Day 9: The Christmas Goat Cometh

Last day in Tartu. What was going to prove to be a very quiet day. In theory. In reality, that didn't happen because we ended up being yanked to the A. Le Coq Beer Museum and Brewery. I didn't expect much, we were told that only an Estonian guide was available so I foresaw the event being a session in extreme linquistic egg-tossing and/or charades.

This prediction did not turn out anywhere near the truth.

Thanks to the presence of a world-hopping Canadian with impeccable Estonian language skills, the tour through the beer making process and history was perhaps the best tour of the trip so far. And I'm not even a huge beer fan. There wasn't even any points where I was dazed and stared out the window at the local bird populations (usually pigeons or corvids). This gave a nice view of the importance of beer manufacturing in Estonia over the past few centuries and how the frothy liquid is made. That, and the old tour guide was just so gosh darn likable, with a quirk mixed in with the information that I don't think could have been presented better (our spur-of-the-moment translator totally helped). There was also free samples in the end. I have not much to say about that except for the bottles have have an awesome bottom that can actually open other beer bottles.

Europe has a different way of looking at beer than America does.

We went right to the Estonian National Museum from there and right into the midst of life-size versions of ancient dwellings and enough costumes to clothe most of Tartu and the outlaying regions. It's amazing how much tradition the country has retained despite being under the rule of other people for most of its existence. I see some similarities to Finnish culture but in all, its distinctly Estonian through and through. It's retained its own flavor of tradition and history and the Christmas goat. (And on that note: the Christmas goat is the best tradition costume ever. One of the more amusing remnants of Christmas tradition that I've seen in a museum. Plus, Santa sounds like a fly-by-night comedian who gets gifts for the bemusement he brings.) The puzzle games of old remain the same...and just about as maddening.

Last on the day's docket was the Estonian National Court, led by a legal minded guide who still gave a nice layout of both the building and how the legal system of Estonia works. I also find it interesting how its youngest member is only thirty and it actually has a sixty-eight year age limit. Definitely shows another example of A) how young Estonia is in its government and B) its open-mindedness to younger points of view. I just think of our own Supreme Court and all of members over the age of seventy that seem to be behind the gravel.

The rest of the day was filled with jelly-slathered pancake and a session of watching one our group ride a mechanical bull. And in between that, was a session of watching some beach volleyball.