Latvia!

Our itineray for the following day read, in part, "Breakfast at hotel, private transfer to Cesis...." Unlike our previous transfers, usually in small vans or comfortable cars, our transportation was a 20 passenger bus- for the two of us. We were a little taken aback, but the driver said, "Is okay", so off we went.

We traveled through the southwest of Estonia and into Latvia, mainly through pine forests, past little villages mostly comprised of wooden houses, before our early arrival in Cesis. It is one of the oldest towns in Latvia and doesn't receive a lot of tourists. The clerk at the front desk thanked us for visiting "our small place".

We were able to check in very early, which allowed us to leave our luggage in our room with the pretty view

and wander around the town, visiting an art gallery featuring sculptures, drawings, and paintings by Latvian artist Janis Mintiks

and then stopping for coffee in a cafe. We were the only patrons just drinking coffee- eating sweets seems to be a regional pasttime. The display cases are full of marzipan creations, macarons, meringues, pastriess, cakes, puddings, and cakes sitting in a bowl of pudding.

Later, we met Oskar, our guide for the walking tour of the town. As our travel agent described him, he was "born in the wrong century". A knowledgeable and funny fellow, with his mutton chops and tiny wire framed glasses, he looks like he would be more comfortable in the 1800s than in today's world. He kept apologizing for telling us more bloody stories, but I think he liked the bloody stories best.

We visited a medieval castle, climbing to the top of a very dark, steep and winding tower- not my favourite activity! but worth it to learn about the history of this castle built by the Livonian Order of the Brothers of the Sword in 1206. 

apple cider season- sales are slow on the castle grounds

Cesis Castle Manor House- used as a residence in the 18th century

the tower from ground level

a nook off the first floor- probably used as a private sleeping area

Oskar then showed us various sights of the town while telling us about the changes from medieval times to now.

steps to the river

Love Island, which Oskar pointed out has no access

Barry in the old town

We enjoyed an early dinner (at 7:00), trying a local "white, unfiltered" beer. Don't really know what that means, but it was delicious.

  

The next morning our bus was waiting for us and we were taken to Sigulda. Another day, another castle tower to climb. We first visited the Livonian Castle Ruins.

Not part of the ruins! There is so much public art here, especially scuptures. This grouping represents the Latvian armies- made up of commoners rather than professional soldiers and is placed just outside the entrance to the ruins.

Next was the deepest erosional cave in the Baltic States- 19m deep, 12m wide, and 10m high. Not so big by our standards, but it is also a place of history and romantic folktales. Here we learned the story of the Latvian Romeo and Juliet and Barry gave a lesson in the cave's geology to our guide.

the cave with some of the 16th century graffiti

where the Latvian Juliet was buried (this story wasn't fiction)

All of our touring today was set in the area known as the "Switzerland of Vidzeme" (one of the three regions of Latvia) because of the area's rocks and caves formed from red Devonian sandstone.Next was a wooden church built in 1750 and the Turaida Medieval Castle, which was built in 1214. This tower was much easier to climb, as the stairs were wider and we could actually see where we were going.

first platform

The views were spectacular.

Our final stop was the sculpture garden at Dainu, or Folksong, Hill. The original sculpture honours Kisjanis Barons, who collected and archived thousands of folksongs- the Latvian peoples' method of sharing news and preserving historical tales. 

Since then, the sculptor I. Ranka has added more than 25 additional pieces, each of which represents one of the folksongs.

 

 

Maria, our guide, told us that Latvians revere nature, especially this area. Thousands of people come to Dainu Hill on the Lativians' biggest holiday- the summer solstice.

Then, it was back on the road and on to Riga.