Dale & Nicky OE: Latvia

When we left you in our last blog we had just visited the town of Valga-Valka, split by the Estonian/Latvian border. We hadn't gone much further south before we were signaled to pull over by a parked Police car. They wanted to check our passports and Dale's drivers license. Upon hearing that they wanted to see the passports, I was all ready to get the computer out to show evidence of the New Zealand Schengen waiver agreements, however this wasn't required and we were quickly on our way again. After 3 months of no passport checks, we have just had two in quick succession.

Our destination was Cesis. Our pamphlets described it as one of the best towns in Latvia, which we feel may have been stretching it a bit, however we enjoyed seeing the Victory monument, St John's church and seeing a building which during Soviet occupation (1945-1990) was a Cheka- a place where people were interrogated, tortured and killed. The main attraction in Cesis is the castle. There were several price brackets depending on what you wanted to see. We chose to explore the castle ruins and climb the west tower. The special twist to climbing the tower, is that you are given a candle lantern to take with you as it is dark in parts of the staircase.

Cesis Castle

We have come to realise that being away for so long requires us to take time out. Not to relax- but to organise our New Zealand banking, and unfortunately at the moment, to organise our insurance claim. So when we picked up a strong wi-fi signal the next morning in the countryside outside Cesis, we used the opportunity to catch up on things back home. We also had an Australian couple in a UK registered motorhome pulled up beside us. We had fun talking to Marilyn and Andrew as we had so much common ground, and we ended up talking to them for 3.5 hours! They spend 6 months out of every year in UK and Europe and have done so for 7 years. It sounds like the ideal retirement to Dale and I.

We had planned on seeing the Gauja National Park that afternoon on our way to Riga, but with limited time, we decided it was more important to reach Riga at a reasonable time. We arrived about 6.30pm, with Dale doing well to negotiate the roads and traffic. We had decided to stay at Riga City Camping for the night, as we needed the facilities and Matt and Sarah had arrived the night before. It gave us the opportunity to catch up and say goodbye to them, as they are going at a faster pace than we are.

The following morning we moved the van 500 metres down the road to a secure, guarded car park. We set off for the day sightseeing, and I tried to put my worry about the van to one side, as at least this car park was guarded and had a entry barrier. The van was fine and we had an enjoyable day in Riga. We visited two museums- the War museum and the Occupation museum, saw some lovely architecture and sussed out the central markets (located in old Zeppellin hangers). We decided we would return the next morning and buy some meat and vegetables as the prices were once again good value. It was a sunny day, ideal for sightseeing and we cracked out the shorts and t shirts again.

Dale cruising on the way to Riga

Traffic in Riga- 100 metres from the campsite, the parked cars on the right are blocking our lane

Riga

We set off at 8.30am the next morning and walked to the markets. Like Tartu, we spent a similar amount and returned with vegetables, chicken, bread and pastries. I commented to Dale how yesterday, when we weren't buying goods I felt slightly intimidated with the hustle and bustle. But when we were shopping, it was a different experience. We wanted to visit the Zana Lipkes memorial, located near the campsite. We drove around a bit and found it. It is very close to the guarded car park, but our time there was up, and we found a park near the memorial. During WW2 the Lipskes family saved 55 Jews in their underground shelter, and by transporting them to other shelters in the countryside, with the help of friends. The Germans never found the bunker. The museum is located next to the Lipkes family home, where Zana's daughter in law still lives. We were treated to a personal guided tour for 45 minutes and learned a lot about this amazing story. We thoroughly enjoyed our experience and were happy to add to the donation box, as this attraction is free.

We left Riga and went to nearby Jurmala, a beach resort area. We parked and walked through forest to the beach. The sand was white, and we sat on towels in amongst the dunes to shelter from the wind. Dale braved the chilly waters and had a swim. I was starting to regret not putting on my togs, but it was pretty cold and I probably couldn't have swum for long if I did. We spent a relaxing 2-3 hours there, and returned to the van to drive south to Jelgava, where we stopped for the night.

Jelgava was a town on the improve, they have had significant investment to improve their public space (riverside waterfront) and the works are still ongoing. Where once you had a depressing sad soviet town you now get energy and vibrancy. It is still a long way from being a must see tourist stop but is pleasant enough for a quick visit.

The Holy Trinity tower- the church was damaged in WW2, then blown up by the Soviets. They kept the tower as it was useful for Military purposes.

At the top of the Holy Trinity tower

From Jelgava we headed to Rundale Palace which is one of the major tourist destinations in Latvia. It was the summer residence of the Duke of Courland back in the day when such existed. It is progressively being restored and 48 rooms, about 1/3, are open and they are also in the midst of the restoration of the formal french style garden which is coming on very well. The entry fee is about right and we found we weren't gouged in the cafe in the garden which was nice as they usually hike the price as your sort of trapped. Tomorrow we will enter Lithuania.

Restored Russian Military vehicles at the Retro Auto museum, opposite Rundale Palace