Europe's Wild West?

Is Estonia Europe's Wild West?

Well there were certainly some things that seemed a little outside of the law while we were there and our experience renting a car was well interesting. When we arrived in Estonia to pick up our car there was no AVIS booth. So we went to the information booth instead and the lady phoned up the company.

"Do you see that cafe behind you?....I'll meet you there" said an Avis rep. This was a bit odd but it was a nice morning so I told the guy I'd be outside. A half hour goes by and our tourist time in Tallinn was dwindling. A few minutes later a person holding an Avis clip board appears and she and Mike sit down to fill out the contract. Despite being a Preferred Avis member this took a long time. But before the keys could be handed over the car had to be taken out of the parking lot. But we couldn't do it - the Avis rep had to. The last words of wisdom from the Avis rep (and our first thoughts of the Wild West) was "Make sure you take the car registration and insurance information with you everywhere...don't leave it in the car". Hmmm, could car theft be big in Estonia? And if that is the case, why did they give us a Mercedes SUV???

So we are on our way and we haven't been on the road for more than a minute and a taxi is racing in behind us and honking. Mike nicely waves to the taxi driver before we notice that the Avis rep is hanging out the window with our car's registration and insurance information. And with a move right out of a BOND film we grab the insurance from the lady in the taxi.

A few days later we went into Tartu to help the other team members return their car rental. Mike Smith was told to just return the car to the VW dealer. But when we got there there was nobody there except a security guard. This guy spoke no English and was grabbing for the keys. We didn't seem too confident that the person would look after the car but there was no way to communicate. Or was there? Suddenly Jon Torrance starts speaking in broken Russian to the security guard. "He wants us to leave the car with him...but he doesn't seem to want to answer me when I ask what his name is" Jon explained. Sketchy eh! After a call to EuropeCar we left the car with the guy. Hopefully it made it back to the right people... Who knows. The car could be in Moscow by now. Fortunately for us, nobody stole our registration papers or insurance and we made it back to Tallinn (despite the wild car driving skills of the average Estonian). I guess the reason we made it back OK is because the Wadd Squad is one mean looking family (see below). And nobody in Europe's Wild West would dare mess with The Wadd Squad Gang.