Latvia - Latvia’s Legends

July 7, 9

Hello everyone!

Over 50% of Latvia is forest, and contains some beautiful places outside of its lovely capital, Riga. This will show two places I visited: Rundale Palace and Gauja National Park.

Peeking out at Turaida Castle from its tower

Wild eyes - arguably added by a person who wasn't using theirs -
on this animal head. The antlers are real, the head is not.

One of these is a summer palace in the small village of Rundale. It was purposely built far away from any settlement, not that it needed to be close to anything. It is that grand.

They actually had an even bigger residence in a place called Jelgava

The Meeting Room - the Duke would sit at one end

The palace, a short distance north of the border with Lithuania, belonged to the Duke of Courland, which is a historical Latvian land in the west of the modern-day country. 

Ernst Johann von Biron: the Duke of Courland

French Gardens at Rundale Palace

We were shown around the palace by a funny and withering guide, who talked us through the history and different rooms of the palace. It was owned initially by a duke called Ersnest Johann von Biron. The palace was completed in 1740; von Biron was only able to enjoy it for a matter of months before being captured and exiled to Siberia.

That bit in the corner was the fireplace

Lavish paintings adorn many ceilings

Decades later, in 1762, the Russian leader Catherine the Great reinstated von Biron as duke, so returned to Rundale. He and his family then got to use the vast grounds, including the French Gardens, until full Russian annexation of the region in 1795. It has since been used as a primary school, grain storage facility (hello USSR) and movie and TV set.

Portraits of key figures connected to the palace

Fascinating chess set in the games room

Another place that could be used for movie sets is Gauja National Park, an area found about 80 km east of Latvia’s capital. The term ‘national park’ is a bit of a misnomer, there are many villages within the confines of the borders.

Pond in Turaida Museum Reserve

Building in Turaida Museum Reserve

Parts of the park help you peek into Latvia’s medieval past, when it was part of an area called Livonia. This covered much of modern-day Latvia and Estonia. It has existed in many forms and under many names, but seems to have been at its peak in the fourteenth century. Middle Ages, we’d probably say.

Old jewellery - there's a tiny knife in each necklace

Different ways of getting around - there is a sledge at the back

You get a vibe for this in an area called Turaida. Its open air museum contains a blacksmiths, a stable house and a sauna, amongst other buildings that would have been used in the region at that time and a little bit beyond. 

Pond in Turaida Museum Reserve

Sauna - we are getting closer to Scandinavia...

Turaida was also home to a castle. Whilst some of it has been left as a ruin, other elements have been reconstructed. One part that didn’t need much mortar or brick was the tower, which stands almost 40 metres high.

I was told that 88% of the tower is original, which seems a very specific number

Inside the tower, before you get to the top

The 360 degree view from the top of the tower is stunning. Swathes of virgin pine forest separated by the meandering Gauja river.

First records of a castle being here are from 1214

Don't lean out too far!

A more complete castle can be found at Sigulda. Called Sigulda New Castle, it was built in the 1870s, and is actually much more manor house than defensive structure. There is a Russian connection, as Latvia was controlled by the Russian Empire at this time. I was more interested in the black rye bread ice cream that I got. Texture was a bit strange but it tasted surprisingly nice.

The internet tells me this is 'neo-gothic'

It was built in 1878

Not very black...the apple and cinnamon was delicious!

A short drive from these castles takes you to Gutman’s Cave, which is a small cave containing many engravings. The story behind this is that an infant was found during a war with Sweden. The infant, called Majia, grew up and fell in love with a gardener. They would meet at the cave. A Polish man got jealous and impersonated the gardener, met Majia, and tried to capture her. Majia gave him a scarf that she said made its wearer invulnerable. The Polish man tried it on her…killing her. A love story as old as time...

The widest and highest cave in the Baltics

Engravings - particularly hearts - are found around the cave

Away from legend and accidental murder, Latvia is generally quite a flat country. It was thus surprising to be told that skiing is quite popular here, and can be done in the park. Almost as surprising was seeing a bobsled track. It is said to be one of the fastest in the world, and you can organise going down with a Latvian Olympian. Next time!

Part of that forested area

The track can reach speeds of 125 km/h

Other areas of Gauja are more restrictive...

I think ‘next time’ sums up how I felt about going to Gauja National Park. I‘d have loved to have more time to actually hike or bike, to see its feted cliffs, and to truly get into nature. The reality of the tour I’m on is that there isn’t time for that. At the same time, I’d never have chosen to go to Rundale Palace, and that turned out to be interesting, so I’ll take what I get given!

Water lilies at Turaida

Different stuccos of cherubs denote different seasons in Rundale Palace

As mentioned in the previous post, I found Riga to be a charming and quite a green city. However, it’s always nice to get out of a capital to see other parts of a country. Even if the legends associated with those places are a bit random!

Rundale Palace

Turaida Castle

Love you all,

Matt

Latvia - Riga-diculously Nice Place

July 7-9

Hello everyone!

After spending the past few days exploring two cities that I have visited before, I headed north to a new country. One that I know very little about. Welcome to what is apparently the home of the Christmas Tree!

Like it's fruit, Riga was sweet and colourful

Site of the world's first recorded Christmas tree, from 1510

The middle of the three nations commonly clumped together as the Baltic States, Latvia is a bit of an unknown for me. I was therefore excited to get out and see its capital, Riga, as soon as possible when arriving, going for an evening run.

With a couple of stops, we took about 8 hours to get from Vilnius to Riga

Riga's castle was first made in 1330

Riga's Old Town is a UNESCO Wold Heritage Site

I was aware that it had an Old Town, like many European cities. I was not aware that it has many parks and green spaces. Very enjoyable.

Riga Cathedral

Riga City Canal

I was aware that the Baltic Chain, referenced in the Lithuania blog, passed through Latvia. I was not aware of the specific Latvian history and suffering at the hands of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. Though I wasn’t able to explore the KGB Museum, just reading posters in the entrance gave enough clues as to the horrors that happened inside the hauntingly beautiful building.

The footsteps showing the Baltic Chain. Our guide
showed us pictures of her in that chain in 1989.

A propaganda poster from the last 1930s

Called The Corner House, political prisoners would be
subjected to torture (and possibly worse) in its basement

A lot of the history you will see in Riga, a much larger city than Vilnius in Lithuania, is related to its challenges faced over the last 100 years or so. One of the most striking is something that I have already seen in Warsaw: Riga’s was also an Academy of Sciences. Locals call it ‘Stalin’s Birthday Cake’, even though he was long dead by the time it opened in 1961.

View of Stalin's Birthday Cake from the river

Like the Warsaw version, it has been repurposed
since independence was secured in 1991

One interesting person I learnt about here is a man called Zanis Lipke. The Latvian national retrained to become a contractor for the Luftwaffe, then used his position to smuggle Jewish workers out of Riga’s ghetto. He saved dozens. A memorial, and the remains of a synagogue burnt down by the Nazis with many Jews locked inside, can be found to the east of the Old Town, next to the original site of Lipke’s house.

The face above the writing is that of Lipke

The synagogue memorial

For all this talk of 20th century history, Riga’s story actually goes back a lot further. The city itself is over 800 years old, with its cathedral being founded in 1211. Its charming Historic Centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and has a wide variety of architecture looming over cobbled streets. One quirky section is called the ‘Three Brothers’: three narrow terraced houses next to each other that all have differing colours and architectural styles.

Riga's imposing cathedral and square

The oldest is the white house

Nothing sits atop the Three Brothers, unlike a building near Riga’s Great Guild. A man was rejected from registering with the guild a long time ago, so put a statue of a cat on top of his roof to distract people looking out of the guild’s windows. Near the cat is a replica of a large stone head which was found in Latvia almost 200 years ago. The original is in Riga’s Cathedral.

The man was eventually invited
into the guild. He refused.

The stone head replica

Another quirky story of Riga’s past is connected to its medieval walls, specifically what is now called the Swedish Gate. The story goes that a young woman fell in love with a Swedish officer, whose barracks were outside the walls. One night he didn’t show up, so the woman went to look for him. In doing so, she broke curfew. Naturally, her punishment was death by being buried alive within the wall of the gate. This then became haunted, with the ghost only eventually being appeased by the creation of an art piece positioned further down the street. So the story goes…

Where the man in the blue shorts is looking
is where the woman was 'built alive'

The art piece, with the easy name of 
Geisterdenkmal, was made in 2015

Whether you believe the old tales or not, this Historic Centre district is beautiful to walk around. It’s even better to kayak through - an artificial canal has been created that gives you another gorgeous perspective, particularly when the sun is shining!

The canal follows the line of the city's old defensive moat

Riga's Freedom Monument, which survived
being taken down by the Soviets

As part of my rather long paddle, I passed Riga’s Central Market. I was told that this is the largest market in the world, which I really don’t think is true. Made of 5 hangars, it is sizeable, sure, but it’s not that big. What it does have - which I found out when walking around in it the day after my paddle - is lots of great food and by far the cheapest beer you can find in the city.

There are over 3,000 stalls in and around the Central Market 

It could be Europe's largest, though is much smaller than
the world's largest market, said to be Yiwu in China

The beer is sold in plastic bottles (they give you a cup
if you ask) - 1 litre was just over 3 euros

This paddle, undoubtedly the highlight of my brief stay in Latvia, also took me through the other side of the city which is bisected by the Daugava river. It took me downstream to the Riga Radio and TV Tower, which is hard to miss at any point in the city. Incredibly, it is the tallest structure in the European Union.

368 metres tall

You can't get much closer than this - the tower
is closed, due to be reopened in 2029

Around the corner, there was complete tranquillity. Gliding along a still stream through lilypads and long grass, it was as if I had been transported to somewhere like the Okavango Delta. Amazing to see a side of Riga that not many do, and definitely kept me going whilst I was paddling over 3 km against the river current to get back.

Apparently if you are born in July, this is your birth flower

This stream is called Biekengravis - I'll call it Latvian Okavango

I was told there was a surprise on my route -
a canoe slalom course! I...struggled...

Riga has been a very pleasant surprise. A city with a lot going on, whilst never feeling too big or too busy. A city with Old World charm mixed with modern amenities. Relatively cheap whilst not neglecting quality. I imagine the atmosphere when their not-original Christmas tree is erected is different (and much colder), but Riga has been a lovely place to spend a couple of summer days.

Salad very much optional

Paddling on the Daugava

Paddling in Riga's canal

Love you all,

Matt