Bicycle as a vehicle of urban revolution

Today I participated in a great community-driven social experiment under name Tipp d'Und. Hundreds of cyclists were riding alongside the cars in Tallinn city centre in a rush hour - in pre-agreed time and area. There were clear rules and cyclists greeted each other. After that all of these people (along with their bicycles) gathered in a single place for a short moment to celebrate it.

In these 30-40 minutes that I was riding along with hundreds of other people, Tallinn streets felt much more like some people-friendly Swedish/Swiss town. Slowly but steadily, I see Tallinn becoming more and more pleasant urban space to live (and move around) in.

3 months in Tallinn

Today, exactly three months ago, me and my wife moved to Tallinn, Estonia. After five years abroad I am back to Estonia. Tallinn has been somewhat alien city for me before, but I start liking it more now. I have discovered some great sides of it that I did not know about before - along with some other parts that I appreciated in the past and which I love even more now (read: Old Town, seaside, parks).

Somewhat surprisingly, I don't find life in Tallinn anyhow inferior to Oslo. I will perhaps write more about it some time in the future, when I will have lived more long-term here.

What I can say for sure - professionally - it is definitely more interesting to work in Estonia than in Norway (for me personally - can't say for anyone else): more opportunities to do something meaningful, more entrepreneurial attitude of people, better access to bigger responsibilities, more flexibility.

As for my personal passion - bicycle - the opportunities for riding the bike in the city are on roughly the same level in Tallinn as in Oslo (which means: so-so, but not too bad either). Good enough for me ;)

Me in Tallinn on my new bicycle (disclaimer: the picture was taken in September and the weather is not always as good as that day) :)