ESTONIA
IN WESTERN ESTONIA, DRAMA UNFOLDS NOT IN THE LANDSCAPES, BUT IN THE STORIES THAT BUBBLE BENEATH THEIR SURFACE.
My first inkling of this comes when I board a car ferry called Toll the Great, bound for the island of Muhu. The modest strip of land I find myself gliding towards is so flat and featureless it looks like it’s been ironed onto the water, whereas the tale of Toll — mythical strongman, sauna master and hero of Saaremaa, an island connected to Muhu by bridge — has all the theatrics of a rollercoaster epic. I imagine Toll towering in his farmer’s garb, muscles bulging, as he rushes through the waves to help embattled sailors in stormy weather. Or wielding an iron axe as he single- handedly fends off encroaching armies and foreign bullies. Armed with Toll’s legends — which are pasted onto the
wall of the boat like everyday adverts — I drive off the ferry gangplank an hour later ready for adventure. With five days in front of me, my plan is to island-hop, dropping anchor in Muhu, Saaremaa, Abruka and Kihnu to explore the unique cultures and common histories of their communities. It’s peak summer, but you wouldn’t know it as the car
slips down Muhu’s empty, spruce-lined roads. Chalk driveways corkscrew off towards isolated thatched-roof cottages and wooden farmhouses encircled by moss- covered dry-stone walls typical of the islands. It’s as still as a watercolour. When I arrive at Muhu Veinitalu for lunch, I have it almost to myself — and owner Peke Eloranta is happy to show me around his vine-bordered passion project. Wearing a faded blue blazer and a stained, torn
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cowboy hat, he pours me a glass of his sparkling rosé and proudly introduces Veinitalu as a B&B and restaurant but, most importantly, the only winery in Estonia — and, he believes, the most northerly in the world. “We’re not Tuscany, of course, but we have the most
sunshine in Estonia and we have really good soil,” he says. “When we started this as a wine house in 2014, there was just a five-star manor hotel and us on Muhu.” Now, he tells me, this tiny island of just 2,000 residents is drawing increasing interest from the mainland. During the pandemic, Peke and his family — like many others from Tallinn, just a two-hour drive away — embraced the western islands’ relative isolation. “Many people began building here,” he explains. “I started to love island life more and more. Nowadays, from spring until late autumn, I’m pretty much here all the time.”
Into the bog It doesn’t take long to see the quiet appeal of these islands.
The next day, there’s a seamless transition of spruce, farmland and rustic thatch as I cross over to Saaremaa by bridge. Though it’s the largest of Estonia’s islands, with a fortress-topped capital and its own airport, the roads remain quiet. I pull up at the entrance to Koigi bog to find just one other car there. Waiting for me is local guide Kairid Toomsalu, her long blonde hair shining like a silvery moon against her black hiking outfit. “Estonians love to go bog- walking, but most people only come here on the weekend,” she says, as we set off into a thick forest of towering pines and silver birch, their lithe limbs creaking in the breeze like the sails of rusty windmills. Bogs are an important ecological feature of Estonia’s
western islands and Koigi is queen among them. It covers around 10,000 acres, with more than half designated a protected habitat. “All the stages of swamp are here,” says Kairid, as our hips brush past tall reeds sparkling with water droplets from the light morning drizzle. “And there are important birds here, like sea eagles.” Though I can hear birds, I can’t see any until the trees
thin out, disappearing completely when we reach Lake Pikkjärv, one of four interconnected water bodies at the
Clockwise from top left: Sparkling rosé wine at Muhu Veinitalu farmhouse winery, served with smoked trout and traditional black bread called leib; hiking along the wooden boardwalk of Koigi bog; Muhu Veinitalu’s chef Sandro Batista, taking a break on the verandah after cooking lunch; a truck tour of the tiny Abruka island Previous pages: On the island of Kinhu, guide Mare Mätas runs sidecar tours in her vintage motorcycle
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