Tartu, Estonia

We arrived in Tartu, Estonia by car on a warm summer day.
The city was buzzing with preparations for the Festival.
In the central square a stage had been erected, and though we arrived around noon on Friday some performances had already begun.
The park along the river was decorated and many rides and activities were set up for the children.
Just up the hill near the park sits the Performing arts theater. It is lovely and modern. Continuing up the roadway on the south end of the park you climb a steep slope toward Tartu College. There are signs to the College Theater and the Geological and Zoological museums.
Tartu is definitely a "college" town. It reminded me pf Princeton, but with hills and much older architecture. I even saw some old remains of a roman aqueduct that had been unearthed during recent construction. The Romans had an outpost in Lithuania in the early 600's.
There were so many quiet spots to sit and read, and down every street there seemed to be a coffee house or a small performing arts theater hidden behind small doors and not clearly marked for the public. It all seemed so quiet, peaceful and personal.
Going back down the steep hill on which the college sits I came across a very wonderful pub: The Wilde Irish Pub. In front of the pub sits a life size statue of Oscar Wide on a park bench conversing with Peter-Ernst Wilde an Estonian writer of the same period. The pub is a two story affair with a large outdoor patio restaurant in the rear of the building.
On the first floor there is a book store . I browsed a bit, and it reminded me of an old Philadelphia, PA Bookbinders. Of course, the books were all in Estonian, so I was at a disadvantage other than to look at the photos and covers.

Had an Alus [beer] and sauntered from the Wilde Irish Pub toward the central Plaza and passed Poe's - another interesting pub and a dark place dedicated to drinking and evening entertainment of local music and song.

The town square was all decked out for the Festival. One side street off the square led down to the large old church St.John's built in the 1323. Along the street locals dressed and performed and sold goods in Native costumes. in front of the British UK hotel there was a woodwind quartet of beautiful girls performing some modern tunes mixed with Vivaldi. It was a beautiful site and sound for any visitor.
In the backyard of a traditional Estonian home locals set up as blacksmiths and workers serving the master of the home.
Two young girls in Estonian traditional costumes posed for me as I entered the yard.
From there I walked back to the square and away from the Government house and Post office to the Emajogi River. I crossed the rebuilt bridge that had been commissioned in 1784 by Catherine II of Russia, and then destroyed in 1941 by the Germans in WWII.
On the SE side of the river performers had set up old traditional games and food preparation. One group was actually building an Estonian solid boat carved from the trunk of a very large tree. They worked a little; drank a lot and then sang songs. In the 3 days I was there the boat was almost finished, but I could tell it was a joyous labor of love.
Some folks exhibited the old sword, armor and shields of battle dress and performed mock fights while Troubadours played and sang.

Food! There was so many places to eat, and a lot was prepared on the spot over open fires by vendors and merchants selling all sorts of items along with the food and lots of Alus[beer].
There was a modern European riverboat that had come Friday depositing European tourists to enjoy the Festival. These boats are long slim floating hotel/restaurants that travel the extensive network of waterways throughout Europe. For a reasonable price you can board, rent a nice room, and travel from city to city in Europe. I am interested in trying the Danube trip from Germany to the Black Sea. It is a rip full of history and culture.
Early the next morning When all the singing and dancing and drinking had slowed down I walked the streets of the old town again. During this time of the year sunrise is around 4AM, and sunset is not until 11PM, and even then it does not seem to get fully dark. This gives the people an opportunity to party long into the night; which often results in parties that easily last until the sun rises again. I mean what's a night party when the dark of night is only a few hours?
Anyway at dawn I roamed the streets and found some revelers still going strong. The town was beautiful in the early dawn where the sun seems very strong and bright as it glances off the top of our Globe -Earth. Strolling down Ulikooli St. past the colorful Tartu Ulikooli U. commissioned in 1632 by Gustav II Adolf I felt a time warp pass over me, or was it that I had been a part of one of the largest and longest parties ever.
I walked to the top of the hill overlooking the town just behind the central square. From there I could see a large modern city. A few blocks from the square; the Arts Theater, and the Old Church is a large modern mirrored glass structure-HansBankas. A few blocks away is a large Casino, and across from it and one block down is a McDonalds. Yes! McDonalds of USA in downtown Tartu, Estonia.
Outside the 24 hr Drive through stood a flock of revelers trying to hold each other up while ordering burgers fries and coffee. A big black BMW SUV honked and nudged forward along the drive trying to get to the window blocked by the revelers to pick up their order at the window.

I walked from there to the old slaughter house across from the park and in front of the river. Outside there is a large statue of a Hog. On his body is etched the various cuts of meat, with numbers and a chart on the plaque at the bottom of the statue. This thing is about 8 ft tall, and made of metal.
Later as the day progressed and the park and square and surround area came to life. The old doors to the former slaughter house opened, and I went in to find it was now a very large meat market with all kinds of meat in glass cases, and hundreds of people shopping for fresh meat. I found that in the Baltic States, though people have refrigerators and freezers, They buy everything fresh each day, and keep very few "leftovers". Even a Communist would not freeze something and eat it later. It just isn't done. They are very big on Fresh and natural.
We had planned to go to St Petersburg [Leningrad, Russia] since it is only a few hours NE of Tartu. We were told that we could get a visa at the boarder or in Tartu. I checked with the Euro Tourbus company. They confirmed that I could get the visa there, but I could not buy a ticket or enter Russia for 10 days. We could not wait in Tartu that long. We will re-plan for another time.
Finally, Tartu is a city of Love. This statue of "Kissing Students" which is the center piece is also the fountain in the central city square. It is so romantic...