A fun experience would be Tartu’s Hanseatic Days Festival during the summer when different parts of the town are turned into towns from different eras including pagan times. Sigrid and the group first walked over to Tartu University built in 1809. Would you believe there is a student lock-up where students were incarcerated for minor offenses? Return a library book late got you two days in lock-up, insulting a cloakroom attendant five days, and dueling three weeks, seriously! We didn’t enter but Sigrid told us that cartoons and graffiti by the students still cover the walls. The University is a symbol of Estonia’s “brain factory.” Remember, Skype was developed in Estonia.

My favorite part of the University grounds was one building that had a facade painted with life-like portraits of the Deans, Chancellors and Professors…View image… who teach here. While another building had a beautiful mural showing University life in the 1800′s.

Tartu University looked like this in the 1800′s, Estonia 

University of Tartu academics painted on another building, Estonia
St. John’s Church, Jaani Kirik, from the 14th century is Tartu’s oldest surviving church and treated us to a most amazing experience. The organist was preparing for a concert inside the church giving us a chance to hear music reverberating off the walls while looking at the famous terra cotta figures and ancient paintings from the gospel was beyond luck. National Geographic couldn’t have planned a more perfect, chance encounter. (Video below.)

We walked up and around Toome (Cathedral) Hill, a former Estonian stronghold, past the dark, stone Devil’s Bridge built in 1913 to honor the 300th anniversary of Russian rule…

Devil’s Bridge, Tartu, Estonia
…saw the modern monument to Johan Skytte, the Swede responsible for bringing the University to Tartu…View image…and looked at the remains of the Dome Cathedral that dates back to the late 13th century. The Dome Cathedral was heavily damaged during the Livonian War and finished off by fire in 1624. It is now in the process of being restored.

Dome Cathedral, Tartu, Estonia
Cold and starving, we told the group we’d meet them for dinner at Pussirohukelder (Gunpowder Vault), actually used to store gunpowder in the former city moat during the 18th century. Good food and known for their “Red House Beer” that can be ordered by the liter. Live bands perform late each night.

the Gunpowder Restaurant, Tartu 

food, glorious food at Pussirohukelder (Gunpowder Restaurant), Tartu, Estonia
We really had great intentions of waiting until the group arrived but our stomachs couldn’t make it. Snarfed down a filling meal and paid to take a cab back to the hotel instead of waiting until 8:00 p.m. to transfer with the group. Touring is exhausting and tomorrow when enter Riga, Latvia…

inside St. John’s Church (Jaani Kirik), Tartu, EstoniaBest Flight Deals to San Francisco