21st of February dawned and marked a full week and what would also be my last full day in Latvia. The air was still a rather spine tingling -15°C though there was no threat of heavy snow, just the odd blanket of cloud so basically a fine, if rather “crispy” day. Myself and Inese got ourselves washed and ready, scoffing a few sandwiches washed down with a mug of hot tea. Can’t go on a trek on an empty stomach now can we? ;) Despite being a little rushed, we managed to get the tram into Rīga and from their via foot to the Centrālā Stacija sometime around 10:20 a.m. and waited for Arta. Today’s plan was to catch the 10:35 a.m. train from Rīga arriving at Sigulda at 11:40 a.m. but like all plans, those needed revising pretty sharply. Arta had been held up and unfortunately didn’t meet up with Inese and I at Centrālā Stacija till sometime around 10:40 a.m. by which time our train for Sigulda had already left.
Still, with the three of us together, we mulled over the timtable and saw that there was a train at 11:51 a.m. arriving at Sigulda at 1:09 p.m. taking 13 minutes longer as it called at all stops along the route. Not too bad and at least there was a train! However there may be the possibility that we won’t be able to spend so much time sightseeing once there, though it only seemed sensible that we should go anyway and “play it by ear”. So with that, we got our tickets from the ticket office costing 0.71 Ls each for the outbound journey.
Now with an hour to spend, one of the girls thought it’d be a good idea to grab a table at one of the restaurants in the Centrālā Stacija to have a sit down, get a drink and perhaps something to eat for an early lunch. All I recall was that it was a Turkish place on the upper level of the Centrālā Stacija. Inese thinks it’s called the Madžar but that name sounds more Yugoslavian or possibly Hungarian to me. In any case; Arta, Inese and myself ventured inside the prettily decorated restaurant and was promptly served by one of the waiters, directing us to a table in the far right hand corner by the windows overlooking the railway platforms of Centrālā Stacija.
Another waiter soon came asking us what we wish to order, we just asked for a large larger for me and tea for the girls if memory serves whilst we pondered some more over the menu which contained far too much choice for some hot food. As we deliberated, the Inese and Arta had already taken a shine to the two male waiters, being rather pleased at how their trousers showed off their behinds… wouldn’t catch me eyeing up the guys! Anyway, back to the serious business of ordering food… I personally settled on a beef shashlik as it looked yummy and spicy where as the girls chose something much milder. Don’t recall exactly what, but something along the lines of chicken with rice and a soup, which was to be shared between the two of them.
The food didn’t take long to arrive either which was a good thing since the time now was about 11:10 a.m. and we wouldn’t want to miss yet another train! The girls were certainly tucking into their food as I enjoyed the tender pieces of beef with grilled onions and peppers quite liking the delayed burn of the spices on my palate. Arta asked if my food was too hot to which I answered it was quite mild really and could have done with some extra chilli sauce to spice it up a bit more! I guess it’s all relative nd it is usually those that live in hotter climates that eat anything highly spiced. Granted, living in the Baltics or other such cold places, having an Indian Mutton Vindaloo or Caribbean Jerk Chicken would have one sweating so much freezing to death from hypothermia wouldn’t be out of the question! :D
Time now had just gone 11:30 a.m. so with food and drinks finished, we asked for the bill so that we could get ready for our train. Back down on the ground level having left the restaurant, the girls needed to go “spend a penny” (well, 0.10 Ls actually) and I waited outside for them. With everyone regrouped; Arta, Inese and I headed out to the platforms and boarded our train which was already at the station. Sure enough, at 11:51 a.m. the train started chugging it’s way out of Rīga heading towards it’s terminus, Sigulda.
With over an hour to spend, Arta came up trumps (literally) with a deck of cards and suggested we play a certain national Latvian card game called “Zole”, (diminutive form being “Zolīte”) which by a stroke of luck is played by 3 people, the dealer against the other 2 and the rules, though fairly simple are best explained by someone else. Theory is all well and good though in practice it seemed I was only good at loosing in this game with only the occasional flash of beginner’s luck saving the day on the odd occasion. Still, it made time pass pretty quick till all of a sudden Arta piped up pointing out the window at some huge complex which on second look turned out to be a bobsleigh track but apparently wasn’t open today so no adrenaline rush for any of us today! :(
The clock ticked 1:09 p.m. and we had arrived in Sigulda, the Switzerland of Latvia! Coming out of the train station with no idea where on I was supposed to be heading, I just followed the girls. Good plan or what? ;) As we walked along Raiņa Iela, even as a hardened urbanite I couldn’t quite get over how pretty the place was with picture postcard scenes of Sigulda Baznīca and my little friends the ducks came to join in on the fun too! :D From there we headed down Gaujas Iela and even met some cyclists slogging hard in bottom gear coming up the valley in the opposite direction. From our vantage point over looking the valley, I managed to take a snap of Turaidas Pils way across the other side of the valley meaning we all still a fair bit of walking to do! Soon we were at the bottom of the valley with a bridge over the Gauja River to cross, which we did and then carried on our trek along Turaidas Iela.
The route took a sudden change through footpaths of the snow laden forest, passing a water spring in a small cave and even a little stream. Eventually, we reached our first destination… Gūtmaņa Ala including the spot, according to legends where Turaidas Roze met her lover. As with all legends, there are always slight variations but it does go something like this:
The legend says that there was a beautiful maiden in Turaida castle named Maija who loved the Gardener from not-too-distant Sigulda castle. Every eligible bachelor, including a Wicked Foreign Soldier, sought for Maija’s hand–but she loved only the Gardener from Sigulda.
One night, in order to trick her, the Wicked Foreign Soldier forged a note from the Gardener asking Maija to come to Gutmana cave (a rendezvous point between the two castles). There he planned to rape her and force her to marry him. She arrived expecting a loving embrace and kiss from her beloved Gardener but instead found a deceitful ambush and a trap. The Wicked Foreign Soldier brought a companion and together trapped Maija helplessly in the cave. When she saw that there was no way out and that the men intended to take from her the only thing she had to give her truelove–her purity–she made a clever, yet costly deal with the foreigners.
From her pocket, Maija removed a delicate silk handkerchief saying: “This handkerchief is magical. If your sword can swiftly pass through its silken threads without stopping, you may have me forever.” With that statement she sealed her fate and wrapped the handkerchief around her neck. The naive Soldier, thinking he had easily won, withdrew his sword and with a swift stroke passed the blade through the handkerchief–and Maija’s neck–thus killing her. The Soldier’s moment of triumph turned to instant defeat.
Maija’s devotion to her truelove is remembered in Latvian legend and folk songs.
Centuries later civil documents were discovered in Sigulda’s archives which proved the historicity of this tragic event. According to these documents, the Soldier was eventually caught, tried and hanged for his crime.
Yet this could never bring back Maija… The Rose of Turaida.
A bit different from the version Arta told as she mentioned a magic scarf rather than magic handkerchief, plus the magic scarf was supposed to make her immune from the blow of the sword which the foriegn soldier/evil baron/generally nasty but dim man wanted to believe and ultimately scoring a huge own goal by slaying his object of desire.
Onwards we went up Turaidas Iela and soon had Turaidas Pils in sight with the time just gone 2:30 p.m. so we had covered quite a distance in a little over 1 hour! It did however take till 2:50 p.m., a further 20 minutes before we actually were in the Turaidas Muzejrezvāts proper and the entrance fee itself was a nice round 1.00 Ls. The 41ha site has loads to see with a number of highlights. One is the grave of Turaidas Roze where newlyweds visit her grave on their wedding day and lay flowers in the hope of experiencing the same fidelity and eternal love she demonstrated to her beloved, though obviously with a happier and less gruesome ending! Another are the ruins of Turaidas Pils itself and as for the rest… well, you’ll just have to find out for yourself though the Turaidas Muzejrezvāts‘ website has a nice virtual tour. :D
Having spent just over an hour on site, the time was closing in on 3:45 p.m. and all of us decided it was best to make our way back to Rīga. Asking the nice lady at the control booth at the entrance of the Turaidas Muzejrezvāts, it transpired that there was a minibus due around about 4 p.m. which goes directly to Rīga, a bonus as it meant there need not be another long trek by foot down the valley to Sigulda from Turaida to catch the train! So we all duely waited…
The minibus did finally arrive, a little bit after 4:10 p.m. and by a stroke of luck just happened to be 3 seats left; one each for Arta, Inese and yours truly. The girls nattered amonst themselves on the back row whilst I sat a few rows in front watching the scenery go by as we sped westwards despite the icy driving conditions where the equivalent in Blighty, roads well cleared of snow and ice would have drivers crawlling along at pathetic single digit speeds, metric or imperial.
The 3 of us made it back to Rīga 5:30 p.m.-ish and it was time to get some dinner to fill now empty stomachs and quench thirsty throats! Centrālā Stacija was just across the road from where we alighted the minibus and elected to go to Pizza Jazz as it good value and tasty. Inese picked a table and double checked with Arta what they wanted to drink and eat, them myself and Arta went up to queue and be served. The girls once again shared their food, getting a 9″ ham & pineapple pizza, which may have also had mushrooms on it whilst I opted for something spicy yet again in the form of a 9″ chilli beef & pepperoni pizza all to myself. Mwhahaha! :D Fearing any beer would probably send me straight to sleep and thus making rather poor company, I opted for a nice glass of fresh orange juice whilst the girls shared a large pot of tea.
With food on the table; we ate, drank and nattered amongst ourselves though there was light relief in the form a pigeon which had seem to have got rather lost and flying around the inside of Centrālā Stacija and the little kids in the restaurant rather excited with this moderately unusual occurance! I did manage to pursuade Arta in trying small slice of my pizza having had a bit of theirs, to which she did remark it wasn’t quite as spicy as she feared and that it was indeed quite delicious. Couldn’t get Inese to do likewise though! :D
Rounding off the first half of the evening as food and drink had been consumed, Inese figured that her and I could go watch a movie since Arta needed to be going soon as she had other errands to do. Still, all 3 of us did head a down along 13. Janvāra Iela to Forum Cinemas. I was flexible in what the 2 of us were to watch and let Inese take her pick, to which she chose a girly one that is Intolerable Cruelty, a romantic comedy starring George Clooney, Catherine Zeta-Jones and so on. The time was only 6:30 p.m. give or take a bit and Inese managed to tempt Arta to join us for a make-shift picnic in the cinema hall on one of the upper floors for a sip of hot tea from Inese’s trusty thermos and some sweet pastries, where I was having terrible trouble with the latter and making a right mess with the crumbs all over what was a nice clean carpet! :(
Arta soon had to make her move though thanked Inese for the goodies at our impromptu picnic and we said our goodbyes. Myself and Inese then headed to the correct theatre for our showing of Intolerable Cruelty and I’ll spare any plot spoilers by fast-forwarding to 9:30 p.m. where we left Forum Cinemas and discussed what to do to conclude my last full day in Latvia. Inese’s suggestion was a good one… The best view in Rīga!
Difficult to say “no” to really, even though I was already most impressed with the ones at the top of Pēterbaznīca just a couple days ago.
We headed to Elizabetes Iela for the Reval Hotel Latvija where the Ladies’ loos, though I had to make do with the view from the Gents’ which I would say isn’t too shabby at all! Now the time had just gone 10 p.m. we decided to brave the Skyline Bar at the top of Reval Hotel Latvija and spend the last hour before heading back home. The waiter got us a decent window seat overlooking Rīga at night and on asking what drinks we wanted, I fancied a large larger whilst Inese decided upon a “Sex on the Beach”… Ooh la la! ;)
Inese and I chatted, covering mostly what I thought of my visit to her country and so forth. She also had a small moan about the Skyline Bar in that the service if you’re a local is rather subpar, as you tend to get ignored in favour of the foreign businessmen (or the women that seem to be attahed to them) whom are more able and/or willing to flaunt the cash, to which I replied if I wasn’t foreign enough to get half decent service then there would be no hope for either of us! :D 11 p.m. arrived and I got the attention of a waiter to settle the bill in full and we then made our way back to the chilly night and caught the trusty tram back home.
So… this is almost it and reaching the conclusion of my travels in Latvia where my flight leaves at 3:45 p.m. the next day so even with travelling plus checkin time, meant we could have a good long lie in! :D
