Some years ago I remember reading that Estonia had really come into its own since gaining its independence from the former USSR in 1991. A visitor to the country had written how impressed he was that this underpopulated (1.3 million) little country had proven itself on the mobile technology stage and long before the smart phones generation, it was already common practice to park and pay with a simple cellphone text. Another fact I discovered during my stay is that the ubiquitous cyberspace phone application Skype, is in fact an Estonian invention. Cool!
I spent nearly a week with my brother's family in Tartu, Estonia's second biggest city. Summer vacation had just started, so all was pretty quiet, since it's largely known as a university town. It was perfect for wandering the streets admiring old architecture and soaking in some family time with my two little nieces whom I finally met for the first time. We went to AHHAA (could there be a better name for a science center?), the Tartu branch of Estonian National Museum (small, so-so), second-hand clothing shops (frequent and a life-saver since it was freezing at 10C), the Old Town, Botanical Gardens and my sister-in-law Mari-Liis' parents' home outside of the city, where they live year-round, grow lots of vegetables and even hosted us for a barbecue on my last night in town.
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| Just another family outing... |
All in all, Tartu was a fab relaxing start to my five week tour of family in various countries on two continents. Thanks for being such awesome hosts: Mari, Des, Nik and Olivia! ^_^
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| Estonian National Museum: no reason to drink out of wee mugs when there's beer to be had |
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| Just love this house! |
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| More cool old buildings around Tartu: I really loved Jaani Church, seen here on bottom left and top right corners |
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| Grafitti. |
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| At the Science Center AHHAA: fun with mirrors and a vertical drop |
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| Nothing gets past Detective Desiree |
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| Breakfast at Werner's, probably the oldest cafe in town, founded in 1895 |
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| Old Town Square: art installation |
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| Old Town Square: I'm on the cover of my own issue of National Geographic! |
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