Toulon

So my first full day here in Toulon, France drawing to a close. I arrived late last night to Marseille airport with the KLM Cityhopper from Tallinn via Amsterdam. Some notable things about the flight:

• The Air France KLM Internet Check-In computer at Tallinn Airport did not work (I managed to check myself in, but no boarding pass was printed, probably due to lack of paper. There were other machines as well, which the check-in desk girl said would work better, so I do not get why the Internet terminals are there in the first place.
• The girl at the Tallinn Airport shop asked me if Marseille was in the European Union, before sealing my bottle of Vana Tallinn I brought with me as a gift.
• The flight from Tallinn to Amsterdam started with a slight scare, as there was an exceptionally large African-American man waiting at the gate for the flight. As my luck would have it the guy had a seat next to mine. The guy was really large, but somehow he fitted in the seat without totally crushing me. Fortunately there were two seats available at the back of the plane, so he sat there instead. My luck turned somewhat on the flight from Amsterdam where my seat was next to an young girl who looked like a model. She read Italian Vogue and a bunch of other fashion magazines which seemed to be her only hand-luggage.
• The KLM Cityhopper Ecomony class food selection is decent, with sandwiches on both flights. I also asked and received red wine (in a 18,5 cl bottle nonetheless) so I was slightly drunk when arriving in Marseille.
• The planes themselves are quite nice as well (with 2 + 3 seat cabins). The Dutch language sounded nice and service was very good.
• Amsterdam airport is a pretty boring place to wait for three hours. I had make your own salad for 5 euros and a small piece of bread for 0,75 cents. The salad was nice.
• In Amsterdam the traffic between the plane and the airport terminals was with buses.
• I did have a lot of time to kill so anything our of the ordinary was interesting.

Busy vacationing

Vacation is hard work. Today was the first day of my vacation, so naturally I was at work finishing some unfinished business. This evening, however, I will escape from the city and spend a few days in Western Estonia, including Haapsalu and Saaremaa.

I will be back in Tallinn again for the Thrusday evening Estonian pre-premiere of the Dark Knight. Friday will be full of things to do and then I will have again some breathing room next weekend. I try to spend as little time in Tallinn, partly also due to the fact that my new home lacks for the moment some essential things like kitchen, curtains, bed and a clothes closet.

London weekend

Here is why the London weekend was great:

• Seeing my friend Kristjan over a long time, meeting his friends;
• the London Zoo – must visit for everyone;
• sunbathing in Hyde Park;
• Visiting pubs and clubs at Soho;
• Kristjan’s new place and flatmates;
• not going shopping;
• canary wharf in the evening;
• taking 800+ photos (check my .Mac Gallery for a selection);
• fantastic weather;
• milk in a small plastic container;
• chai latte;
• etc etc

City break to London

I will be in London this weekend for a city break. I will also help a friend move there.

Hamburger

So I have been in Hamburg now for a while. The flight was pretty eventless, took 1h 45 mins (less time than to Tartu). In addition to some meetings and receptions, I have had some time to do some shopping as well as getting to know Hamburg again. I really like the city and the people. It is strange to look at a street and suddenly remember when you were there five years earlier. It is nice to get away from the worklife, although having a computer with me does not let me be completely relaxed.

The hotel is really great, it has four stars and singing cleaningladys. The room is nice and I even have a bath. The windows face another building, though. Internet is not for free (but not so expensive either) and there is gym and sauna, where I am headed after I finish writing this post.

Yesterday evening I saw No Country For Old Men at the Abaton Kino and it was superb. This evening I went to a reception at the magnigicent Town Hall of Hamburg.

Tomorrow and Saturday should be full working days. I’ll be back in Tallinn again on Monday.

Hamburg

Five years after I lived in Hamburg for three months I return there next week for some days. It is a business trip, but it is the first time back there and I am very excited about it. The Hamburg stay also kind of started this blog as I wanted to write down my experiences while there. So if you look at the Feb – April 2003 archives of the blog, you will find all this stuff.

I hope to do some shopping as well, but I am currently on a tight budget so I cannot really afford anything big.

We live in the Schengen area now

Today is a historic date for Estonia as it joins the Schengen area. This means no more showing passports or ID cards or waiting at border crossings when going to other European Union countries (except UK and Ireland).

This event changes more than it seems to at first glance.

From the Commission press release:

Enlargement of the Schengen area: achieving the European goal of free movement of persons

As of 21st December 2007, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Hungary, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia will become part of the Schengen area. Controls at internal land and sea borders between these countries and the current 15 member states will be lifted. This will result in a very tangible expression of the free movement ideal: this latest enlargement extends the free movement area by 4,278 km.

Commission President José Manuel Barroso said “As from today people can travel hassle-free between 24 countries of the Schengen area without internal land and sea border controls- from Portugal to Poland and from Greece to Finland. I wish to congratulate the nine new Schengen members, the Portuguese presidency and all EU Member States for their efforts. Together we have overcome border controls as man-made obstacles to peace, freedom and unity in Europe, while creating the conditions for increased security”.

Vice-President, Franco Frattini, Commissioner responsible for Freedom, Justice, and Security declared: “An area of 24 countries without internal borders is a unique and historical achievement. I feel very proud and privileged to have been involved in making it happen. Joining the Schengen space is not an easy undertaking. I give enormous credit to these Member States. All the new member countries, who have put in place significant, state of the art border security systems. Indeed, the extension of Schengen demonstrates the EU’s commitment to facilitating legitimate travelling within and into the EU whilst at the same time reinforcing the security of our external borders and thereby strengthening the safety of all EU citizens “.

Following enlargement, all citizens of the enlarged Schengen space will benefit from quicker and easier travelling. From 21 December onwards, a citizen can travel from the Iberian Peninsula to the Baltic States and from Greece to Finland without border checks. This is symbolic of a united Europe and underlines the basic right of European citizens to move freely.

It will be easier for families, relatives and friends living on different sides of a border to visit each other. Eternal queues at (busy) border crossing points will no longer exist. Border regions will develop together as it will be easier to travel from one region to the other. An increase in tourism is expected, with a positive impact on infrastructure. Evidence of previous enlargements effectively demonstrates this: for instance, at the Salzburg/Berchtesgaden border citizens take advantage of infrastructure on each side of the border, including a large commercial centre at the Austrian side of the border, and a large health and fitness centre on the German side.

Lifting internal border control is also a question of trust between the Member States. It is through a rigorous peer evaluation process that Member States have ensured each member state is equipped to guard the external borders on behalf of all other members and issue visas valid for the whole Schengen area. The new Member States have worked tirelessly to improve, their handling of external border controls, visa policy, data protection and police cooperation.

/—/

The checks on external borders remain the same as new Member States to the EU ha been applying the Schengen external border acquis since accession. The only difference will be that the new Member States will also check third country nationals in the Schengen Information System (SIS). Access to the SIS by police forces on both sides of the frontier will enhance and strengthen security at the borders.

For bona fide travellers, travels in an enlarged EU will be faster and easier. A third country national will be able to travel on the basis of one Schengen visa and will not need separate national visas.

I need some fresh air

Estonia’s smallness causes me to feel quite boxed in, unless I get to travel somewhere every now and then. My last trip was to Finland at the end of September and I feel I need another one soon to some place further.

Next week: Tartu

I have decided to escape from Tallinn for the next week (especially as it is the Blue Week in Tallinn) and go to Tartu. It is a peaceful and quiet place, and I hope I can relax there. I will pop back to Tallinn briefly on Wednesday.

Plans, of course, have the tendancy to change, so who knows what and where I will actually be.

P.S. I have bought a ticket for the Enrique Iglesias concert, those who know me should not be surprised as my taste in music seem to be awfully similar to what a 13-year-old girl might like. I can’t help it.

Moldova elections

Moldova elections
Originally uploaded by Kari Käsper

I was out yesterday all day (from 7:30 to past midnight in the evening) observing elections in various places. In general it was quite well managed, considering the circumstances. I will write more about it later on, but one thing is for sure: Moldova really is a beautiful country, with a lot of really nice people. I hope these elections will be for many of them a turn for the better.