Riga to Jurmala

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No biking today, but did train and walk quite bit.

Woke to cool overcast skies, later sprinkled intermittently until early afternoon. Then sun came out and heated up.

Woke ate at hostel, granola, wild blueberries, lox, bread, tea and coffee - same as yesterday.

Bought train tickets to Jurmala. We had read about this resort/spa area up the west coast, only 20 km from Riga. It has 5 miles of fine white sand beaches, with shallow waters of the Baltic sea.

The train took about 30 minutes to get to Majori in Jurmala. We were met with a slight drizzle when we exited the train at Majori. We had brought umbrellas and extra clothes.Initially need them.

We walked along the main tourist street - Jonas iela, where souvenir shops and restaurants line the carless street. We had coffee/tea and pastries to warm up, then continued down the street. We explored a park - Dizintaru Mezapark, many tall skinny pine trees with concrete and wooded paths. There were wild blueberries and strawberries in ground level. Pam was excited, the forager she is.

We climbed a metal tower that overlooks the treetops and one can see the Baltic Sea. Although the view was impeded by a low ceiling and fog. The climb was interesting, as you could see straight to the ground all the way up the stairway. This bothered some of the climbers.

We walked to the Kristaps Morberg summer cottage and botanical gardens. This was an iron plated, wood framed home, build in the Russian Historic mode.

From here we walked a harder packed section of the beach back to town (Majori). The cool damp weather turned to partly sunny, warmer.

Stopped for lunch at one of the beachside cafes. Had Chicken BBQ and Cheboyi. The chicken BBQ was grilled chicken with ketchup as the BBQ ?

Walked amongst several replenished Russian Historic homes. Made a delightful discovery in finding the home of Elza Rosenberga - who went by Aspazija. She and her husband ( Raina) are well known writers/poets in Latvia. They bought this home in 1933. They were here for several years. After their deaths it exchanged hands many times. Currently it is a museum dedicated to Apazija. We stumbled upon this Russian Historic wood home and were given a private tour. The home has been totally refurbished and stocked with period furniture. This tour was great.

We took the train back to Riga and home to find a good restaurant for our last evening meal on our trip.

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