Little Latvia

Well, it’s official – I really love Latvia. I spent the last three days getting to know its capital, Riga, and some of the sights outside the city, including Rundale Palace, Salaspils Memorial, and the Gauja National Park.  After feeling kind of “meh” about Vilnius (except hot air ballooning – that was awesome), I was rather worried I’d made a mistake in making the Baltic countries a part of this trip. I was (and still am) really tired from the last 5+ weeks of traveling and sightseeing, and when Vilnius underwhelmed, I was concerned I was going to have a loooong next two weeks of seeing stuff I was not especially interested in. Happily, Latvia came along to ease my concerns.  And actually, I really enjoyed the countryside of Lithuania, as well.

I think I mentioned this in the last post, but I had booked a small group transfer from Vilnius to Riga that included some stops along the way between the two cities. I’ve also previously mentioned that I really enjoy the occasional small group tour, and in this case, it was a perfect opportunity to see parts of the countryside that I would not have seen on a visit to just the capital cities.  It was a very small group, only 4 of us – an awesome Australian couple, a really nice American woman from San Francisco, and me – and we had a really nice time with our really interesting and funny guide.  I also slept like half the car ride, which was THE BEST. I think I’m going to sleep for a week when I get home; silly me thinking I’d be well-rested after this trip.  

Anyway, in Lithuania, we stopped at the town of Kaunas, Lithuania’s second largest city, as well as the Hill of Crosses. Kaunas was a cute and quiet little town (with a great chocolate shop). The Hill of Crosses was one of the craziest, most unique sights I’ve ever seen. There’s something like 200-300k crosses on this hill that’s pretty much in the middle of nowhere. Lithuania has a long history of placing crosses at this site, and during the Soviet Occupation from 1944-1990, the Soviets removed all the crosses no less than 5 times. But Lithuanians, being a stubborn lot, kept coming back and placing crosses as a form of peaceful resistance. Once we crossed into Latvia, we stopped at Rundale Palace and Salaspils Memorial.  Salaspils was very moving – it was a former Nazi work camp, and the memorial for the victims takes the form of 4 figures and a metronome ticking sound that’s meant to mimic a heartbeat.

Riga itself has a colorful (literally) and engaging Old Town, which really struck a chord with me. It has a lot of character and interesting architecture and a fun and vibrant feel to it.  I took another “free” walking tour like I did in Vilnius (and met up with my new Australian friends from the previous day’s tour!), and while they tend to all be at least good, this one was fantastic. The guide was very smart and extremely knowledgeable as well as really funny. He was so good, I decided to take another free tour they offer and was lucky enough to get him again today for that tour.  With both tours, he did a really great job of not just describing sights and buildings but Latvian life and culture, too.  These tours were a highlight of my visit, and I think the knowledge and understanding I gained about the country through them are what make me like Latvia so much.

A great and knowledgeable guide can really make a difference, and I had another good one on a tour I took of the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia today.  It was fascinating to learn how the country, like Lithuania and Estonia, was occupied 3 times during WWII – first by Soviets, then by Nazis, then again by Soviets, who “forgot” to leave for 50 years after liberating the Baltic countries from the Nazis.

I had originally planned to travel to Tallinn, my next stop, via a small group transfer like the one I did for Vilnius > Riga. It didn’t have enough sign-ups, though, so it was cancelled, and I’m now so glad it was. I had to scramble a bit to figure out what I wanted to see with my suddenly free day and how I would get to Tallinn, but I ended up finding this site that gave me a great plan for a day trip from Riga. So, off I went to Gauja National Park, about 70 minutes by bus/train from Riga. The woman at the Sigulda TI was super friendly and helpful and got me off in the right direction with a good map. I ended up having a really great day visiting some castles, taking a cable car ride (not a huge fan of heights but I soldiered through), and walking through the forest. It poured and was crazy humid, but it was still one of my favorite days of my trip.

I’m now writing this post from the comfort of a “lux” bus on my way to Tallinn. It’s about 4.5 hours, and the bus has free wifi, an entertainment screen with movies and tv shows (like on a plane), and a ton of leg room, all for €19. I did what I always do in a moving vehicle that I’m not operating: I dozed a bit before posting some pics to Facebook and Instagram, sorting through some Tallinn plans, and working on this post (which will likely go up from my next apartment, but all the hard work is done!).

I forgot to add that my Riga apartment was possibly my favorite of all my stays. Perfect location, pretty interior, great shower, and reasonably priced. I’ve really lucked out on all of my lodgings (so far, trying not to jinx myself).

Gelato update:

Sadly, Riga’s “gelato” is basically just meh ice cream, which I learned by trial and grave error. Instead, I’ve just been enjoying some desserts at dinner, so have a pics of one of those. And of course, don’t forget there’s a ridiculous amount of Malta and Baltics pics and Italy pics on Facebook, as well as a more reasonable amount on Instagram.

Now, to Tallinn!