Brrr...

The air temperature today was -14 degrees Celsius (without factoring in wind chill), or about 8 Fahrenheit. My 12-minute walk to the Department, across the river and through the cluster of 18th-century building surrounding the town square, was a battle against heat loss. I wore my hat and scarf and turtleneck sweater under my coat, and when my face started freezing I wrapped the scarf over my nose and mouth. Then my breath began condensing on one lens of my glasses. By the time I got around to taking a glove off to clean the lens, the condensation had frozen solid! By the time I reached the comparatively warm haven of my office, my eyeballs were hurting from the cold. - arb

The photo to the left shows the street we live on, where Alan's frigid journey began. For those of you who like to visualize with maps, Alan's frozen walk can also be plotted using this map of Tartu center. We live north of the river, on Kivi (between nos. 52 and 53 on the first, more detailed map). Our apartment on Kivi is just off the top of the map. The thin bridge in the middle of the river is a footbridge we use to walk into the picturesque center of town, which has several different snow-covered
parks (see Chloe enjoying one at right) even along our short route. The town square Alan mentions above is marked on the map as Raekoja Plats. His department is no. 14.
Chloe's favorite playspace (below right) is near no. 20. My favorite little cafe is on Rüütli, not far from no. 6. Chloe and I like to go there to share some hot chocolate and pastries. While I place my order by pointing and mispronouncing, she dangles her feet from the "big girl" chair and bides her time by digging small fingers into a tiny box of raisins. And we have all been spending a great deal of time at a large mall -- the light grey blob on the corner of Riia and Küüni, toward the right of the map. It contains a huge department store where we have been purchasing household items as well as a few toys and art supplies for Chloe. There is also a little supermarket in the basement where we do most of our food shopping, and a very nice cafeteria-style eating area with good quality food, impressive views of Tartu center, and a small play area with legos adjacent to the dining area!

Chloe and I have stayed inside for the past two days, partly due to her getting over a little fever. These photos, taken when we were apartment hunting, give an idea of our environs. Our apartment feels very large. It's 124 square meters -- the whole ground floor -- and has very high ceilings. The owner has won an award for redoing the apartment in its original 1911 style, complete with period wallpaper, stencilled at the top. Even on this ridiculously cold day, it is cozy in here with our variety of space heaters -- and we love the constant heat that circulates under the tiled floors in the hallway and very toasty bathroom! We have not yet taken pictures of these much appreciated features; perhaps I'll include some in a future post. - sac

Above: The exterior of our building; Chloe assessing kitchen facilities during our first tour; the dining room as viewed from the living room. Below: The study where I'm writing this blog.