Dallas Style

Newer mess with a poet. Model: Kaur. Photo and accessories: Vahur.
Den Pobedy!
9 May 2014, Tartu

Khrushchyovka

Death of Stalin (1953) put the end to shared apartments (one kitchen, one toilet, several families) and neoclassical, even neobaroque housing. Much lighter, modern buildings started to pop up. Prefabricated concrete panels (patented French technology, I've heard) or bricks were used. What's most important, green light was given to private space. Of course you could hear your neighbours well, but still the tiny flat with symbolic kitchen was at the disposable of your own family and nobody else. I wonder what did that Jeanneret guy think? Actually, I've seen similar housing in Basel, Berlin and Brussels, so I suppose he'd be eligible to comment on that.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khrushchyovka

Photo by Vahur, April 2014, Tallinn, Toonela tee.

Estonian Ranger

 ...or just playing Cowboy Superhero? Who cares, it looks cool & steampunk anyway. Photo by Kaili, Räpina, South-Estonia, april 2014.

Through the looking glass

Genetically speaking Estonian double helixes have a nice pinch of Asian to them. Many Estonians observe our planet and its inhabitants through camera lens. Looking through the camera is also considered more polite and distanced way, especially when it comes down to asses, girls or both. Baudrillard, Bourdieu, Deleuze and other froggymen probably would have on say on that...

Photos by Vahur Afanasjev 19 April 2014

My Hole

Thousands of people, mostly in their sporting outfit, have crawled through this hole in years. Still the gate on that side is firmly locked. Sometimes the administration put barbed wire over the hole. People cut it off and keep on crawling. It's OK, as it's also a kind of sport to get to the stadium.

I never us the main gate on the other side of the stadium.

Photos by Vahur Afanasjev, 24 April, Tallinn

Guts of a Cute Wooden House

A cute wooden house is being renovated in Tallinn Magasini street. It's a typical Estonian 19th and beginning of 20th century city/town dwelling. WWII destroyed thousands of those but there are still large areas intact.

You see that time has taken its share of the wood, insects have eaten their ways into logs, but this can be overcome just shaving off damaged parts. Usually the building as a whole can be saved, if the roof has not been leaking too much.

I also want around the back, to take pics of the garden. It appears the veranda and back side are already in good shape.

Photos by Vahur Afanasjev 24 April 2014 Tallinn

Wastelands

Empty space in city. Room to breathe. I wonder what will they build here. And when. And if.
Photo by Vahur, April 2014 Tallinn (direction Toonela tee to Võistluse street).

Private Concert

Ready... and rocking. Photo by Vahur Afanasjev from a private and unsactioned concert by the Revolver band. 19 April 2014 Tartu

The Scream

The Scream. Phot by Vahur Afanasjev, 19 April 2014

Meeting Calamary

Kitty meeting calamary. Photo by Mare Sabolotny, Kirepi village 18 April 2014

Ikarus Bus

Established in 1895 in Budapest, Hungary, the Ikarus bus company has produced many great public transportation vehicles. Saying many I mean several millions, as Ikarus busses ran everywhere in Soviet Union and Warsaw Block countries, including Soviet Estonia.

Without any "ostalgie", I admit that for me the yellow city Ikarus city busses still seem to be more comfortable than the modern Scanias and whatever is used in Europe. Especially when the bus is crowded, you can reach a handle to grab when standing up. And an old Ikarus has one level floor, the modern city busses tend to be higher in the back and have uncomfortable steps to climb.

Well, I haven't seen a live Ikarus city bus for year but a few days ago I spotted a fully restored Ikarus inter-city by the Tallinn bus station. Good people of Estonian Bus History Society have done a great job restoring it. Beautiful!

By the way, who ever did design yet another anachy symbol inspired Soviet period logo? I mean the Tallinn AP (Autobussipark).

Photos by Vahur Afanasjev, April 2014, Tallinn

Double-decker Woodshed 2

Another double-decker woodshed in Tartu (Jaama street). Photo by Vahur Afanasjev, 14 April 2014.
Another post on the some topic.

Lodi

Lodi is a type of sailing barge used a lot on the Mother River (Emajõgi), Lake Peipsi (all the way to Pskov and Novgorod in Russia) and other Estonian waters. Lodi (plural: lodjad) has been documented in Hanseatic Tartu town and Emajõgi since 14th century.
See some old footage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e-tzBV-oD8
Soviet occupation put a full stop to many fields of economic and human activity, so last lodi was seen in 1950ies... Until around 2004-2005 a group of activists built a brand new lodi. Nowadays it's used for tourism and nature sighting, not for transportation of goods, but still the ancient ship building tradition is kept alive. Currently the Lodjakoda activists are building a larger two-mast lodi in Tartu.
Photo by Vahur Afanasjev 30 March 2014
Trivia:
There used to be a huge beautiful bathing house (the wooden structure was heavily damaged in WWII and the later rebuild was destroyed in 1970ies) on the river by the the Lodjakoda site.
Even though we love CCR, their song "Lodi" talks about a city in the United States of America.

Fishing 2

Just another fishing day by the Mother River (Emajõgi). Quick snaps on my way to Tartu bus station, 1 April 2014. Vahur Afanasjev

Macho Hat

Special Estonian macho hat. April 2014

Fishing

Fishing is rapidly getting hip! Forget about planking, selfies and digital shit and grab a fishing rod!

Photos by Vahur Afanasjev, 30 March 2014 in Tartu by the river Emajõgi. Oh and btw there's a pile of snow across the river - will take a month to melt it.

Double-decker Woodshed

Dunno how was in London, Paris or New York of olde dayz but in Estonian towns most of the people lived pretty much side by side, especially in the center. Interesting contrast to really lofty living conditions in the countriside (our population density is approxiately the same as in USA or Canada). So, if you moved to town/city (rising trend as of 19th century), the odds are high you end up living in a 4 to 10 flat wooden (chinkless method log with painted siding) condo or a cabin in the back yard - and used a double-decker woodshed to store your firewood.
As people are opting out of the romantic but tiresome chore of heating and cooking with burning fire, many of the sheds have perished. But some are still there, used by the inhabitants and admired by the hipseters.
Photo: Vahur Afanasjev, 30 March 2014 Tartu, a back yard in Ujula street.

Restaurant for Animals

During winter, wild animals may end up starving. There's some stuff around, like treebark, frozen grass under the snow. Wild boars dig up leftover potatoes from fields, deer and rabbits come near houses and munch on young trees that people have planted a year before... But near the spring it's pretty hard as most of the resources are exhausted. Predators (wolves, foxes, lynx) are hungry, too, unless sleeping as bears do.

That is why humans, mostly represented by the hunting club members, serve the forest dwellers the high cuisine of potatoes, perfectly dryed hay and selected branches from young apple trees. Special animal feeding "restaurants" are built.

The whole are of Kääpa (Välgi) nature reserve is 2039,8ha of land plus 256,4ha of water. By the way, in spring, parts of the reserve are off limits for the man kind (besides authorised personnel) as the local wild bunch is making babies.

Photos by Vahur Afanasjev 7 March 2014, Välgi nature reservoir.

Independence Day

Cheers for the Estonian Independence Day! (Starring: spicy sprats on rye bread, filled eggs with egg-spratpiss (salty brine) filling, pickles with chillies (pickled by my mother), Moe vodka (from ecologically clean Estonian grain only), fresh tap water (the purest in Estonia) and, as a decoration, some snowdrops (galanthus) I picked in from of my country house earlier today).

Photo and food by Vahur Afanasjev, 24 February, Tartu.

Weird and Beautiful Ice Vehicles

"Karakat" or "karakatitsa" is a self made vehicle for on-ice fishing. The huge tires (often the inner tyres of large airplanes) make the karakat unsinkable, so one can go winter fishing even if ice conditions are tricky. Each year a Karakatitsa Festival is held in Kallaste.

Karaktitsa is not the only option - some use custom made hovercrafts.

Photos of the Karakatitsa Festival by Vahur Afanasjev, 22 February 2014 in Kallaste, by the Lake Peipsi (Peipus), in the area mostly inhabited by Russian speaking Old Believers who fled to Estonia from repressions in Czarist Russian in 16.-17. century.