Second city and university center of Estonia
Trip Start
Apr 08, 2007
1
130
144
Trip End
Oct 01, 2007
Tartu,
Estonia
Sunday, September 9, 2007
I just about missed the train out, mind you. A guy at the hostel borrowed my alarm clock yesterday evening for the rather odd purpose of sleeping an hour at night only to wake up and go out around 11:30 or 12. Well, he didn't actually get up and head out after all, but the resetting of the alarm kind of screwed my sense of time around when I got it back and proceeded to set it for today's activities. So instead of awakening to a beep at 6:00, I very luckily woke up on my own at 6:15, wondering why on earth I didn't hear an alarm. When I noticed it had been set for 6pm, it all became clear. Fortunately, the train station is close enough to the hostel that I was able to dress quickly and hurry on out just in time to catch my 6:40 train. And then promptly sleep all the way to Tartu!
Tartu itself is quite a different scene from Tallinn. Mostly burned to the ground in an 18th-century fire, it's much more classical in design across its old town. For a place that got a pretty heavy drubbing in World War II, it's pretty easy on the eye - I guess the postwar Communist government decided it was worth rebuilding most of its historic architecture. The main square is a picturesque, colorful affair, dominated by a pink town hall building. More interesting, however, is the building housing the city's main art museum. Apparently built with its foundations placed atop the old city wall, it has a distinct lean to it, more than vaguely reminiscent of a certain tower in Italy. I've never seen a leaning classical building before!
For me though, the nicest aspect of wandering through Tartu was its lovely old district of Supilinn (translated: "Soup Town"). Having somehow escaped wartime bombing entirely, it's a fully intact residential quarter of traditional wooden Estonian houses. The simple, vernacular architecture is a dramatic switch from the refined classicism of downtown Tartu (and even more so the medieval atmosphere of old Tallinn). It's still pleasantly residential, with children and meandering elderly people making up most of the street scene. Tourism, though, is essentially non-existent, meaning that you have the place all to yourself to absorb and enjoy. Perhaps the lack of specific sights keeps it out of the guidebooks, but it's a lovely area to walk through at a relaxed pace.
My lunch today was one of the biggest highlights though, interestingly enough. Unlike Tallinn, Tartu has yet to expand its dining costs to Western European levels, so you can still find restaurants that are fairly reasonable by Eastern European standards. Courtesy of the two town guides I had on hand, I was able to locate a local Georgian place - a cuisine that I haven't had the pleasure to taste in years. I couldn't pass up that opportunity, and since they took credit cards, I knew I could take a relative "splurge" (well, it was cheaper than Tallinn's restaurants, but still not dirt cheap). And, sure enough, it was an absolutely smashing meal: a bit of khachapuri (the much-celebrated, Georgian cheesebread) and some turkey satsivi (cooked in a walnut and pomegranate paste with a tinge of curry) that was thoroughly filling and satisfying. Now that's something I'd have a tough time tracking down back in Nagoya!
So I can now say I've seen more of Estonia than its beloved capital. Tomorrow I'm going to hop across the Gulf of Finland to Helsinki . . . after all, it's so close it'd be silly not to have a look while I'm here.
