Day 42 - History, Customs and Culture

​Today we started our little käsitöö tour in the Setomaa region of Estonia. We all gathered in Tallinn, on our bus and started our drive back down to Tartu. There are about 13 people on this tour, so it is nice and small, and we are going to learn different Seto techniques in handicraft in Setomaa. On the bus ride, as we were leaving Tallinn, we drove past the old city but from a side I had not seen this time yet. Mum was quick enough to get some pictures, she was on the correct side of the bus for this. As we were leaving Tallinn, we were all having some lovely conversations where we were from and what brought us here. We have people from Finland, Norway, Lithuania and we ahd some people from Austria join us, in Tartu. So we made the journey to Tartu and on the way we stopped at this little service centre. It was so cute, they had some Setomaa related paintings of people and some Mulgimaa designs on the walls. There was a little moment of joy here, just being in this space. I really like how Estonian’s preserve their culture and really celebrate it, in moments like these. It was a nice little break in the driving. After a short stop, we continued on and headed to the Rahva Museum (National Museum), for a guided tour. Mum and I were here a few weeks ago, but we did learn some new interesting things about some of the items that were here, and I had a look at the exhibit we didn’t get to do last time.

​So we started off in the hall where we went last time, but with the guide I learned that this museum was established in the early 1900’s and items for it were kept stored away during the Soviet Occupation, until a time came when they could build and finish it, in 2016, having it open to the public. It was built on an old air strip from the war time and the French Company Architects wanted it to look like some kind of a run way, which is why it is so long. In the first all, which is a permanent exhibition, there is an abundance of representation of how Estonian’s lived, or the “common Estonian” through the ages. It starts off in modern times and goes back to the 1500’s or so.

​Our guide started off telling of a story of this beautiful blue dress where a lady had a Presidential invite to some event and her close friend had to make her a dress, as she had nothing to wear. The following year, she was invited again and then her friend altered the dress to look somewhat like a new one and she used it again. This dress was used several times to official events and for me, it really demonstrates how resourceful the Estonian’s were and their values. It is not material items they value, like a new dress every time they go somewhere new, but a range of other things. I really liked this.

​We then made our way to this digital gallery of some of the items we were looking at, in their physical form. It was really something special because if you pressed on the item, it showed you the other items it had inspiration from, and how they developed the particular item. The image I took was of a cup and plate and when you clicked on it, there were about 10 different items it was connected to in relation to the inspiration the designer took to make this. There were a lot more things in this database and when you stand behind it, you are looking at the physical items in the cabinet.

​We then went to another display that was a bit more religious. The gold robes in the picture were of the first Estonian born Saint. I am unsure what he became a Saint in, but it was only after his death it happened. Some people preserved his clothes until one day they could give it to this museum and they can display it.

​We then came to a bell. This bell is special because during World War 1 they were taking all the bells from the churches and melting them down into cannons. Some crazy Estonian’s decided they didn’t want this bell to be destroyed so they took it and put it into a lake, remembering where it was (before google maps) and kept it there for decades. Once the war’s were over, and Estonia had is freedom in 1991, there were people who knew where it was and they collected it from the lake. Over time it had developed a crack in it so it no longer made a sound, but it was one of the only bells that were saved.

​The next item we saw was all the silver. The lady was telling us that back in the day, peasants wore silver a lot, never gold. When they had threats of war or any kind of threats, they would take all their silver and burry it into the ground. Often the people that knew where the silver was buried would either have to flee or they were killed so no one collected it. Today, people can get a permit and use metal detectors to find the silver and collect it for themselves.

​The next few images are of a lady who was discovered in the 1900’s who, and this was the remarkable thing, was in full form. They estimate her time of death was either the 13 or 1400’s, I cant remember. When they found her, she was in Northern Estonia, between Narva and Tartu and it was a very cold winter. To preserve her, they cut the dirt around her and picked her up in one piece and took the remains to a lab. They did have it in the display cabinet, but I didn't feel like it was appropriate to take a photo so I didn't.

​We then went to a room full of pockets and bags like I did last time, but at two a god explained to us that this is only half of the items that they have in storage of this kind of display. I still found it extremely impressive and I still really liked the bag made out of the belts.

​She then took us to a room that had many carpets that have been woven overtime. There was one in particular that they had some old ruins of and then they had done a replica of it directly above to see how it may have looked when it was fully made at the beginning. There was another one that is full of flowers and the story behind how this blanket came to be is incredible. It is an old army blanket that was given to a lady when she was in a displaced persons camp in Germany. She did not like being there and found it very depressing and so she started weaving beautiful flower designs and patterns into the blanket, using any little piece of thread she could get. When she left Germany, she took it with her as she went and finally, it ended up in Canada with her. She continued to do this over many years and completed it not to long ago. When she passed away her family donated this, along with the story, to the Rahva Museum. I thought to myself, when hearing this story, this could very well have been my Great Grandmother, Anette. I feel this is the sort of thing she might have done, to make her days better and a bit brighter for the people around her.

​We were then taken to a room with many kerchiefs. These were used in Russian times as a bit of a self expression and to add some colour to their otherwise dull clothes. We were told the Russians had no idea what these things were or meant, but they were almost like some secret messages between Estonians to express a range of things, and they have displayed them in such a beautiful way here in this museum.

​After the tour was over, we all separated and went on to discover other parts we had not seen yet. I headed to the Uurali Kaja, or the display and scenes of the tribes from the slopes of the Urals, with Estonians deriving from this area. I found it really fascinating to see how they had set this up and displayed their way of life. The stories they had written about these people were written in such a way that really demonstrated and showed how they lived, especially in the freezing winters and the very dark long nights. In the display they even had sound effects and lights on the walls and it just made you feel like you were going into that area, and it was even down below ground level so it felt even more so that you were venturing into their space. The clothes, the patterns and designs, the colours and everything in regards to how they lived, were fascinating. Their huts were small, so they must have been short OR they knew how to keep their huts warm. I did have to giggle when I didn’t have to duck to enter into their houses. They had an amazing display of their tools and how they were able to survive, essentially during the ice age and some of their customs and traditions. They did have one area dedicated to how they had marriage rituals and what that looked like back in their time. I find it interesting that they still have similar patters on some of the Estonian Folk costumes, even today. Red seemed to be a stand out colour for them and it looks somewhat similar to some of the Setomaa designs I have seen. That does make sense it might be connected to Seto people because they are also short, where as the rest of Estonia are statistically some of the tallest people in the world. I really enjoyed this display and their way of life was really interesting to see and I feel the way they put this together was incredible. I had no idea this was part of the very old history of Estonia.

We then continued our journey down to Värska. We arrived at the Värska Sanatorium, where we are staying. It is basically like a “health retreat” where people come to be fed, do some spa treatments, have a bit of a relaxing holiday, swimming in the lake, playing some disc golf etc and swimming in the pools. When we arrived, mum and I went to our room and sorted ourselves out for dinner. It was so lovely not having to worry about cooking, cleaning or where to go. There was plenty of food and it was pretty good. We were given these little swipe keys to wear on our wrists, which I quickly learned we need for literally EVERYTHING, other than getting into your room. So I put it on and it stayed there. After dinner Asta and I, a lovely lady I met from Lithuania, went to the lake for a swim. It was by far the warmest lake I have been in so far! When we went in, the bottom of the lake was muddy and felt interesting under my feet. It was beautiful in there though and there was a little warf where you could jump off, but I didn’t. We established, after speaking to another lady, there was a boat that leaves the dock every night at 7.30pm for 10 euro, and you could have a 1 and a half hour ride around the lake. We joked that it was going to go to Russia and then we looked at a map and saw that it was heading straight for Russia! We are staying very close to the Russian boarder and there are many Russians where we are staying. I have not heard much Estonian being spoken, mostly Russian, but most of the workers only speak Estonian here. I somewhat feel like I am in Russia, but I am in Estonia, it is a strange feeling but I am somewhat settled with it. After the little lake swim, I wanted to walk to the pool area, the path just looked so inviting, and so off I went.

​I started walking down the path, with beautiful Estonian forests on each side. I felt at peace, I felt at home and so connected with the Seto region of Estonia. I was wearing thongs and this whole time I have been here, I have wanted to touch the forest floor with my feet, so I took my shoes off and started walking on the grass area. It was so incredibly healing and connecting to this area, I felt grounded in this nature and really just wanted to stay here. I wanted to walk the small grass paths to who knows where, take my book and read it or take my laptop and write, in the middle of the forest. It was pure majik and I really enjoyed just being here and seeing the wonder and awe that was in front of me. This was a lovely experience and I am grateful I had the courage to just take off my shoes and do it. I think I was able to do this because I was alone. Sure there were people around me, but it didn’t matter if I wanted to take some time and just be present in the forest and I didn’t feel I was judging myself at all or felt fear of others judging me. It was wonderful.

It as a great day and I can’t wait to see what happens here and learn some wonderful new things. It should be fun.
Until tomorrow
Marissa xx