derelict buildings, some with trees growing in them now. I went to the former Soviet military town of Paldiski and stared up at the lighthouse and the wind farm. I went inside the bunker there, using my phone as a torch, as it was dark down there.

I wandered around a ruined monastery, walked on cliff tops and on a shingle beach, where icicles had formed. I saw a little lizard by the cliff tops.

I was in awe of the beauty of the flooded Rummu prison quarry, with grey sand dunes and a lake with swans swimming on it now.

I sat in the cockpit of an old Soviet military aeroplane and pretended to fly it.

On the last day that I was in Estonia, it snowed quite a lot in the night and I woke up to snow covered scenery.

Photos on Flickr: Estonia.

What I did in March 2017

I took my first breath underwater and went scuba diving. I even saw a shark! (Admittedly, a toy plastic one, on the bottom of the swimming pool.)

I went on a tube walk from Regent's Park to Baker Street and we saw alpacas and the Jelling Stone.

My mum and I saw the exhibition on Sussex Modernism: Retreat and Rebellion at Two Temple Place.

I went to a UX Community event on "When did service design stop being UX?"

I ate dessert soup at the Shan State with doseybat and morwen and we saw A Silent Voice at the cinema.

I caught up with friends at Pub Standards.

After 4 weeks, the gas in my flat was finally turned back on!

I celebrated miss_newham's birthday at the Battersea Arts Centre.

I visited the Charterhouse museum.

I saw the exhibition at the Stables Gallery by Martin Davison - Playing the changes.

( Finland and Estonia )

Ingress:

Another fun Enlightened monthly social!

I wandered around Croydon and completed the When Dolphins attack! banner and kept an eye out for suspicious dolphins. I visited the Boxpark in Croydon and ate cronuts and “the hard bowl”, which included yam and plantain and ackee.

I walked around Brick Lane and did the Brick Lane banner, and drank a vegan freakshake at the Canvas and smiled when I saw the sign made of beads that said, “All you need is weird”. I stared at photos in the Whitechapel Gallery, at the Terrains of the body exhibition, and also watched mobile phones spin around.

I walked around South Kensington and did the Evolution of Man banner. I stared at John Latham's skoob art at the Serpentine and marvelled at his creations. I also saw the Speak exhibition at the Serpentine Sackler.

I wandered around Canary Wharf one day and did the Canary Superskyline banner. Another day, I walked around St Pauls and did the The Bridge to St Pauls banner.

I organised a Ministry of Funny Walks banner meet and afterwards, we ended up in the Crobar.