Showing posts with label estonia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label estonia. Show all posts

 The thing you need to know before coming to Estonia is this: they are not the most outgoing bunch, these Estonians. A tiny little detail that I just couldn’t wrap my head around when I first got here and one that I tend to ignore like a pro nowadays. After all, overwhelming them with all my joy and love was how I got most of my Estonian friends. The fact that it took quite some time to convince them that I am not a crazy person, on the other hand, is also something I like to ignore like a pro.

So you can imagine how weirded out Krõõt Kukkur, the funniest Estonian illustrator and designer I have met so far, was, when I found her booth at a design market and got a little too excited about her products. After our Papetri Paperworks post I’m sure all of you know that Lena and I take our designer hunts seriously. And that we can get a bit overjoyed when we find something we really like. Well, Krõõt didn’t know that. All she knew was that a random girl asked her out for coffee to talk some more about her designs after coming back to her booth a billion times and touching her amazing backpacks twice as much. Amazingly enough, she agreed to meet up with me anyways, once again proving that my approach of just overwhelming them with emotions can work sometimes.


Picture: coucou.ee

Speaking of overwhelming situations, I’ve spent the last two hours trying to figure out how to fit everything there is to say about the girl with the thick black stripe tattooed around her arm into one blogpost. Because to be honest, I wish I could just put our whole hilarious conversation up on here. During our one hour long chat a couple of things happened: 1) the sun was shining – worth mentioning because this doesn’t happen that often in Estonia. 2) I couldn’t stop laughing about her funny comments on her own life. 3) Turns out that Krõõt has the most random things to tell about herself. Exactly my kind of person. 

She carries a board game with her wherever she goes. Quit art school due to a lack of interest in perfectly parallel lines. Doesn’t consider herself a crazy cat lady but is scared of her own cats’ – who sometimes think they are dogs – anger. Loves making people uncomfortable with her postcard collection of road kills. Has the most amazing bike. Doesn’t only design backpacks and illustrates whatever she can – from beerbottles to CD-covers – but is also working on a career in the tattoo industry. (I’ve got a feeling I need to support that…) And she doesn’t care about marketing and promoting her products. She just creates. I think that’s my favorite thing about her. And that she made me feel better about being lazy sometimes. Apparently this happens to the best of us.

Picture: coucou.ee

But speaking of Krõõt’s creations: let’s “briefly” talk about why I got so excited when I found her booth. First of all, her illustrations are super cool. I know, that is probably the worst description you’ve ever heard. But in lack of the right art vocabulary, this is what you have to deal with for now. I’ll work on it. In any case, I’ll just give you a list of my favorite things in her collection:

  1. Her backpacks. Because they are completely made by herself. And because the inside is covered in one of Krõõt’s prints. And because they just look cool. Again, amazing vocabulary, Kathi.
  2. Her packs of cards. Because each card has a different illustration of some person’s face on it. And because the joker is a cat. And because every time I look at my pack – of course I bought one – I am reminded of that time when I was playing cards with Lena and her family – and L lost. Let’s just say she is not good at loosing. To be fair, I had been warned by her brother. And her mom. And her dad. So just take this as a warning from me. If you want to have a nice afternoon in the sun with L, don’t bring any games. Might ruin the atmosphere a bit. (I love you, Lena!)
  3. Her “Why did you cut down the tree…”-collection. Because she says she doesn’t fight for our planet being saved while she actually raises awareness with more than one of her collections. And because she does it in such an easy way. And because cute animals staring at you, asking you why you destroyed their home really does make you think.
Photo: coucou.ee

That was the longest and most rambling post I have written in a long time. I hope you got a glimpse of the awesome person behind the name Krõõt Kukkur. If you ever want to meet her, she works in one of Tallinn’s best restaurants. Not going to tell you which one, though. You’ll have to find out yourself. Or hit the next design market. Or check out her homepage or instagram and contact her on there. Don’t forget: Overwhelming them with emotions works best!

Have a lovely Monday, everybody!

xx Kathi

P.S.: Due to a lack of photographic skills I didn't feature any of the pictures I took of her. I want people to like me, after all.

In a country with the highest top model per capita ratio in the world, where the Prime Minister is mostly known for his brightly colored socks and the President is never seen without a bowtie, nothing surprises me anymore – at least fashion-wise. This being said, everything was different when I first moved to Estonia. All I knew before coming here was that 50% of Estonia is covered in trees. Nobody ever mentioned an obsession with bowties.

So I was quite confused when I started school last September and saw a couple of people wearing bowties every single day. Was there a secret uniform I didn’t know of? Frankly, I didn’t care. All I wanted to know was exactly where these amazingly stylish pieces came from. Why they are so special, you ask? They are wooden - because when in Estonia, you should take advantage of all the trees – and oh-so pretty.

Well, it turned out that one of my fellow Student Council members and friend, Kristjan Oro, is the source of this amazingness. About a year ago he co-founded his own company – ŠIKK – with his best friend, Ats Jõgi, dedicated to crafting wooden bowties in all sorts of shapes. After six months of rummaging through his magic box of bowties over and over again and giving everybody the same present for Christmas – you guessed it, ŠIKK bowties – it was long overdue to sit down with Kristjan and talk about his startup journey, the biggest struggles of being an entrepreneur and his plans for the future.
Photo: ŠIKK
The two major things I learned during our extremely serious chat were these: When in business with your best friend of eight years, yell at each other every now and again. Helps you clear the air. And stay sane. And friends, for that matter. It seems to work for Kristjan and Ats. After a year of yelling at each other, they are still best friends. They even like to spend their free time together – if they have any. Which leads me to the second thing Kristjan taught me, this being how to manage your time and simultaneously not to get completely confused by to-do lists. (Something I really need to work on.) I quite like his system: A to do list classified from A – if you don’t do this immediately, you’re fucked to D – tell somebody else to do it.

But all jokes aside, I am sure that these two have a bright future ahead. I am not just saying this because Kristjan is my friend. I truly believe it. Because their bowties are just too cool not to love them. And because the personal touch the products come with is amazing in this impersonal world. And because in just one year, they managed to be featured in the Estonian Song Contest and the Estonian version of “Got Talent”, thus making ŠIKK bowties something that is worn by stars. Next challenge: The President.

For everybody who really wants one of these unique accessories now, it is your lucky week. ŠIKK will be launching their brand new online store in the next couple of days and they are shipping anywhere in this world. But you should be quick; I am planning to fill up my suitcase with them. Can’t guarantee there will be any left when I’m done shopping.

Show them the flying floordrobe love and check out ŠIKK's Facebook page and its Instagram account to see more pretty photos of the bowties and to be up to date on the exciting new product that will be launched very soon!

Photo: www.facebook.com/sikkdesign/
Have a great week, everybody!

xx, Kathi

BJÖRN Espresso BAR
Address: Maakri 28, 10145 Tallinn
Cappuccino: €2
Best thing on the menu: ALL the coffee

CASH ONLY!

 Find them on Facebook (here)
One of the horrible moments after moving out of your parents’ house – that amazing wonderland of clean laundry and full fridges – is waking up in the morning, realizing you haven’t been to the store in too long and no matter how long you stare at the fridge, it won’t magically fill up. This happens to me approximately five times a week. Let’s just say I am not the biggest fan of going to the grocery store. Too far away. Too much of a hassle. And the store is located in the mall’s basement, which means stairs. No thank you.

So, whenever I open my fridge and face the ugly truth of its emptiness, there is one thing that freaks me out in particular. No milk. Which means black coffee. Which means the day is off to a rocky start. Coffee is the one thing that makes me get up in the morning. And yes, I own more than one bag with some kind of coffee quote on it, given to me by friends who know me too well. But while I just need that delicious stuff in whatever form in the morning, I am a coffee snob. Without milk in it it’s just not the same. And I am not happy.

On mornings like this I have three options:
  • Just suck it up and drink it black – this is the option I go for at the end of the month, for obvious reasons.
  • Stop by the kiosk around the corner, get two cappuccinos instead of one because it’s cheaper – thanks for supporting my addiction, R-Kiosk – and get yelled at by the kiosk lady because I still don’t understand this language they call Estonian. My preferred option when I’m late for class. Not going to say this happens a lot, but, you know…
  • And my favorite one: Spend a couple of hours at Björn’s, because it is just too cozy to leave earlier than necessary and enjoy the best and most stylish coffee in town.

BJÖRN Espresso BAR is a fabulous new café that was opened only two months ago in the cutest little wooden house a little outside of Tallinn’s Old Town. The little grey house with the red window frames looks way out of place, surrounded by office buildings and schools, which makes it incredibly exciting to enter it. Walking through those bright red doors feels like entering a different world. All of a sudden the stress of the day is gone and you are now part of the cosy, relaxed world of amazing coffee, delicious pastries, fluffy cushions, cosy fireplaces, and chilled people. I am not kidding. It really feels like that.

Conveniently, Björn’s is really close to my university which solved my horrible problem of having to drink burnt cafeteria coffee all day long. The coffee is out of this world, the variety of beans changing constantly and the staff is crazy friendly - and they know everything about coffee - heeeeaven! I always feel very fancy when I’m there. And amazingly, the coffee is still cheap. All of these things explain why I may have spent a lot of time there lately. I just realized this last week, when I walked in and Kalle, one of the owners, looked at me with a knowing expression, saying: “Big cappucino as always?”


For now, Björn’s is definitely one of Tallinn’s best kept secrets, but to be honest, I can’t imagine it to be a secret for long. If you ever find yourself in Tallinn, I really urge you to give this place a try. It is more than worth the walk out of the Old Town. Less crowded & commercialized than the coffee shops in the center. Oh and tourists? Nowhere to be seen. So, what are you waiting for?

xx Kathi

Photos taken in: Tallinn, Estonia

I usually have Tuesday’s off. And every Monday I tell myself that I will write loads of amazing blog posts and columns on Tuesday. But you know, Tuesday comes and Tuesday goes. And I am busy with other things - mostly procrastinating. My productiveness goes south when I decide to pop over to our Student Council office “just to talk over a couple of things and see my friends” real quick. Right. Spending money on coffee on my way there is another thing I should not do on Tuesdays. Four hours later I walk out of the office, not knowing where the hell my day went. My to-do list is still as long as it was before but my life is a day shorter.

So this week I decided to trick myself into not going there by taking my laptop out on a date to one of Tallinn’s nicest coffee shops – August – where I would be surrounded by people but not talking to any of them. Because you shouldn’t talk to strangers. In theory. Naturally, that didn’t work out so well. Pretty soon I was having an intense conversation about American politics with the Canadian woman at the table next to me.

Three pretty unproductive but entertaining hours later I left August, hyped up on way too much coffee and a great conversation.  Because of the amazing weather I decided to walk through the Old Town like I hadn’t done in ages. Another hour later I had seen the inside of most of Tallinn’s designer stores and galleries, had spent way too much money and have had plenty of good conversations with Estonia’s creatives. My day got better and better and I had to force myself not to skip through town, but rather act like a normal human being. I think you get the point, talking to all these inspiring people made me really happy. I didn’t think the day could get any better. Boy, oh boy, was I wrong. Never in a million years would I have guessed what happened next. 

Climbing up the stairs to Toompea - Tallinn’s Dome Hill – I found myself facing  a group of four –tourists – as I thought – with American accents. Obviously, I was intrigued. After offering to take a group shot of them they told me that they were actually on a photoshoot. For Lonely Planet. The sane part of me managed to say “Oh cool, have fun then!” and leave it at that. But as I walked away, more and more crazy voices took over in my head. “They are from Lonely Planet. No big deal. Just the publisher of the best travel guides ever. What the hell am I doing walking away right now? They seemed like the coolest bunch. I want to be their friend. But what am I supposed to say? Hey, I don’t have anything to do, can we be friends? Also, could you please hire me? Right. No, that's too crazy, I can't do that.”

Of course I went back. After listening to the voices in my head for a bit I decided that I should just go for it. Because as the saying says "We only regret the chances we didn't take" - And I am so glad I don't have to regret not taking that one. Because the four of them were lovely. Turns out the two photographers of the group had just met the other two guys at lunch. And then the coolest thing happened. Just like that, they asked me if I had time to come with them and take some more pictures because they needed another person in the pictures anyways. Me. Casually, in pictures of Lonely Planet. Just what we normally do on a Tuesday afternoon in Estonia. I am not kidding. This was real life. Not imagining that in any way. (Yes, I am still pretty excited.)

After taking pictures for some time we all went out for dinner and just talked. These guys were truly incredible. An American photographer living in Norway, a Norvegian photographer traveling all over, a Norvegian living in Estonia, an Estonian Event Manager who changed careers is now producing and selling honey. And me. It was the most random group of people but that's exactly what made it so interesting. I listened to travel stories from the weirdest places, learned about bees and was just in awe of everything these people had done in their life. 

It still makes me so happy that five people who are - for the most part - so different from each other and didn't know each other a couple of hours earlier could just sit together like a group of old friends and chat about anything. I loved it. It reminded me why I love traveling so much. And why I like talking to strangers. And why I will never stop doing it. Yes, it is scary sometimes. And yes, there are times when I am too "scared" to talk to somebody. But to be honest, that is stupid. Because we are all human. We all have our baggage to carry. Nobody needs to be scared. And meeting new people is just so good. It gives you so much more perspective on this world. And it is so much fun. Everybody has a story to tell, we just need to listen. (And as a bonus you get to be part of a photoshoot - sometimes.)

So what is your take on talking to strangers? Yes? No? Maybe? Let us know!

xx Kathi

Photo taken in: Tallinn, Estonia



Kohvik Must Puudel (Coffeeshop Black Poodle - CUTE!!)
Address: Müürivahe 20, 10140 Tallinn
Coffee: €1,80
Best meal on the menu: Goat Cheese Quinoa Salad with Berries
                                      or: Coconut Soup with Mushrooms & Salmon

Find them on Facebook (here) & Instagram (here)


So let’s talk about Must Puudel. A Tallinn favorite. I don’t think there is a single person in this town that doesn’t like it. It’s got everything. Great food, the best retro playlists, cool, retro furniture and the coziest retro atmosphere. Basically retro everything. AND its name means Black Poodle in English - can it get any better? It’s a restaurant/coffeeshop during the day and turns into a hip bar at night. The "Black Poodle" is the kind of place you keep going back to – for literally everything. It’s my safe haven. Need to study but can’t concentrate? Must Puudel. Have to write blog posts but feel too lonely writing at home? Must Puudel. No food in the fridge? Must Puudel. Need  a place to work on a project with your team? Must Puudel (& a glass of wine). Plan a date with a random guy you met at a bar one night? Must Puudel (& even more wine). Every single time. Must Puudel.


I was lucky enough to find this place in my first week in Tallinn, when I was standing in line to get into a horrific club that, for some reason, is very popular with exchange students. I was with my flatmates back then. And a German guy that I had met at the airport in Vienna a couple of days earlier and whose arrogant look made me fall for him only one day into knowing him. The two of us couldn’t be bothered to be pushed around by all the drunk people anymore and decided to pop into that interesting bar right next to the club. That night at Must Puudel I decided I liked him not only for his arrogant facial expression, but also for his personality. Worst idea ever. That's what I found out three very flirtatious weeks later. He had forgotten to mention a tiny little detail. His girlfriend. Well, let’s just say that guy is not around anymore.

Months later, when I went on a date with a guy I had briefly met at a bar a couple of days before, I ended up at the same table I had been sitting at that first night in Must Puudel with the German guy. My date was 20 minutes late and once he did show up two Finnish tourists sat down at the same table – because they couldn’t find any other free seats in the bar. Turns out they were super interesting people – a barista who was reconsidering his career path and a stylist for Helsinki fashion week. We ended up talking the whole night and I found myself flirting with the Finish guy instead of my date. Whooopsies. To be fair, he was late. Does that justify it? I don’t know. In any case, I probably shouldn’t take guys there anymore. I feel like the waiters greet me with a knowing look everytime I walk in. But then again, I am paranoid sometimes. 

There are more stories about Must Puudel. Can you tell I spend a lot of time there? But this is enough for now. Enough to make you think the only thing I do in Tallinn is date random guys. Which I am not. But whatever. It makes for great stories every now and again. 

If you ever find yourself in Tallinn, make sure not to miss out on this goodie. You won't regret it. I promise. Oh, and Tallinn locals: Let me know what your favorite place in Tallinn is. I need to branch out a bit.


xx Kathi

Photos taken in: Tallinn, Estonia

A couple of you have already seen some of my annoying posts about this Challenge I want to participate in. If my team manages to get into the challenge we will travel Europe for seven days in April. The catch is that we will do it without money or phones – just with cans of a very popular energy drink.


I am not going to tell you how badly we want to be part of it, how this would be the biggest adventure any of us has ever been on, blabla. You get the point – it would be amazing. But in true flying floordrobe style, I want to tell you the stories of how I met these two people crazy enough to go on a trip like that with me.

I met Kiran last semester at my university here in Tallinn. The whole Student Council went out together for the first time and I was pretty excited. Kiran on the other hand was not in the best mood of all times and I made it my mission to make him a bit happier. Well. Let’s just say things did not go exactly as planned and that I wasn’t his favorite person that night. But I truly believe that this set the base for our friendship. This and the 10 bars of chocolate I bribed him into liking me again with.

And only three weeks ago Victoria talked her way into our crew. An Estonian who does not shut up – ever – how can anybody not like that? She had just returned from her exchange semester in Madrid and was ready to take over the world. And when she realized that this was not possible in a couple of days she focused on our school. She loves to write to-do lists – for other people – and constantly freaks out about her tight schedule.

One week into knowing Vic she suggested signing up for the challenge together. And we all got too excited to think this through properly. Let’s face it, we don’t know if it’s a great idea to go on such an intense trip with people we’ve only just met. But judging from everything we’ve been through in the last couple of days I’m pretty damn sure we can make it together. All through filming our application video to the voting process that’s going on right now we’ve managed to stay friends even though we’ve been annoying each other to death. Some people question our sanity level, though. We have heard “Is this a comedy show?” more than once when I threaten to slap Vic because she won’t calm down or when we all yell at each other because we all want to get attention at the same time.

With our amazing help Birgit who shot the whole video.
So I’m pretty sure we would have an insanely fun week together. With focus on the insane part. And I think that it would be pretty entertaining for everybody watching our video updates throughout that week. So if you love adventures, crazy things or just want to watch our team – Adventure Preneurs –get horribly lost in Europe and blame it on each other then we would really appreciate your like on our video – which we poured our hearts and souls into. And our health. I fell on my head so many times while shooting, it’s ridiculous. I am really starting to think that I have a talent for falling in the weirdest ways humanly possible. But that’s another story.

In case you voted for us - you just won my eternal love. And if you didn't - I still love you for reading this. But you should really consider voting.


xx Kathi
Photos taken in: Tallinn, Estonia

Hey there. Remember us? The two Austrians who were sooooo excited about starting a blog together and then stopped posting two weeks in? We are back! Kind of. At least I hope so.

Lena is currently traveling Thailand, having the time of her life while I am sitting in grey Estonia taking on too many responsibilities to handle and kind of freaking out. (Let's face it, I need the drama. And freaking out is worth it since I am super excited about all the projects I am working on.) In any case, Lena probably won’t be able to write anything until she is back from her travels - she has jungles to explore and beaches to lie on. I think we can forgive her. 

But I am in good old Tallinn and have a couple of stories to share from last month’s trips to Brussels and Lapland. Besides that I might have spent quite some time in the coolest coffee shops, bars and restaurants Tallinn has to offer – would explain why I am already broke at the beginning of the month – that I have to tell you about.
So I’m pretty sure we’re back for good this time. One half for now, at least. But before I start posting about all the great places to go in Tallinn I figured I should tell you how I ended up here in the first place.

Back in New Hampshire, shortly before I met Lena, I heard about another new Au Pair that just moved in with a family I knew. My host kids liked playing with this family’s children and I liked meeting new people, so we invited them over for a playdate. Because I was obsessed with baking back in the US and because sweet stuff is always a good bribe when working with kids, I made a batch of cupcakes before their visit. I remember that I was late to the playdate at my own house and that she was already in our backyard, super confused because nobody was there. Her name was Tiana. She was from Estonia. And she ate ALL the cupcakes that day.

That was probably the reason I liked her instantly. A couple of weeks later Lena and Tiana met at an Au Pair meeting. Right after the meeting Lena called me and told me that the person she liked most was “this one girl from Estonia”. And two minutes after our phone call Tiana texted me “I pretty much only liked one girl. Lena. She is from Austria as well, isn’t that funny?” Now, I don't believe in destiny, but this was a really, really cool coincidence.

Back to why I ended up in Estonia: When I first met Tiana I asked her the typical questions people up here get all the time. Which one of the Baltic countries is Estonia? Is there anything special up there? Tiana patiently answered all of them and changed my perception of the Baltic countries completely. When I had to decide on where to do my Erasmus semester two years later I really wanted to go to Australia. But since Australia didn’t want me, I had to choose a city in Europe. And Estonia was the only place that got me excited enough to apply. Almost the same thing as Australia, right?

So here I am now. In a country that has a total population of 1.3 million and that is so flat that people get excited about a 318 meters high “mountain”. It is grey, it is cold most of the time but for some reason I fell in love with it. And I’m sure you will do too over the course of the next couple of months. (Just for the record, right after I moved here, Tiana left to study in England. Not sure if it was me or the cold...)

xx Kathi

Photos taken in: Tallinn, Estonia
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