We headed off this morning
(Elizabeth, John and Sue) on a 30-minute bus ride to the Latvian Ethnographic Open
Air Museum, covering almost 90 hectares of forest on the shores of Lake Jugla. The museum displays 118 historic buildings
from all Latvian regions - Kurzeme, Vidzeme, Zemgale and Latgale - dating from
the 17th century to the beginning of 1930s. Being off-season, we almost
had the place to ourselves and wandered from village to village, visiting
typical houses, fishing huts and boats, barns, potters’ sheds, churches,
windmills and typical Latvian farmsteads. We
stopped for a delicious morning tea of apple crumble slice and, later, for a
lunch of sausages, potatoes and soup. And we saw the first cats we have seen in
Latvia – just two of them (but more about cats later).
After
a very enjoyable and leisurely four hours we caught the bus back to the Old
Town, in time to catch the Changing of the Guard at the base of the Freedom
Monument. The Guard of Honour was
present at the monument from its unveiling in 1935 until1940, when it was
stopped by the occupying Soviets, but was re-instituted in 1992. The guard is present each day from 9am to 6pm
but, sensibly, is not required in bad weather or when the temperature is below –10oC
(that’s minus 10!) or above 25oC. Each guard stands for one hour and then has a
break for two hours. Since 2004 the guards also patrol every half hour
during their watch; they march off from the base of the monument and march
twice along each side of it and then return to their posts. The
guards are required to be at least 1.82 meters (6.0 ft) tall and in good
health, as they are required to stand without moving for half an hour.
Most impressive.
We
then sought out the “Cat House” a building whose top is adorned with two
sculpted cats. It is said that the owner of the
house wanted the cats to be placed with their tails turned towards the house of the Great Guild, which is nearby,
as he held a grudge against its members. It was later ordered that the cats
should be turned so as to face the guildhouse. Another quirk of this interesting town.
Then a stroll along Jaunelia
Street, lined with cafes and restaurants.
Scenes from a Sherlock Holmes film were shot here some year back, with
the street substituting for Baker Street.
Obviously this presented a photo opportunity for us. Then off to the Skyline
Bar on the 26th floor of the Raddison Blue hotel for commanding 360o
views over Riga – and a refreshing drink (including one, for Elizabeth, that smelt and tasted just like an after dinner mint).
Last stop was the Saint Alexander Nevsky church, a striking yellow and
white orthodox church, built in the 1820s and a UNESCO heritage site. Its highly ornate interior was brought
further to life when we entered as a service was in progress and we sat,
spellbound, listening to a choir of male and female voices supporting the
baritone voice of the priest. Beautiful.
So we board the Luxe Express bus in
the morning and leave Latvia for our final Baltic destination: Vilnius,
Lithuania.
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