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Travels - Week 4 1 Week - 3 Countries This week starts in Estonia and though we had planned leaving on Wednesday, due to a workshop engagement and Mum not being 100% well, we stayed with the delightful Villems until Friday. For Mum this meant some extra rest (and finally a trip to the doctor!) and for me more time to drink wonderful Estonian Beer! On Thursday, while Mum and Ann were doing their teacher thing, Kristen (Ann's daughter) took me to lunch in a pub vying for a place in the Guinness Book of Records for having the highest roof of any tavern in the world. We ate soup out of specially made (and patented!) loaves of bread and had a great chat about the world, and yes the roof is really high! She made her way to her office while I made my way home. Friday was as late as we could put off leaving as we still had a few countries to see and absolutely no idea of what to do when we were in them, well maybe some vague plans and a hotel booked. So we got taken to the bus station in Taru at 6.30 am for our bus to Riga, the capitol of Latvia. The bus ride had the usual suspects - rude children with motion sickness, parents who could care less and those people who don't know how to share a seat. Besides that it was quick and the border control was painless. The quickness of the trip - only about four hours - lets you know how small these countries are. In the time it takes to get from Sydney to Canberra you have changed countries. The landscape changes to, slightly but perceptibly the trees seem different, the forests seem denser and the houses have slightly different architecture. You also start to see some of the Art Deco history that Latvia and especially Riga are famous for. We arrived in Riga just before midday and the weather was warm and sunny as it had been for days. We made our way to the hotel, ate a quick lunch and decided to stroll down to the city. Before we had even turned the first corner I could understand why Riga is famous for it's Art Deco architecture. Friezes and statues spring from the walls, naked men bear the weight of the balconies rather than support beams, rooms hang from the corners of buildings in defiance of gravity and this is all within a block or two of our hotel - a good 15 minute walk to the old town. We strolled along looking for some of the famous landmarks but soon became emersed in whatever we passed by, there is just so much to see and much of it is just beautiful. We made our way down to one of the churches whose spire has an observation deck, we made our way up it to decide that we had equally bad fears of either heights or falling - take your pick! And quickly made our way down. From the ground we noticed a really plain and modern building - black with no windows. We were intrigued by its central locale so had a look to find that it is the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia. We took a look inside and I, knowing a little about the soviet and Nazi times by now, was shocked - no horrified - by the reality in this building. Sometimes just hearing words I think we can filter out or simplify the reality into terms that we can mentally digest. This building contains more than just words, it contains the ruins of thousands - hundreds of thousands - of lives. The words just explain the documents and photos; the shattered remains of a hand-made violin; the hacked of ponytail of a 5 year old and the list goes on in a catalogue of pain and horror that brought me so close to tears I almost ran from the building. I, being from a land of peace, had never seen anything like it. For sure heard and read and been taught in hollow lessons but never seen. And I don't want it to sound like it is a big room based on the Latvians having a whinge about how tough they had it, because the whole place is based on how they survived with beautiful simple dignity scraped together from whatever they had left to work with - craft, song, language and dance - against empires of destruction and conformity. So, a little over whelmed, Mum and I made it back to the hotel via the huge market buildings between the bus and train stations (we were later to discover that they were built by the Germans as hangers for the Zeppelins of WW 1) and the markets were fantastic, for a few dollars we picked up enough food for the next couple of days.We both slept off the bus ride and big walk we had done quite well. The next day was a trip to Jurmala on the Baltic coast only a short train trip from the centre of town. We had great weather and I must say that I love the beach here - maybe just for contrast with Australia. Firstly, the sand is packed so hard on the flat shore that there were ladies in stilettos walking down the shore and not sinking. Secondly, there are more people on the shore than in the water, put a toe in and you will know why - FREEZING! Finally, to take a swim you must be very short, as the water doesn't seem to get more than waist deep for a kilometre or so from shore (that is a slight exaggeration!). We finished the day with some more sight seeing and wandering through the amazing streets of the old town. I love the feel in Riga, it is the biggest city in the Baltic states and was for a long time the biggest city on the Baltic; in fact it was, when under the control of Sweden, the biggest city in the Swedish empire. It has a cosmopolitan feel and isn't totally under the thrall of tourism like Tallin. We went out for dinner and made it back into the hotel as the light was fading (which was still around 10 pm though it wasn't dark till almost midnight). For Sunday we had planned a guided tour to Rundala Pils, a summer palace built by one of the Dukes of Latvia in ages past. The architect of the Summer Palace in St Petersburg also created this scaled down version. The restoration is fantastic and the building stunning from floor to roof and our excellent tour guide (though she whipped us a bit for time!) knew everything there was to know. Mum and I made a picnic lunch for ourselves before filling up on souvenirs at the gift shop. I just hope some of my pictures capture what it was like! After the trip back to town we were both at a bit of a loss as to what to do so we sat ourselves in a street bar to watch the world go by, and go by it did! A marching band with a huge banner strolled by and we soon realized that we had made it back into town in time for the beginning of the Latvian Song and Dance Festival - a once in 5 year event! We finished our beer and bar food and went round to the square we had seen a stage being set the day before just in time to hear a couple of the most incredible choral pieces I have ever heard - literally so beautiful my knees went weak - come from inside the Dome Cathedral. After that there was a short break and the stage filled with the Latvian choir that it takes 5 years to pick and train. The conductor, who had conducted the second and final piece from the cathedral, proceeded to conduct a piece that combined traditional, classical and modern music better than I have ever witnessed. There was the full choir, classical orchestra and a rock/jazz band all in the one piece. During this piece the dancers came out - and I almost mean that literally! No offence to anyone Latvian or of Latvian heritage who reads this - but the dancing looked, well… gayer than ME! After the first piece the speeches started - and not being Latvian-speaking people - it got a bit boring so we wandered back to the hotel congratulating ourselves on both our luck and good timing! Monday we planned to go to Sigulda Pils, a ruined castle to the east of Riga in a National Park area. We made a little mistake on the trains and ended up sitting in the train yards for an hour with me getting mighty shitty! But eventually we got on our way and the beautiful area made up for it. The park is lovely and huge and I would love to spend half the short Latvian summer hiking or biking around here. But with only half a day (we planned an overnight train for the evening) the cable car ride, a walk around the Sigulda Pils ruins and a quick meal were all we had time for. We caught the train back to Riga and to on the train for Vilnius in Lithuania. Now we planned the overnight train for two reasons - it was pretty cheap and saved us a night's accommodation. However with two sets of border control about 45 minutes apart around midnight, stereotypical Russian train guards and wildly uncomfortable sleepers… well Mum got some sleep (I don't know how she does it!) and I got to see the countryside change again with the lovely backdrop of the sunrise. Now my 'Lonely Planet' describes Lithuania in two words "flat" and "fertile" which I disagree with, compared to the other Baltic states I had just travelled through I saw the countryside as crumpled as a used napkin, rolling hills as far as the eye can see. Needless to say I take that book with a grain of salt now and check into everything it says a bit more closely! We got into Vilnius around 6 am and for the first time so far went into McDonalds just for coffee and the restrooms (well some hash browns as well…) but also to use the Big Mac scale - you know how ever much one costs can tell you the power of your home currency in comparison - the only positive use for Globalisation. We worked out where our hotel was and how long we had before they opened and wandered the town. We found the statue of Frank Zappa, walked through the stunning 'Gates of Dawn,' found a little place for a cheap breakfast (as apparently we need to eat every two hours now!) and got to register in at our apartment rental place just after they opened. We got to our lovely little apartment that we were apparently sharing with a Dutch man (I saw him once when I turned off the light in the bathroom by accident!) and had a nap while Mum went to do some post and explore on her own. I got up about 11.30 (still in the morning!) and went for some food and to try the local brew. Now a bit about Vilnius; it is a beautiful city and has lot of medieval architecture still in good condition giving it a strange feel caused partially by the ancient winding streets. The people have a sense of humour as well and there are young people and lovers everywhere. It is a groovy place that doesn't rely on tourism except as an after-thought - there is plenty of industry in Lithuania and Vilnius is its hub. I caught up with Mum about midday and we explored the town for a while and used some of her tourist info (gathered from the ever-moving tourist offices - check their locales on a daily basis!) to find a great place for dinner for some local fare and my now favourite Lithuanian Beer (I can't pronounce it or spell it but it's good - not like Estonian beer though…heaven) and Ceppilini (Zeppelins) made out of potato dough filled with meat and covered in cream - yes I am determined to get FAT! Wednesday we had a guided tour to Trakai a castle made from brick constructed in the 15th century. It has been gloriously repaired and our guide was excellent, even the mild drizzle of rain (the first in a week or so) didn't detract from the day. Trakai reminds me of the way a castle is supposed to be - moats and drawbridges, winding staircases and throne rooms. That evening, to divert any chances of festering cabin fever, I made my way out to the most intensely bizarre shopping mall I have ever been to. The eatery consisted of hanging restaurants all done in precociously over-the-top themes. My journey had the dual purposes of getting a raincoat and seeing 'Matrix: Reloaded.' Long story short - couldn't find a raincoat (bought an umbrella and it hasn't rained since - not even now in London!) and loved 'Matrix' maybe just because it was in English but whatever just loved it! Well that brings me all the way through 3 countries in a week. I promise week 5 will not take as long to write…give me a break - you can see how much I've been up to! |
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