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Blogs from Jurmala, Riga Region, Latvia, Europe
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Merry Mosquitoes and The Black Alder Swamp
Published: July 8th 2012Europe » Latvia » Riga Region » Jurmala
July 7th 2012
Breakfast at the weekend starts an hour later. The shops open at the same time breakfast starts. I only had 45 mins to go to the shops to buy a packed lunch, pack a rucksack and have breakfast. The breakfast lost! Three cups of coffee and some heavy black bread would have to suffice. Set off for the station in the early morning heat and, on arrival, realised that I didn't know the Latvian for Ticket Office! Having eventually bought a ticket, the nice lady in the office informed me that I needed to leave from Platform 3 - the only problem was that I didn't know the Latvian for Platform 3! Well, the 3 was easy, but there were quite a few "Something" 3! Finally, by walking towards the tracks, it became obvious where the ... read more
July 25th 2010
On Saturday Pastor Andrejs picked us up and took us down to the sea in Jurmala. This is a seaside city and is also where the president lives. In fact, we parked very close to his palace and walked down to the beach. The sand was very soft and the water was not salty. We went in the waves with the people there from Andrejs' church. The waves and current were very strong with 4m waves! The water goes out a long way before it gets deep. The others out there showed us that you went out a ways, then it got deep, then you got on a sandbar where you could touch. The section on the sandbar had a very strong current and waves. Some people behind us were swimming and got very scared, but ... read more
July 9th 2010
Early morning today! Got up at 5am for my flight, ugh. On the bright side, could have been worse had I slept back in Stockholm lol - 10min transfer and I was at the airport, good to go! I wish I were flying out of Stockholm instead of Oslo on my way back haha - their duty free had every imaginable flavour of Absolut Vodka… and of course, it being from Sweden was quite cheap. Bah. They also had a neat little package of “Swedish spirits” - a bunch of those small taster bottles - but I didn’t want to carry those around for another 2 weeks. I’m sure I’ll still find something that floats my boat in Oslo though ;) Also, I need to learn the Latvian, Estonian and Lithuanian words for sparkling/fizzy water as ... read more
June 15th 2010
Vanochtend me een beetje verslapen. Samen met de Duitse meisjes ontbeten dan afscheid genomen. Ik reed eerst terug naar het centrum om inkopen te doen omdat er volgens de routebeschrijving 50km niets zou zijn? Dit bleek achteraf niet te kloppen. De weg op zich was weinig boeiend, wel ging hij rustig door het bos. Onderweg passeerden er nog Polen op de motto die op dezelfde camping stonden die me met getoeter begroeten. In het dorpje Renda was de kerk zogezegd een bezienswaardigheid. Ik vond echter iets verderop een watervalletje in het bos veel mooier. Er was een trappencomplex dat er naartoe leidde. Ondertussen had het ook al een beetje geregend maar scheen de zon al terug volop. Net voor Kandava ging de route onverhard en toen begon het net hevig te regenen. Het zandweggetje werd een ... read more
July 22nd 2008
Riga’dan trenle çok yakın olan Jurmala'ya geldiğimizde sanki yeni bir ülkeye gelmiş gibi hissettik. Sokak isimlerinde kullanılan dil Rusça’ydı, hatta şehrin bir kısmında tabelalardaki sokak kelimesi bile Rusça yazılmıştı, sokaklarda dolaşan insanların büyük kısmı Rus’tu. Otele gitmek için minibüs beklerken durakta yaşlı bir kadın bizimle konuşmaya başladı. Daha doğrusu bize kendince bir şeyler anlatmaya başladı. Rusça konuşan ama birkaç kelime İngilizcesi olan kadına nereden geldiğimizi söyleyince Türkiye’yi bilmesi beni çok şaşırttı. Söylediklerinden çıkarabildiğimiz kadarıyla özelleştirmelerden şikâyet eden kadının SSCB’nin yıkılması, sosyalizm sonrası serbest piyasa düzenine geçilmesi sürecinde hayatı oldukça zorlaşmıştı. Sonra Lat olan ve belli ki kıyafetlerinden hali vakti yerinde olan yaşlı bir... read more
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January 21st 2008
it's cooooooooold. well, lots to put in here i guess, has been an interesting couple of days. i'll do the right thing and start at the beginning, makes the most sense really. ok, a matter of life and death in latvian was wonderful, not that i picked up a word of it but of course i pretty much know that film off by heart, so it wasnt really a problem. i must have looked a little silly talking over that 'may i remind you sir, we are not alive at all' bit. wonderful bit though really, probably one of my 3 favourite movie moments ever. GEEK. anyway, watched that, and went to sleep. after being rudely awoken by a cat, i got up and had a morning coffee and breakfast. breakfast consisted of these little slices ... read more
May 7th 2007
We took the train to the seaside resort of Jurmala for our last day in Latvia. ... read more
August 19th 2006
8/19/06 - The Beach and Flies Yesterday it was gorgeous and hoping it would be the same today, I decided to try to make my way to the beach (the Gulf of Riga, which yes is much nicer than the Gulf of Mexico). Relying on the “Baltic Guide, About Latvia” (graciously given to me by Kaspars K), I headed to the train station. It wasn’t quite as easy as I thought it would be but I prayed and God led me to where I needed to go. When I went to buy the ticket I thought the woman said it was 51 Lats (which is about $100) but then I realized she meant 51 cents (or basically 1 dollar to take a 40 minute train to the beach - you can’t beat that deal). I was ... read more
3rd April, Gotland Island, Baltic Sea (according to the in-flight “you’ve not crashed yet” screen, late afternoon.
Published: April 5th 2006Europe » Latvia » Riga Region » JurmalaApril 4th 2006
I’ve just spotted a sticker on the top of the wing saying ‘place ground here’ - I hope not! Meanwhile, the only English tune I can muster from the in-flight music system is Hanson, and we’ve been served something to eat in a tray. It’s not so bad, but I think I’m hungrier than they anticipate. I’ve stockpiled the bread roll and butter for later, and been offered another by my neighbour, who looks like the old man from the Werther’s Original adverts.... read more
July 29th 2003
After the hectic week in Riga a few days of rest and relaxation were called for. Matt and I headed down to Jurmala and the tourist town of Majori to find beach. We found about 10miles of it, golden sand stretching mile after mile in a big horseshoe shaped arc from Riga down. Things to do in Majori - much like Parnu really, a few bars, clubs and lots of people on holiday. We managed to find accomadation in a house just behind the tourist information centre. The old duck who runs the place really hasn't cottened on to the idea of service with a smile. The rooms were full of mosquitos but the showers were really good and the water - great both scalding hot and freezing cold available. For 5 lats (£5.50) a night ... read more
