Latvian trip, discussion thereof, part 3. (including the best view from a loo in the world!)

Onwards with us to Sigulde on the last day we had the car, and enjoy the cable car across the valley we did, one of the attractions we missed last year. Of course it was too cold to spend any time on the far side so we just went across and came back. Cheap thrills.

Then we got stuck in the snow and had to pull the car out using our teeth and some dental floss that you should always carry just in case. Nah, it just looked like we got stuck, so I took the picture. Sorry.

Hmm, now this is the biggest grotto in the Baltics, so it is. Gudmanala - good man's cave. Some legend surrounds it, but it escapes me now and I'm in a rush off to Rome, so if I think about it when I come back I'll stick in some links for your perusification. As you can see below, it wasn't made of the hardest rock in the world. Very crumbly sandstone (engineering classification notwithsdanding)

Then after we got going again, we thought we'd forgotten something. D said Dam. What was it? said I. No, Dam he repeated, pointing. This Hydro electric scheme (or the scheme of which this dam is a part) provides up to 50% of Latvia's electricity. Impressive. So they've Kyoto sorted already then!

This is the view from the road along the reservoir. Yes, we did drive it. A little hairy at first but you soon learn which rut to follow.

The last day I spent wandering again, and found myself having lunch on the 27th floor of the Reval Hotel. Lovely views, hampered again by mist unfortunately, but the gold trim on the Orthodox Church still shone through.

I was surprised at the view from the loo, and thought you mightn't believe me if I told you so once I made sure there was noone in the bathroom at the time, I took a picture of what I think is the best view from a loo in the world.

Off to Rome shortly, more from here after that! Oh, and best of luck to Ireland in the rugby in 2 minutes.

Latvian Visit, Part the second, of the second visit. (incorporating a discussion of the Crocodile)

The next day, we went to Western Latvia. Primarily, the purpose of this trip was to see the statue of the crocodile in Dundaga. Yes, I know you're curious, and the legend goeth thusly. A man named Blumenthal from Latvia is regarded as one of the prototypes on which Crocodile Dundee is based - A man who left Latvia in 1945 for Australia and went on to become one of the most famous crocodile hunters (obviously based on his experience with Latvian crocs......?) in Australia.

That was pretty much it for Dundaga, there's a nice looking castle there, but we had a bit of a drive ahead of us so we made tracks after a traditional picnic of bread and cheese. And orange juice. We took a local road (!) across country and became very adept at avoiding potholes.....actually we didn't. That was impossible! We had to take turns driving here due to the tiring nature of being pounded by potholes. Occasional sections of slush and ice added to the drama. Any queries in relation to the state of Irish roads should in future be referred here for comparison.

We arrived in Kuldiga a little later that afternoon and parked up for a while. A church we wanted to see was closed unfortunately, so we just wandered around. The river through Kuldiga was still frozen, and there was a dramatic flow through, so I didn't push himself in, tempted as he was by the fact that the ice looked remarkably like potato au gratin. That meant that the widest (possibly, but also amongst the smallest at about 1.5m high!) waterfall in Europe was not visible. We had a ridiculously cheap coffee and dessert here before making our way back along fog-bound roads to Riga.

The following day we took a shorter trip to the south of the country, and visited Rundales palace. This was the home of the dukes of Courland (follow through the link for details). This is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Latvia and rightfully so, as the decoration here is incredibly ornate and intricate - restored of course if I'm correct, but impressive nonetheless. 2 tasty omelettes and a drink each, and lunch came to a ridiculously low price of about €4 or so.

As this was a shorter day, given the driving extremes encountered on Saturday, we got back to Riga fairly early for dinner. I'm not sure when we saw these churches, but I'll leave you to marvel at their prettiness before finishing my reporting later this week...!

Visit to Latvia, instalment 1.

Last week I went to visit my friend in Latvia again. Took the Aer Lingus bus to Riga, at 0630 (and Dublin Airport was milling with people!) and arrived about 11, just in time for a rest. I spent Thursday afternoon wandering about Riga, stopping for lunch and coffee here and there. Bought myself a book to read whilst sitting - the War of the Worlds. As the church with a view was closed last year (beware of Monday in Riga), I visited it this year. As you can see below, it was a little, well atmospheric!

Also, it's worth noting that this church was almost totally destroyed (inasmuch as I could make out from the display inside - my latvian isn't great...!) during the World Wars, and has been recosntructed a little untidily since. Hence these fantastic cantilevered stairs....

Quite elegant I'm sure you'll agree. Anyway, it cost 1 lat (€1.30) to go to the top of the church spire, in a rickety old lift operated by an attendant. The lift made a journey up and down every 10 minutes. 5 would have been enough, it was quite cold and exposed up there.

After quite a long day, I retired early. Not before seeing some nice Art Nouveau buildings again though.

Friday morning we went to collect our steed for the weekend, which turned out to be a Ford Focus. With, importantly, heated seats. We found 2 or 3 to be the most comfortable setting, on the whole.

We took off to Jurmala for the afternoon. Jurmala is a seaside resort to the East of Riga, and while it was a little gray and bleak thanks to the time of year, there's a nice expanse of beach there and I'm sure it's lovely in the summer. That said, we were walking on the frozen Baltic Sea, which was cool.

More tomorrow!