Lat Vegas

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After a very early morning start, flying out of Liverpool, we arrived in Riga in time to meet our friends Craig and Julia. They had been in Lativa an extra day and after picking up a hire car, had spent the night in the coastal resort of Jurmala.

We were headed for Sigulda but first had to drive straight through the middle of the capital. It was snowing. After about a hour's drive, we arrived in Sigulda and after a quick search of the area, booked into a couple of rooms at the "Melnais Kakis" (Black Cat) hotel (a choice swung by the fact that they had a pirate-themed bar in the basement called the "Jolly Roger"). We dropped off our gear, had a long lunch in a local cafe and then set out to the National Park to brave the snow. We found castles, caves, cable cars and trees showing the signs of beavers (see photo).

After many hours of fun in the snow, we returned freezing and soaking with just time left in the day to shower, eat various pork-and-cheese based food (a winning combination in Latvia) and settle in for a long night of darts, pool
Beware of sitting down in yellow snow
and Aldaris beer in the Jolly Roger....arrrgh!

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