Day 18 - Thunderstorms and Trout Farms

​Today we ventured into Tartu because we were told there was  Hansa Päevad happening there, or medieval days. I remember the first day we were in Estonia back in 2001, and Monika and Indrek came over to Toomas’s house, where we were staying, with Monika in her Rahvariide and we went to the Hansa Festival. It was like being in a medieval time warp and taken back to that time period. Sadly, this time it was just a set of market stalls. I did however find a cute sign that had a pug on it and found the Estonian word for pug is ”mops”, so if Runi gets a sister, this might end up being her name, but we will see. Anyway, we were walking around and there was some great stalls, especially one where I could get a Pirukas for 1 euro 50. And wow it was amazing. It tasted like the ones mum made but it was in like a log roll rather than little pillows. Taimi told me about them from Tantsupidu but I didn’t try it there. It was so good and made me curious how to go about making it into a log rather than little pillows. Maybe it is something I need to try. Even the dough was the same as what we make and clearly a lot of love and care had gone into this! Just after I got my pirukas it started to rain very heavily but lucky we had umbrellas, but still it was better to find a café to sit in while the storm passed, so we did. After a small coffee and a call back to Australia (on the wifi), we continued on. There were a few things I would have liked to get but getting it back to Australia would have been hard. Mum wanted this nice bowl that had cornflowers on it, it was nice but would have been too hard to get back home. When we were in Raekoija plats there was a young boy playing the accordion.

We were slowly walking down and mum recognised the song, it was Kikapuu. This is a dance I knew how to do and I was really excited by it. Obviously I did a little recording and sent it to Virmalised via Instagram. It was a pretty cool moment.

I then met up with a friend, Indrek, and he gave me a guided tour around the Cathedral Hill, in Tartu. There were so many monuments there with so much historical meaning, I was totally unaware of when I lived here. The first image is of a man who was the first to bring medicine to the battlefield. Before this people were left to die or taken away from the battlefield but with this persons grand idea, they were able to start “field” medicine and brought supplies to the wounded soldiers. I thought this was pretty cool, having a medical background, and was amazed at how late in the game this was a thing. The next picture is a tribute to the observatory tower in Tartu. I can’t exactly remember the significance of the observatory tower but they were heavily into researching it there, at Tartu University and built a really good structure and monument to honour this. The next picture is of Indrek and I standing at the Angel’s bridge. I wasn’t told the significance of this but there is also a devils bridge somewhere else, which we didn’t get to because I had some time constraints. I have gone under this bridge many times but I have never been over the top. On our way back there was a couple who were getting married and taking some great pictures. We didn’t want to ruin their photos so we walked down and around them, as I didn’t want to be immortalised in their wedding photos. The next image is of the man who discovered the cell. This blew my mind, how on earth did he discover the cell?! But he did. And every year, on a particular date the University student will come to this statue and gather around, having a party. During the party someone would climb on top of the statue and “wash his hair” with beer. It is a long standing tradition and I am not sure who does it or what affiliation you need to have to be able to do it but it is something they do to celebrate this person and their discovery. The next image is the famous kissing hill. I thought the surrounding area of it was really pretty with the rocks and the greenery, almost a little mystical and majikal. It had been raining and my shoes were a bit slippery so we didn’t go up the hill but it looked really cute there. At the bottom there was a rock where they used to do some kind of sacrefices with some indentations where we think they would mix herbs and things, a bit like a mortar and pestle. Then we came to the Cathedral. It was like ruins but still really pretty. I thought it would be really cool to have a concert in there or wedding. There as another couple having their wedding pictures taken in the old Cathedral, they would have been stunning, especially how the sun was during the time the photos were being taken. The next image is the person who was the first to start translating literature into Estonian and wanted to really make the Estonian Language a big thing. His birthday has been honoured and recognised as the day of the “mother tongue” in the Estonian culture. I am not sure if it is a holiday or just another day of celebration. The last image, of the fountain, was the only structure in Tartu not touched in some way but anything, during WW2. Most other buildings or structures were affected in some way but this was not.

​After my little tour, mum and I headed to the trout farm, where we were meeting more relatives. We met with Meelike, who is Mum’s Dad’s Brothers Daugther (what a mouthful), her sister and her Grandson, Sten with his partner. Eliisa, Alexander and Barbara, from the day before, also met us there because they were part of this family. Sten had organised two big trouts and slides to have together. They were so fresh as they were just caught and cooked, it was incredible. The setting itself was so beautiful and really designed for families. We had our own little gazebo on the water, away from a lot of the other area and it was lovely just sitting there and people watching from a distance. At one point there was a little family of ducks, with about 10 ducklings. They walked up the bank and there was a small dog who barked at them and the quickly retreated back to the water. I thought this was absolutely adorable. When I was not focused on the distance, we were having wonderful conversations about Estonian life here. I found out that in order to work you have to have physical medical exams every few years, and in most cases, a chest x-ray. This is insane. In Australia your employers couldn’t care less how healthy you are. They have mandates and laws that employers have to provide what you need, especially if you are pregnant, there needs to be a couch in the office so you can lay down and if not, you can work from home. They also told me that if you are not able to get what you need from your employer you can take up to a year and a half off, at full pay! Or they help you find another role. It’s the law. That is insane, I couldn’t imagine if that was the case in Australia. It is sounding more and more appealing to live here! We then had more conversations about many things, some in English, some in Estonian with me kind of translating for Alexander and Barbera at times. At the end we took a family photo which I thought was a great idea but we had to find the sun!

Wheelchair access - no thank you

​Once we got back, I headed over to Indrek’s for dinner. He cooked me a really nice soup, but it was somewhat of a mystery until it was finished because he wouldn’t tell me what was going to be in it until it was happening. There was carrots, potato, cardamon spice, salt, ginger, pumpkin, orange zest and juice, and cream cheese. That was all blended up together once it was cooked then he added some shrimp, toast crotons and alfalfa. It was really delicious and I am glad he didn’t add in all the ginger, it would have been to much. I am purely writing the ingredients here so I can make it again. We talked for hours and hours about so many things, deep things, which is what I prefer. Estonians do not like small talk which is where I suppose I get that from. The other thing I have come to understand is that Estonian’s won’t talk unless they have something to say. I somewhat have that in me but I do like to talk a lot. After dinner and long conversations, I headed home, very tired but grateful I had these conversations and a really nice memorable evening.
Until tomorrow
​Marissa xx