Scenic Sigulda, Latvia

We have a trip of some 180km today as we travel north east towards the small town of Sigulda, known for its winter sports activities. Set in the national park, it's a good base to explore the surrounding area - well, if we had more than one day, that is.

On the journey we have a couple of stops, one at Bauskas Castle which, like most of these things in Latvia, is undergoing serious restoration. Worth the stop after we find somewhere to put the outfit though.

Bauskas handmaidens

Our second stop is an organised guided tour of the amazingly well restored (and very large) Rundale Palace, dating from 1736. It is one of the two major palaces built for the Duke of Courland.
Opulence:

 All rooms were heated by these; the fire is loaded from next door:

This little cherub is about to blow the head off the innocent, tweeting bird:

After a full tour, walking the gardens and a lunch we reach camp in Sigulda around 6.30pm.

Day 2

We have another great guide today who leads us through and around:

Sigulda Castle

Turaida Castle & Museum

Lutheran church (plus Lutheran person..)

View from the tower...

Obviously we climbed it..

Gutman's Cave

All this is followed by a REALLY good lunch cooked for us by the ex head chef of Red Bull Racing; remembering that I'm a F1 anorak, that's quite something, you know...

A member of our group has a birthday and, of course, we sing the traditional song. What is really unexpected is that the Chinese group sharing the dining room sings their equivalent and congratulate our star of the day.
Isn't it great when people of different nationalities enjoy each others' company? If we forget the politics, we're all just people travelling through life.

We spend a couple a couple of hours at Cesis, a non-tourist Latvian town. It's good to get a better feel for the country this way. 

This has been an enjoyable and very interesting day and, because we're off to Estonia tomorrow, it's tinged with a little sadness. Latvia and it's people - we like a lot.

Estonia tomorrow, all being well; join us.

Surprise at Birzai

A good journey with a surprise ending today; thanks Sebine, our intrepid tour leader.

On the way to our last campsite in Lithuania at Birzai, we stop at Bistrampolis Manor for a posh coffee beak and a walk followed by a visit to a small aircraft museum at Istros airfield making for a relaxing and interesting drive.

Posh coffee stop

Old Russian MIG at the aircraft museum

The relaxation ends when we get to the campsite, though, as when we commit our long outfit to the entrance road, it quickly becomes apparent that it just IS NOT going to fit. After some highly skilled reversing out (my version) we enter the site by a rear entrance and all ends well.


We walk to nearby Birzai Castle Manor and get a knowledgeable and amusing guide around the excellent museum as a bonus. The stimulating tour drops a few intellectual levels as we sample (lots) of the renowned locally brewed beer which results in us happily participating in singing, playing musical instruments and dancing with the traditional musicians. Mmmm...
The evening is capped off with a really good quality meal with wine and/or beer.... That's the surprise ending.

Historic heating system in the Castle Manor

Early CD in the museum

Home, fix the rear view camera that was dislodged by a car giving us a hefty tap on the road yesterday and then it's collapse, exhausted... after writing this blog, of course.

Latvia tomorrow, all being well...

Kaunas, the second city

We head to Kaunas, the second largest Lithuanian city but, before we get there, we stop off at the excellent Rumsiskes, an unusual open air ethnographic museum.

At the museum, old Lithuanian wooden houses from different periods and regions have been transported here and displayed as they would have been at that time. It's very good and made even better by our excellent guide, Erica.

Arriving at the campsite in the afternoon, we decide to use the bar, which sits next to a small lake, and relax with a travelling couple... then we eat and, in one of those spontaneous moments, most of the group, including our excellent leader, bring over chairs and red wine and, before we know it, the evening has gone. Wonderful.

Day 2

We take a group bus trip into town and are taken around the old quarter by a new guide who gives us immense amounts of detail about the complex history and development of Lithuania and the odd anecdote. We may remember some of it.

The Castle

 Town Square

National costumes in the Singing Festival

After a nice lunch with travelling friends we stay on to get a better feel for Kaunas. It certainly has a young, vibrant feel about it, even if parts are a little rough around the edges. The old town has a rich history with a great square and old town hall. We visit the the Devils Museum, Baroque Cathedral and other churches before walking out of the old town...


Depiction of Hitler and Stalin in the Devils Museum

We take a short funicular railway up to Christ's Resurrection Church, a wonderful Bauhaus style construction, which was used as a factory in the Soviet era. We take the view from the large roof terrace. Brilliant!

After a cool coffee in the young sector, complete with DJ, we head home by trolleybus: another great day.

Off into the country tomorrow - complete with meal and beer tasting. Someone has to do it......

See you there, all being well.

To the Capital

Before leaving our Trakai campsite with the 'van in tow, we head off in the Treg to the Hill of Angels to walk through the unique site above the town. Each wooden carved 'angel' has a plaque with a quotation - not always from the bible. Whatever your beliefs, it's a peaceful, calming place in the early morning. A coach full of schoolchildren arrives as we drive off...

So, refreshed, we pick up the 'van and head off to the site close to the capital city of Lithuania, Vilnius.

We drop off the 'van,  pick up two travelling friends and head to Paneriai, the site where some 80,000 Jews were systematically slaughtered by the Nazi regime in WW2. A very sobering visit but one we all think is important for us to experience.

After a pause back at the site to regain our equilibrium, we head into the city by bus (which is always a mini adventure in a new country) to experience parts of the capital we're probably not going to see on the official tour the next day; this is why we start with the 'bohemian' district of Uzupis. We wander, drink, eat and people-watch, getting back to camp after 9pm; what a great start to our experience of the city.

Wierd art

Day 2

We have an official guide for day 2 in the city who is truly exceptional and open. We learn a lot, especially as we sit with her for the included lunch.

We can certainly understand her passion for this exceptional UNESCO historic city with its baroque architecture in abundance, cobbled streets in the old town together with the shiny high-rise glass buildings proudly demonstrating a growing commercial sector.

The Presidential Palace

Castle on the Hill

City View from Castle

We stay on in the city to visit the ex KGB headquarters, now Museum of Genocide Victims and St. Anne's Church. Plus coffee, of course.

St. Anne's

This has been a really successful and fascinating visit to this city. It has a vibrant, young feel to it. Although Lithuania's post economic crisis economy is still developing, it's interesting to note that there are not large numbers of cars around but of those that there are, a significant proportion of them are extremely expensive; Mercs, Audis, BMWs etc. 

Onward to the second largest city tomorrow, all being well. See you there?