Blogs from Jurmala, Riga Region, Latvia, Europe

Tehtiin päivämatka Jurmalaan. Ennen sinne menoa piti automaatista lunasta 2 euron lupamaksu. Jätettiin auto turistineuvonnan lähelle. Käytiin kävelykadulla kahvilla ja mentiin sitten rannalle. Väkeä oli liikkeellä ja aurinko paistoi. Jukka kävi kastautumassa, mutta kun vuorostani kahlasin veteen siihen asti, että vesi ylsi säärten puoliväliin, totesin veden niin kylmäksi, että päätin kääntyä takaisin. Rannan mittarissa oli lukemat 18 ja 13, joista ensimmäinen oli varmaan ilman ja jälkimmäinen veden lämpötila. Käytiin vielä syömässä Jurmalan Lidossa. Otin lohta. Palattiin takaisin vähän pidempää reittiä, eli nähtiin Jurmalaa pidemmällekin. Jukan kehotuksesta latasin puhelimeen Bolt-sovelluksen. Se toimi vastaavasti kuin Uber, eli sillä sai tilattua taksin ja maksu meni luottokortilta. Menin tapaamaan paikallista nettituttua. Kun lähdin hänen luotaan takaisin, puhelimeni netti ei toimin... read more

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

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

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

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