From Rakvere it is time to drive south towards Latvia and stop along the way to see the sights. The first stop however is unplanned we see a police car that stresses us out as it scans the passing cars for speeding and we decide to exit to find a cache at Kärde along the way to relax a bit.
There are some interesting flowers near our parking spot and while reading the cache description we find out there is an interesting historical location nearby so pumped up we go searching for the cache and the historical location.
The historical location is an old cabin where likely a treaty between Sweden and Russia was signed in 1661 that was in force for about 50 years. It is quite a small cabin for such an important peace treaty and you cannot enter it so after finding the cache it is time to move on.
The major stop today is Tartu, the second largest city in Estonia. Finding parking is a bit difficult but we manage to find a spot where we have to pay in advance for two hours so that is how much time we have to explore. The first stop is nearby our parking spot, Tartu City Hall and the famous “Kissing Students” sculpture in front of it.
The city hall plaza is quite large but most stores are closed and it is quite cold and windy today so we cannot stay too long in one place as we are freezing.
One of the major attractions in the square is the Tartu Art Museum, not necessarily due to the art but due to the building it is housed in which is leaning at an angle that is almost double than the leaning tower of Pisa. It is quite visible with the eye but a bit difficult to take photos that show how much it leaning.
As we walk around we also can’t help noticing that Tartu is the 2024 European Capital of Culture, still some time to go but there are already multiple signs that the city is preparing for that year.
We continue on passing Tartu St Mary Cathedral that cannot be entered today but at least we see it from the outside and the theater which is surprisingly busy at midday.
Then we reach the city walls, they are not that well maintained or high as the once in Tallinn but still we always enjoy finding these remnants of the past. We especially like when we find after a short search where the restored city wall means the crumbling non restored wall, it is quite a contrast.
Next we reach the Emajõgi river where we know beavers have been sighted but likely not in this stretch as it doesn’t look favorable.
We cross the bridge in our search for something to eat and discover on the other side that the modernist building is part of the university and has a self serve cafe at the bottom floor. Somehow we manage ordering and buying some food but still what we assume is the dessert was actually cold fried fish, quite funny when we think about it later but not in the moment.
After returning over the bridge we have time to explore the Botanical Garden located opposite the theater. It is compact but is interesting enough so we are happy to be able to visit it.
There are quite a few fun paths to take so we try to see if we can get lost climbing a small hill and checking the impractical guard posts, as we name them.
We continue our loop through the garden finding even outdoors to our surprise a small cactus garden. But then it is time to exit the garden and return towards the car as we have only 20 minutes left before our time expires.
We return on a slightly different way passing the imposing St. John Church. Unfortunately with the time constraint we don’t have time to enter it so we take a few photos before moving on.
There are some weird signs in the city that we cannot decipher and find funny like the one about the cat using a bicycle, not sure why and what we are supposed to learn from it.
Returning to the town hall square it is sunny now se we take a few more photos of the beautiful town hall and plaza before returning to the car and leaving the parking lot with a minute to spare.
