Our Thoughts on Latvia

The main trunk roads are OK but deviate from them at your peril lol. (See earlier post). There are very few signs and information boards in English. I think their tourism is aimed mainly at locals. They provide lots for children to do, playgrounds, skate parks, sports facilities, you name it, they have it, and there are lots of parks and green spaces for everyone to enjoy. All the car parks that we used were free of charge. It’s not as flat as Estonia and seemed the poor relation out of the two countries but having said that, the people we met and spoke to, could speak good English and those who couldn’t (mainly the older generation) tried their best. Which again puts us to shame as we can’t speak their language at all without google translate! We couldn’t fault the choice and quality of the supermarkets or the prices. We did have a good time exploring, although I’m glad we were self sufficient (thanks to Harriet the Hymer) because the campsites are a little bit basic.

I’ve been keeping an eye on the fresh milk situation on our travels and I have to report that you can also buy it in Lithuania. I’m sorry but I couldn’t stop laughing at the name!! School girl humour haha.

Latvia and Lithuania - Week 14

We arrived in Riga, the capital of Latvia and parked at the City Campsite. It said on the sign that it closed on 15/9 but there were still plenty of people using it.

The first day we walked the 2kms to the old town and wandered around the cobbled streets looking at all the old buildings and churches. We called in to the tourist information to see if they had a free walking tour but we were too late, the last one departed St Peters church at 12 midday. We carried on looking at different statues, taking photos of some of them and crossing over the river and through the park to Freedom Square. 

By this time we’d had enough so found a little restaurant away from the main drag to have some tea. We’d been on the road 90 days so used this as an excuse for treating ourselves. We ordered some food and then Andy asked for a Diet Coke, the lovely lady tried to understand to no avail, so he tried again, coke with no sugar, aha!! We got water with no ice lol. Bless. Her English was far better than our Latvian so we couldn’t complain. The food was delicious 😋
By the time we got back to the campsite (after calling into the supermarket for milk) we were beyond shattered.

The second day we did nothing apart from catching up with blogging stuff and chilling out. Sometimes you just have to stop and recover.

The third day we walked back into Riga and made the walking tour just in time. The old town is a UNESCO World Heritage site and is a maze of cobbled streets and Art Nuevo buildings, churches, cafes and sculptures. The most important place to the Latvians is Freedom Square where the lady holds up 3 stars representing Latvia’s 3 provinces. You learn a lot on these tours and it always amazes me how you can walk past something that seemed so insignificant and yet when you hear the story behind it, it blows you away.

For instance, there’s a stone slab containing a pair of footprints just near the shops, no writing, nothing. This is the story ... On August 23, 1989, the simple act of holding hands freed six million people in the Baltic countries of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. More than two million people joined hands in a human chain that began in Tallinn, Estonia, stretched 600km across Latvia, to Vilnius, Lithuania. These footprints mark the middle of that line ... how amazing is that?!!

We visited Bremen, Germany within the first week of our trip and took a photo of the 4 musicians, something that Bremen is famous for. On the walking tour around Rīga, we were shown a similar monument. This one represents the Bremen musicians peering through the invisible iron curtain (that was) looking over to the west. Most people could reach the first 2 animals but apparently, because Andy could reach the cat, he’s going to return to Rīga every 2 years!!

We also managed a walk around the market too. It’s housed in old Zeppelin Hangers which I also found fascinating. 

We enjoyed our time in the city.

The next day we headed for the coast. Jūrmala, is another nice spot and only approx. 30kms from Rīga. It has gorgeous white sandy beaches and some posh houses of carved wood. It was very popular in Soviet times for holidays for the high-ranking communist officials, drawn by it's beautiful properties, hotels and spas. We could see why too. You had to pay a road toll of €2 on entering the town but the parking was free so that was ok.

Next on the list was Rundale Palace. What a palaver getting there. Some of the roads in Latvia are good. Some of them are bad and some are downright ugly.

We arrived at the Palace at teatime. The first car park said parking between 09:00 to 23:00 only so we parked in the second car park. They let us stay there overnight for free.

The Palace can only be described as opulent, the photos really don't do it justice. We thought Osborne House was extravagant lol. 

I really wanted to visit the garden but they were digging it up. From the windows of the palace though we could see a second garden. So we visited the Palace in the morning, went back to Harriet for lunch and planned to view the grounds in the afternoon. By this time it was getting so hot we gave up, choosing instead to drive a bit further south across the border to Lithuania. Thank heavens the ExsisT has air conditioning.

The first place we headed for, after crossing into Lithuania, was the Hill of Crosses. You can pay €2.90 to stay 24 hours in a motorhome. There are a row of stalls selling souvenirs and wooden crosses for anyone to buy and place on the hill.

It really is a sight to behold when you get there!! I’ve honestly never seen anything like it. The reason for it is mainly due to those pesky Russians!
The Lithuanian travel website said ...
Nowhere else in the world you will find such a place – The Hill of Crosses is a unique sacral place, amazing and the only one of its size and history in the world. This world well-known shrine is frequented by tourists. People of different nations and religions bring here crosses with their names, intentions, and pleadings for clemency.
In Soviet times, the erection of crosses was not tolerated, and the hill became a non-desirable, even forbidden place, opposing the Soviet ideology. On the night of 5 April 1961 all crosses were bulldozed and crushed, and then pushed downhill. Wooden crosses were burned right on the spot, metal ones were taken to the metal scrap and melted, and concrete and stone ones were crushed with crushers and used for road construction. After the first devastation, later the Hill of Crosses was periodically devastated for four more times. However, the more fervently the hill was being destroyed, the more powerfully it would be rebuilt. People were stubbornly bringing crosses at night, despite the dangers, prohibitions and persecutions of authorities. The Hill of Crosses became a symbol of an unshakable faith in the people, their sufferings and hopes ...
Wow, just wow!!

We had the idea of travelling down to the west coast to have a look at the Curonian Spit National Park as it’s another UNESCO World Heritage site. We were overdue a washing day so found a nearby campsite and before we booked in, asked the owner if he had laundry facilities. Yes he said, I will do it, 5kgs for €3! How could we say no? 2 hours later we had 2 bags of clean washing, hung on the washing line, in the lovely warm breeze.

After doing some research we found that we had to pay to take Harriet on a ferry to the Curonian Spit and although it was only a 5 minute crossing, with the toll money when you landed, it would have cost more than our daily budget. Not only that, the weather turned overnight. It was like someone had flicked a switch and summer had come to an abrupt end!!

We’ve driven to Nordkapp, the furthest north you can drive to in mainland Europe.
And now we’ve driven to the centre of Europe, 20kms north of Lithuania’s capital city Vilnius. We stopped there overnight too. There’s not much there in the way of a tourist attraction, but there’s a big column on top of a compass and surrounded by flag poles. There’s also a huge boulder inscribed with “The Geographical Centre of Europe” and another compass which we think makes the centre. We took photos of both just to be on the safe side lol.

Vilnius, the capital city of Lithuania, always reminds me of one of my favourite films, Hunt For Red October. Marko Ramius (Sean Connery) was, as Alec Baldwin described, not Russian. He's Lithuanian by birth, raised by his paternal grandfather, a fisherman. Later on you find out he was from Vilnius. It’s the first time I’d heard of the place. Who knew today we’d actually be visiting. Sometimes I can’t believe how lucky I am. 

We found a great parking spot, right by the castle and within spitting distance of the old town. It was guarded and cost us €6 for just short of 24 hours. Vilnius seemed as if it was 2 cities, the old bit, a UNESCO World Heritage site, which needed quite a bit of tlc and across the river, the new swanky, no expenses spared bit. We took the City Bus Tour, €12 each to get our bearings and decide what we wanted to see. Some of the roads were closed because the Pope had been doing his stuff the day before. We thought we’d missed him but later on, lots of people were lining the streets and the police were out in force. After waiting for 30 mins we watched lots of vehicles drive past with police escorts. One of them had the Pope inside. So we didn’t miss him after all.

Oh, and Andy asked me to marry him and I said yes :O)

Estonia and Latvia - Week 13

We said our goodbyes to Luke & Jordi from Juke Media and headed east. It was getting near teatime so we parked up in the middle of Rakvere, right next to the fitness centre/skate park. We had a walk around the town and found a place to eat. It was still lovely and warm so chose a café with a table outside overlooking the square.

One thing I’ve noticed in all the towns we’ve visited in Estonia is that they have some great art work and places for people to meet and hang out. I love their laid back vibe. It’s probably due to only 1.3 million people living in a country a fifth of the size of Britain, there’s plenty of room for everyone.

Next morning we were out and about exploring. I’d like to say at the crack of dawn but we can never getting going much before 10:30, unless we make a huge effort lol. We walked up the strangest set of steps to the castle on the hill.

There was a bit of a market going on and someone was selling the coolest looking swingy seat we’ve ever seen.

nstead of paying to enter the castle we decided to walk round the outside. We saw the biggest bull perched on the hillside. It turned out to be another monument to Estonians killed in the war.

The town is well worth a wander round with a mix of state of the art buildings, traditional wooden painted houses and everything in between.

We left Rakvere and headed for Narva.

Narva is an Estonian town, right on the Russian border.
When we read the following from Lonely Planet, we had to see it for ourselves ...
“Estonia’s easternmost city is separated from Ivangorod in Russia by the Narva River and is almost entirely populated by Russians. It’s quite literally a border town: the bridge at the end of the main street is the country’s principal link with Russia and no-man’s-land protrudes right up to the edge of the town square. Aside from its magnificent castle and baroque Old Town Hall, most of Narva’s outstanding architecture was destroyed in WWII. The reconstructed city has a melancholy, downtrodden air; the prosperity evident in other parts of the country is visibly lacking. Yet Estonia’s third-largest city is an intriguing place for a (brief) visit – you’ll find no other place in Estonia quite like it.”
That sums it up perfectly. People were fishing on both sides of the river yet I doubt their paths would ever cross? We could see them and they could see us but without a tonne of red tape you couldn’t walk or drive a few more hundred metres east.

It was strange to see Russia from where we were standing knowing we wouldn’t go any further. I’ve been and honestly, I’ve no desire to go back. We found Narva intriguing, it isn’t pretty but it’s well worth going.

Heading south again around lake Peipsus we followed google maps to Tartu. We stopped for the night at Pusi Kula as there was a campsite there and we needed water.

Turtu is the second largest city in Estonia after Tallinn. It’s a university town and a great place to spend the day. We had a lovely walk round using the self guided walking tour from the tourist information office. It’s really pretty with lots of designer shops and stunning architecture. We ate lunch out again which didn’t break the bank.

 

 

Our last day in Estonia saw us leaving from the twin town Valga-Valka.
The legend describing the division of the town between the two states says that in old Livonia, Valga developed as a single town. When the republics of Estonia and Latvia were formed, it was impossible to decide which country the town should become part of. The border issue was resolved in 1920 by the English colonel Tallents. It was decided to divide the town in half, one side for Estonians and the other side for Latvians.

Today, Valga-Valka is like a single town that cannot fit within the borders of one country. Hence the slogan “Valga-Valka – 1 town, 2 states”. They use Russian as a common language, something derived from Soviet occupation. It looked a poor run down place with quite a lot of dilapidated buildings but there were a few nice ones too.

Hidden Europe Says ...
“It is perhaps just as well that few people outside of Latvia have heard of Valka. Since 1991 it has been a town split by the border between Latvia and Estonia. On the Estonian side of the frontier, the town is known as Valga. Older folk who drive through the divided town, en route from Tartu to Riga, probably do not realise that they are lucky to be alive to see it. Had events taken a different turn in October 1962, Valka might have been deleted from the maps of Europe.

The Cuban missile crisis was at its height and key personnel in the Soviet military were based in Valka, in charge of the rockets that would have been launched had nuclear war broken out. Fortunately the great powers stepped back from the brink. If matters had developed differently, Valka would surely have been a prime target. The concrete dome under which Russia's military might sheltered now only covers stagnant pools and moss as it was abandoned fairly soon afterwards. However Latvians were not allowed into the old Soviet compound until they had won their independence in 1991.”

We loved touring Estonia but had to say goodbye as we wanted to explore Latvia. The first thing we noticed about the country was the zebra crossings. Very different from anything we’ve seen before.

Our first stop was Camping Ezerkrasts right next to a lake. We needed to empty the toilet and because there are no Motorhome facilities, we needed a campsite. It was a lovely place to spend a night and the owner couldn’t have been more helpful.

We drove the 30 odd miles to Cesis.

We parked up and spent the night near the castle. In the morning we went for a wander around the town. None of the signs were in English so we headed for the tourist information. The lady spoke English luckily and gave us some information on where we should go and what we should see.

Latvia.travel says ...
With over 800 years of history, Cesis is one of the best-preserved medieval towns in the Baltics.
Fanning out from the square surrounding legendary St. John’s Church, the narrow streets of the Old Town have preserved their centuries-old layout and entice visitors with creative shops and cosy cafes.
It was very pleasant to walk round in the sunshine.

The following day, on the recommendation of the owner of the campsite, we walked around part of Guajas National Park. Again, none of the information boards or sign posts were in English (unlike Estonia), so we didn’t know that it must have said a million steps up & down!! Our fitness levels have definitely improved since we set off on our adventure but obviously not enough, because by the time we got back to Harriet, we were shattered. The cave we walked down to (more like a small hole in some sandstone) was interesting though.

On the map there was a bigger cave advertised so we went to check it out. I think we were expecting some limestone cavern on the scale of those in Castletown, Derbyshire, but no, it was just a bigger hole in the sandstone.

We drove into Sigulda and parked in the middle of the town. There’s not many places we’ve had to pay for parking on this trip and this one was free too. Pizza for tea as we were too tired to cook!

 

 

Then onward to Rīga City Camping to explore the capital of Latvia. The old town, like Tallinn, is a UNESCO World Heritage site, so it should be interesting.