Riga

The last stop of the journey with my parents in the Baltics. The capitol city of Latvia is a gem of Art Nouveau architecture. A very European city with a well preserved historic center. The city's main marketing theme is that Riga, as a former member of the Hanseatic League, is still very much a medieval city. We ate several times in basement restaurants that looked authentic and also only served food, which would have been available 500 years ago. Circled by walls Riga easily translates into modern times. Outdoor cafes are the norm.

My grandma on my mothers side got increasingly sick during the time we were there. My parents were considering heading home early because she was about to die. Because the time difference between the booked flight and the next option was only 2 days we decided that they should stay.
We went to the cinema, visited the market which is housed in the old Zeppelin hangars, the traditional soviet cake and spend some time in the sun along the channel in the city center. We discovered remote parts of the city to see all the beautiful architecture. Rigas art nouveau is among the best in the world.

We also made a day trip to Juermala, which is the beach town of Riga. Foggy and cold is not how I picture a beach. But the locals digged it. And my parents liked it as well, as you can see in the picture.
Eventually we had to say goodbye. Afterwards I checked into a hostel for the night and checked the Internet. My grandma died about the time my parents had left for the airport. Rest in Peace Grossi

Pasvalys

I do not remember the name of the country style mansion where we slept. It was in the middle of nowhere. A three stories villa with high ceiling roofs. A huge garden around it and many workers trying to renovate the place which was already in a very good state, all financed by the European Union.

The next day we went to Latvia to a place called Rundale Palace. A baroque mansion built in the 18th century. We discovered the elaborate rooms and bedrooms of the dukes that used to live here with plastic bags wrapped around are feet. A true masterpiece in the middle of nowhere.

We also visited some ancient hills that were artificially put together by medieval villagers, to built their houses upon them. Afterwards they fortified the hills with wooden defences similar to the one visible in the movie The Thirteened Warrior by Antonio Banderas.

Vilnius

The capitol of Lithuania is a big place with many one way streets. We had to hassle a lot until we found our hotel. Which we upgraded to an apartment. We spent 3 nights here and were able to rest for a change. The schedule we gave ourselves was quite ambitious. But because of that we were also able to see a lot. There are many historic buildings throughout the city. Soviet buildings are almost not to be found in the center. Many orthodox churches with golden roofs are scattered everywhere. People are generally quite religious and do the cross on the chest, if they pass anything of religious value.

We ate at good restaurants and had wild pigs and other stuff we don't really know back home.

We also visited the obvious castle from where its easy to overlook the city center. Cars try to squeeze through the narrow streets. The Cathedral of Vilnius at the foot of the castle hill resembles a roman temple. After three days we went on to the country side again.

Kaunas

After a too long ride from Nida and some rain on the way we arrived in the university city of Kaunas.

As second largest city in Lithuania it is the centre of economic activity and Lithuanian culture. First we had to mess around with the one way streets, than we had to organize a map and finally managed to find the hotel. It was a pleasant surprise to see, that the hotel was a ritzy place and had all the amenities you could think of. I took bath in the bathtub. We took a short stroll, but were already to tired for sightseeing.  

The next day we went to the Trakai Island Castle which is a fairy tell castle, with a museum inside. I enjoyed that very much and recommend to visit it.

Nida

Nida is situated on the Curonian Split, a narrow piece of land reaching from Russia (Kaliningrad) all the way to Lithuania.

After taking the ferry to the island we headed to Nida. A village with 1600 inhabitants who live in funny houses at the Russian border. We stayed in a rather narrow room. The temperature was still quite low, but we managed to get out several times. First we visited a little bird sanctuary. The noise of all the birds was overwhelming. Later we visited the border to Russia. Some fierce fighting took place in the 20th century. Then we visited the Baltic side of the peninsula, which is much more windy than the Curonian sea side.

All settlements here are on the eastern side. One ill fated village got buried under a moving sand dune. It is now a small park with great views from the top. Thomas Mann spend some time here in the early thirties.

After just one night we went on to Kaunas.

Palanga

In the morning we drove to Liepaja which is a major port town which got a lot of attention from the Soviet government. They set up their Baltic naval base  and built warehouses for nuclear weapons just north of the city.

The city is trying to reinvent itself and is doing pretty good at it. We enjoyed the main sights with the exception of the naval port, which can only be visited with an appointment. Nice churches, a lively market and pedestrian friendly common space surprised us positively. After another warm soup we headed south to Palanga.

It is the Latvias busiest sea side resort and has a beach that lasts for 18km. There is also a wonderful city park in which we could even see deers grazing. Only a few of the many restaurants were open when we passed because the high season starts later. We drank a few beer after strolling the city and ate good.

Kuldiga

My mother had to drive all day from Karli around Riga up to the most northern point of the Bay of Riga and then down an outrages road down the west coast to Kuldiga. There was not much to see initially besides a huge dam south of Riga. After getting lost while driving along the bay we stopped at several places up to the tip of the peninsula. There mom took a short bath in the water which was close to freezing.

The road south from there has not seen any EU money yet and was in a poor condition. After driving carefully (slow) we finally arrived in Kuldiga. The apparent hotel, which was more an apartment didn`t look like much, but inside we found a newly furnished flat with all the gadgets you wouldn't expect. We cooked ourselves and had a family evening while dad was talking about his youth, where he travelled and how he met my mother.

The town is rather small and is full of one way streets. There is the common pedestrian, shopping street and a old castle consisting of a hill with signs of what used to be here.

There is also a river passing through with a long dam. By now most, if not all of the snow had disappeared.