The Tartu Observer / February 2025

1 / Sketchy Stuff: Tartu Bingo 2025

2 / Editor’s Observations: Down the Track to Riga

3 / Culture Recommendations: Accessible Events in Tartu

Play Tartu Bingo 2025!

Life in Tartu is sometimes repetitive and predictable, like a chorus in a pop song. Yet, who does not sing along to a good chorus? Here’s one for you: I put some of the most predictable year 2025 Tartu things on a bingo board. And I added a few curious speculative squares as those catchy hooks that make a song stand out.

→ Click here for a printable PDF version of Tartu Bingo 2025.

Print it and stick it on a wall! Share your bingo progress on Instagram by tagging @sketchingpaas. Have fun!

Did you notice that the Tallinn–Tartu–Riga–Vilnius train link was announced at the end of last year?

It immediately caught my attention: I like these Baltic Chain type of things, I like train travel, and I like Tartu to have better international connections. So in January, we tried part of the link and travelled to Rīgas Pasažieru stacija.

How was it?

First, the link consists of the existing train lines Tallinn-Tartu-Valga, Valga-Riga, and Riga-Vilnius. Their arrivals and departures are now synchronized. This means that after arriving in Valga on an Elron train, you simply step into a Latvian Vivi train and in Riga, there is a Lithuanian LTG Link waiting for you.

It is not yet the planned Riga extension of Elron's Tartu–Valga line, though. Getting their trains certified in Latvia seems to take as much time as, say, bringing a new medicine to market. So maybe before an Estonian train can take you there, there’s already a new pill that makes you imagine you're in Riga.

But the already existing Latvian Vivi line is reasonable, too. The train is very spacious but slower than Elron, and we did not see any handy power sockets for charging our devices.

We traveled as a family with a stroller, so the main issue was accessibility. To board the Vivi train you need to carry your baby, stroller, and luggage up a few steep stairs, while Elron’s trains are on level with platforms.

Now the funny part. I read a few Estonian reviews that warned that the Latvian train is shaking. Ha–ha. Those people have obviously never pushed a stroller through wet snow on Tartu streets! Or been on board a Kyiv metro train. These give a proper shaking. The Vivi train did not shake, it rolled softly over the hilly Northern Latvian landscape.

So, after 3 hours and 40 minutes of travel (including a 17-minute layover in Valga) we were in Riga. This is already faster than the Lux Express bus line. And I am anyway inclined to prefer a train because of the baby’s traveling comfort or having more space for computer work.

We were in Riga for a three-day family vacation plus some necessary shopping and felt that the expenses were smaller than they would have been in Tallinn. So we returned from the Latvian capital city with food for thought – why would a Tartuvian go to Tallinn if Riga is as close but less expensive, and (perhaps for an Estonian) a bit more interesting?

→ One of my Riga trip highlights was the Jana Seta Map shop. My expenses there were not that small, but I did get several captivating items for very nice prices. I will introduce my findings and talk to one of the map makers in a future issue.

KONKU, a room installation celebrating Estonian konku culture is open in Pallas Gallery (Riia 11) until 8 February 2025. “I can’t make it to every exhibition, but I wanted to see this cellar full of old stuff,” I tell the Pallas gallerist. Beneath us, on the underground floor is an artistic recreation of a konku, a mundanely magical room Estonians used to have in countryside houses. It is full of weird and wonderful random objects that have been put away (but not thrown away!), because you never know when you might need something…

Who Claims the Night?, a charming study of Estonian nightlife and night-time culture, is open in the Estonian National Museum until 24 February 2025. It explores how night-time was experienced in the past, as well as the multitude of meanings of the contemporary night. The exhibition is not only about partying hard but also other topics such as dreams and visions that we associate with the nocturnal. Part of the exhibition is made up of artistic installations.

Support your local restaurants! Because of the ongoing recession and this year’s tax raises, Estonians tend to spend less on tasty things in nice places. Therefore, our favourite restaurants and cafes appreciate our visits even more than before. As is the custom, in February many Tartu restaurants and cafes celebrate dining culture and offer special menus under the banner of Maitsev Tartu (Tasty Tartu). Another good reason to go and support some great places!

→ Keep on exploring Tartu and Southern Estonia, find events at kultuuriaken.tartu.ee and Tartu2024.ee!