Tartu doesn’t suddenly enter spring. It flows into it. Even with the change of month on the calendar, the city still resists its onset. You wake up in the middle of March and still see snow outside the window. But spring has finally crept in.
You only begin to realize the arrival of spring when you were leaving or returning from classes in the evening, and it is still light outside. One morning, you notice that the air is softer, the light stays a little longer, and the ice rink on Town Hall Square suddenly disappears. Now, people sit casually on the fountain’s edge – as if winter never happened.
In Tartu, people say that spring has arrived once bikes and scooters appear everywhere. They fill sidewalks and speed on the river path. Every student seems to be on wheels.
Now the cold Emajõgi has shed its chunks of ice. People paddle down the river in kayaks and rafts, and get boat rides. Even if your hands are still freezing in the morning, it doesn’t matter – Tartu is in motion again.
Photo credit: Pari Hamid
Cafes and restaurants also waste no time and have already set up their summer terraces. People have been waiting all winter for the arrival of the warm sun, and now it seems they don’t miss a chance to enjoy it while sitting outside. Wrapped in scarves because of the cold wind and holding a hot coffee to warm up but still refusing to go inside. You can hear someone say, “Finally.” As if just sitting outside and facing the sunlight means we made it through.
People in Tartu are terribly thirsty for the sun. And as soon as it appears in the sky, not covered by clouds, they flock to the streets in search of vitamin D. Sun-soaked steps along the river become one of the first places to fill up as soon as warmth returns.
The change reaches the university too. Now, you will rarely see the stairs near the Delta empty. Very soon there will be nowhere to squeeze in during breaks. And some even now have the opportunity to sit on the lawn. Something is subtly changing in the atmosphere of the classrooms. People come into class talking about their summer plans. Group projects are somehow more energetic. It’s not that the workload is disappearing – the deadlines are still there – but the pressure is becoming lighter, as if the sunlight is helping to bear it.
In the library, students are starting to float to the windows, not the farthest, darkest corners. Outside, the university steps are becoming a place to sit, have a snack, and chat—even if it’s just for five minutes between lectures. You see more faces, more colour, more movement. Some have swapped their heavy boots for sneakers. Others have already put on a T-shirt, even if the March wind is still bone-chilling.
Of course, the weather in Tartu is very changeable, and just because it was sunny yesterday doesn’t mean it can’t be snowy tomorrow. But spring isn’t just about sudden changes. It’s about small decisions: staying outside a little longer, taking a different route home, ordering something cold instead of hot. It’s about how the city is starting to open up again and how we open up with it.
It’s not just the temperature or physical landscape that’s changing. There’s also something emotional in the air — a shared sense of forward movement. Something that makes you want to sign up for events again, say yes to spontaneous plans, or even just wake up a little earlier to take a walk by the river before class. Something that reminds you that change is not only possible – it’s already happening.
Images author’s own unless otherwise noted.
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