Mark's Travels

10 years of travel blogging from 35+ countries around the world

Weekend on Ladies Island 18th July 2007 in Naissaar, Estonia


Last Friday I jetted off to Estonia. I spent the day catching up with some old friends in Tallinn and shopping for a weekend camping trip.

On Saturday about 10 of us met up at a marina and caught a boat out to Naissaar (Ladies Island) which is about 16 KM from Tallinn. The island was home to small Swedish colony until Russia invaded Estonia and took it over. They hosted an important missile base on the island and banned all non-military personel from visiting the island throughout the occupation.

The island, with the exception of all the land mines, sea mines and missile launch facilities is practically untouched by man. There were probably only 60 people on the island the weekend we were there and everyone seem to be Estonian speaking.

When we landed on the Island, our group stood in a circle. Since some people didn't know one another, we took turns introducing ourselves. With the exception of myself, everyone else was Estonian. Each of them went one by one introducing themselves to the group and then took a sip from a communal bottle of Vodka. There was one girl with a video camera filming each person as they introduced themselves. When it came my turn I spoke in the Estonian language, describing who I was, where I was from and some small details about myself. For that I received a big round of applause from the group.

It meant a lot to me that they appreciated my efforts and struggles in their native language. A friend of mine came up after and said that I did it perfectly and even got the gramatical endings correct. After my experiences as a semi-unwanted immigrant in Germany, I want to make a full effort in properly amercing myself into the countries I choose to spend large amounts of my time in. Regardless of the difficulties with Estonian, I find it to be the most beautiful language and I hope to become fluent in it one day.

I had my tent setup about 15 meters from the beach. There was hardly ever more than 2 people in eyeshot on the beach and most times I had it all to myself.

We spent the weekend drinking, eating, swimming, playing football, having a sauna and exploring old Soviet missile bases. We had GPS devices and instructions on how to find treasures which had been planted on the island. We drove around in old Soviet army trucks to cover as much ground as possible.

The boat ride back to Tallinn on Sunday was quite scary. The boat was about 45 minutes late picking us up and we had to brave 2.5M waves splashing ice cold Baltic sea water on us. Thankfully the ride is only about 20 minutes so as frightening as it was, it was bearable.

I think the cost of the weekend, with my tent, food and booze excluded was something like 30 pounds. I'm not sure if I could do that any cheaper in most other countries.

I got to the airport on Monday and, with 5 minutes to spare before I boarded my flight, I bought 3 bottles of flavored vodka and a box of chocolates. The flight back was quick but things turned ugly when I tried to get through UK immigration control.

The border guard looked at my new passport and visa and asked where my wife was. I said that Anja was in Germany that weekend and would be back in 5 hours. He said that because she wasn't with me or wasn't already in the country that he could not let me enter with that visa. He went so far as to say that he couldn't let me in at all. I began to get worried and shake. The bottles of vodka in my bag were clinking together because I couldn't stop myself shaking so much.

The border guard's boss came and looked over his shoulder at what was going on. I really began to get worried that I was about to be rejected and sent back to either Estonia or Canada or taken into custody.

I told the guard that I was a Canadian citizen and that I had every right to enter the country under some circumstance. If not under the EEA Family member permit then as a tourist and the following day I could fly to Ireland or take a train to Paris or Brussles with my wife and return to the country.

The guard then asked: "Do you already live and work here?". I told him I've been living in the UK for years and that my entire life is on the other side of that line. He then took another look over my passport and said he was going to make an exception but I was to never forget to have my wife with me or in the country when I was traveling abroad. I never had such a fast-paced emotional roller-coaster ride in my life.

Either on July 17th, 2008 or March 3rd, 2009 I qualify for the right to stay permanently in the UK without any immigration controls. At which point, I can apply to become a British citizen while keeping my Canadian citizenship. The interpretation of my circumstances and of the UK immigration law will dictate which day it will be but believe me, I've been waiting since September, 26th, 2001 for that day to come. I love living in this country and I wouldn't want to give it up any time soon.

I really enjoy my time in Estonia as well and even quite, boring or emotionally stressful times there can make me feel more alive than anything else. The good times there give me a happiness I've never felt in other countries and it's a shame I cannot call both Tallinn and London my home.


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