Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Tartu: Heade Motete Liin (The City of Good Ideas)

It was good to get back to Tartu since we both—but especially Tony—have such good memories of it. We were able to do a lot of fun things in the city.

One new experience for both of us was going to the movies. The lastest Ice Age (Jaaaeg 3) was made with an entire cast of Estonian actors. It was a good movie to go to since it was geared for kids and we understood almost all of it. I wondered how the American jokes would translate, but the theater seemed to laugh and like it quite a bit, and even Mari Timikov had recommended it to us a few days earlier.

Tartu, like the other cities, has such a charming Old Town. Their Raekoja Plats was especially beautiful with many colorful flowers that accented the colors of the buildings. The merchant houses there were built much later than in the other cities, during the 17th-18th centuries. Of course, we had to do the obligatory picture with Eduard Vilde and Oscar Wilde at the cafe off of Vallikraavi Tn. (Moat Street - built over the old moat).

This year in Estonia is dubbed as the Year of the Museum and there were signs all around town saying “Muuseum on ehe.” (The museum is good for you.) We loved our time at the Eesti Rahva Muuseum. Tony loved learning about the old Pagan rites and wedding rituals. I loved their interactive calendar which had a tradition (and its place of origin) spelled out for every day of the year. And of course, my favorite room was the Rahvariided room. They had a map which showed all of the kihelkonnad (parishes - I think over 250) which each have their own style of clothes.

Tony was also able to show me a lot of things that I hadn't seen before, like Tartu University's campus. We were hoping to walk around the library, but it was closed for most of July and August.

I loved Jaanni Kirik, a brick church built after the pattern of many of the old brick churches in Germany. The little break heads and people perched all over the inside and outside of this church make it really unique. It is a good symbol of the everyman – that everyone is welcome there. We walked up to the top of the tower to get a bird's eye view of Tartu, lit candles, and donated money to the organ fund (a church like that really does need an awesome organ).

Then we headed out to explore Toomemagi. We started at the Peeter ja Paulus kirik. It had been destroyed during the Livonian War (around the 1500's) and only half of it was restored. The restored part now houses the museum for the Tartu University. The ruins of the front half make for some cool pictures.

We also ventured to the sacrificial stone and Musumagi (Kissing Hill) where people declare their love by attaching padlocks to the railings, the statue of Kristjan Jaak Peterson (the poet who walked to riga), the remains of the ancient fort by the observatory, and the Angel and Devil bridges.

We struck out at the Eeesti Kirjandus (literature) Muuseum and at the KGB Muuseum as they were both closed, but we had great success at the Tartu Kaubamaja. Tony found Lennart Meri documentaries and a couple of other movies: Nimed Marmori Tahvlel and Viimne Reelikviha. I got the 2004 Laulupidu DVDs.

Church

The best part of Tartu was the night we spent with Sirje Ernits, Aivo, Anu Sam Neipp

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