Tartu - a Hanseatic Town

Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia. The history of Tartu goes back to the 5th century AD. During the Medieval times, it became an important trading city and joined the Hanseatic League. In 1632, the University of Tartu was founded by the Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus. It is the oldest and most renowned university in Estonia. Tartu has been and still is the center of Southern Estonia. 
So, on 4th of July, we drove to this fair city to walk the streets and be a part of a very unique and very Estonian event - a song festival. 

The center of Tartu - the Town Hall Square. The fountain sculpture of kissing students has become one of Tartu's symbols.

Mom's old Alma Mater, the University of Tartu.

Established in 16 32. 

Saara and Andrew with Gustavus Adolphus.

Right behind the university's main building rises the Toome Hill. On top of the hill are the ruins of a Medieval Cathedral.

Part of the cathedral has been restored and it houses a museum.

About the town. Children with writers Oscar Wilde and Eduard Wilde.

The beginning of the song festival. All the choirs walked in a procession from the Toome Hill to the song festival ground. It was a beautiful sight.

And then it began: 3000 singers from various churches from all over Estonia. It was a glorious feeling to hear them sing. Every four years the country holds a Grand Song Festival in Tallinn with tens of thousands of participants. But I am thankful, we were able to watch and enjoy even this small festival. The children had never experienced anything like this.

Piusa Sand Caves 2015

In my childhood, one of my favorite places to visit were the sand caves in Piusa. These caves were created in 1922 as a quarry of quartz sand that was used to make glass. The underground mining was stopped in 1970s. But the open quarrying continued into 1990s. The caves have evolved into a popular site for hibernating bats. It is the largest known hibernation colony in Eastern Europe.
At the visitor center, we were given a thorough history of the sand quarries and also a overview of the local ecosystem. Because the danger of caves collapsing is great, the visitors can no longer walk into the caves. I found that most disappointing, but we did see with out own eyes many spots where the caves had collapsed. Better safe, than sorry.

 

The pendulum at the visitor center made the most intricate designs on sand.

This small model of the caves was actually a game for kids.

Fake bats on the wall at the visitor center.

It was freezing in the caves.

The open, now disused, quarry.

It was like a HUGE sandbox for the kids. The kept running up and down the slopes.

Vastseliina Episcopal Castle Ruins

During our vacation in Estonia, we visited ruins of a 14th century castle. The hands-on museum that told the history of the castle, also had exhibits about medieval life in general. The children stepped into a merchant's shop, an alchemist's chamber, a torture chamber, a kitchen, and a room readied for a bath. 
The ruins themselves were grand. Not much remains of them these days, but the legends about the castle are still fully alive. 

So many tourist places had the National Geographic symbols.

Welcome to the medieval times! Saara was crowned with a medieval wreath, Andrew tried on a real crusader's helmet, and Dad put on a real chainmail shirt.

The chainmail weighed 35 pounds.

This is what the castle looked like in the 14th century.

The Spanish Boot. Not a fashion thing at all.

In the children's room, the kids posed as knights.

A curiosity for us, a serious medicine back then.

Lots of storks, even at the ruins.

The longest preserved wall.

The cross marks the wall where a maiden was walled in alive.

The honey from the castle bees supposedly cures all illnesses.

Inside the remaining bastion.

Vacation in Estonia. 2015

I believe, the best memories from this summer were made in Estonia. Our family took a month-long vacation to visit my side of the family. Saara and Andrew had never been to my homeland in summer. They had no idea the fun awaiting for them. These are just a few things the children had a chance to experience:

Nights are not dark here. This picture was taken after 9 pm. We were still suffering from jet-lag, and, instead of going to bed, decided a short walk in the woods was in order. The sun was still up high.

After reading "The Wheel on the School", I promised Saara she will see real storks in Estonia. And she did! Lots and lots of them everywhere.

The children picked their own wild strawberries in the woods.

Andrew and Saara saw that the ant hills in Estonia are very different from the ones in Texas - they are big and built from pine needles.

A lot of places we went to had traditional Estonian swings. It took the kids and Dad a while to learn how to swing on them.

This was one of the children's favorite things to do: just run wild in the forests. The pine trees here are tall and there's not much to obstruct one's view. We even heard a cuckoo bird on one of our outings.

When the weather warmed up, the children were able to play on the beach. They saw that the most popular sports among Estonians in volleyball. There are nets up everywhere, and people use them all the time, rain or shine.

The water was too cold to swim in at first, but it was still a lot of fun to look for shells by the lake.

On our first walk in the woods, I warned the children about the stinging nettle. Saara was first to stumble into one by accident. Thankfully, the damage the nettle causes is mild and disappears fast.

The cranes.

Thanks to their relatives, the children's 'main' diet was strawberries.

Finally, Saara got her very own first daisy chain wreath.

Lots of wild blueberries for the kids to pick and eat!

In one of the forest, we saw lots of old WWII trenches. These were dug by the Nazis.

One big part of our touring was to let the children see their roots. We visited the farm that used to belong to their great-grandfather. The buildings he built are still there.

Driving by fields with grains, we stopped to let the kids see where their food comes from. This one was an oat field.

There is an abundance of lakes in Estonia. Wherever you turn, there's a lake, and a swimming spot. While the weather was nice, the kids swam in one lake during the day and in another in the evening.

Saara helping Grandma put labels on freshly made strawberry jams. 

I was surprised how many people from outside Estonia we met. A lot of them from the States. The children made friends easily with children who spoke English and who did not.