Latvia – Vicki & Scot in Europe

RIGA, LATVIA

Friday 4 September

The camp in Valmiera didn’t have any outside lights so it was incredibly dark during the night and it felt strange since we were the only ones camping there. They had a couple of ski jumps, both had perished a bit but they were fixing one of them up. The other looked like it was a bit far gone and would take some money to get it back into working condition.

We left after sitting at the office for an hour or so uploading photos via wifi for the blog and doing emails. On our way to Riga we stopped at a café/restaurant on the side of the road and really went in for a coffee, but they had a few things that looked nice in the warmers so we ended up eating a small lunch there with our coffee. We had a vege dish and some fish which in hindsight wasn’t a good idea. The fish was a bit ordinary and I don’t imagine it is easily purchased in this part, but we ate it and didn’t suffer. They had a very cute cat which of course I had a pat of. When we got back on the road we were quite close to the city. The roads were quite bad and then we started to get the dreadful drivers. At one point a car passed us and he only managed to squeeze back in front of us with literally a second or two to spare I thought we were all going to collide. Unfortunately I hadn’t had the video camera running at that point so I missed out on a great video. We had a few doing insane things similar to that, but not quite as insane. I realised what the lady had said about cars not sticking to the lanes as marked as the other side they were trying to get two abreast but there really was only room for one. There were road works and our side was only one lane so we didn’t have a problem with that. We passed our first vans in a few days and they were travelling quite close together and they were all from Netherlands, so we figured they must have all just left Riga – which was confirmed when we got to the campsite. As we hit the ring road of Riga, the traffic seemed to settle and it was just normal city traffic and not what I was expecting at all. We navigated quite well to the camp ground and drove on in.

We parked in one spot but a German lady came running over and asked us to move as they had a group of them coming for a get together and they wanted to park together. So no problem we moved over to the other side where a lady was sitting minding their van space and we pulled in beside them. When I asked her where they were from she said New Zealand and of course we though it funny that we were too. Sue and Rob are the first New Zealanders we have come across since travelling. They are from Auckland and had an Australian van they had bought over with them and were travelling around Europe and heading in the same direction as us. How strange to have parked next to them of all the people in the city camp. This city camp was about 20 mins walk across a bridge into the old town so very close. Sue and Rob kindly gave us a map of the town and told us where the markets were that they were headed off to. Since we had arrived early – about 2.30-3 we also then headed into Riga city to have a look at the markets. It was Friday afternoon so there were lots of people around. The markets were in 4 or 5 huge round rooved buildings joined together as well as a large outside area. They are the largest markets I have ever seen. When we walked into the first building it was the seafood building and you could buy anything there was available from many vendors. A lot of smoked fish, whole fish, huge fillets of salmon, trout, unknown white fish , caviar (massive amounts of it) just so much of it all. No wonder the seas are emptying, Scot reckoned it was all getting sent here, amazing. Then we walked through to halls with fruit and veges, spices, cheeses, smallgoods, bakeries with cakes for 0.35c (we had a couple). Outside were another huge lot of fruit and vege sellers – with copious quantities of berries, grapes, fruit we couldn’t even identify, herbs, you name it. We were quite amazed. When we read up about the market they said it was the largest of it’s kind in Europe and I would believe that. We bought 500g of raspberries for 1.50euro and blueberries, strawberries, some cheeses. Its bad really as we tend to go marginally overboard on what we can fit into the fridge when we see amazing food so cheap like this. Anyway, once we had what we wanted we headed back to the camp. Sue and Rob came and sat with us when we had all got back and spent some time chatting until it got cold. They gave us info on an app for freedom camping. This was their first campsite they had stayed in for a couple of years, so hopefully this app may help us find some free safe spots where we can save some money.

A bunch of guys arrived from Estonia during the night and they were quite noisy drinking and partying until the wee hours. There were quite a few of them and they were staying in two small caravans. Initially I thought they were gypsies since they were crowded in the caravans and were noisy and messy like gypsies generally are, but we realised later on that EuroBasket – a basketball competition was on here in Riga for several days and they were here for that.

We had another chat with Sue and Rob in the morning before they left and we headed into town and we swapped details to keep in touch. It’s a small world so the chances of being in the same place may be quite high as we both travel south through the countries.

We decided to bike over the bridge and then park our bikes up and walk around the old town. It was very late morning so we decided to have a coffee first. Nice to be in a country again that makes good coffee for a very cheap price. 1-1.50euro for a good cup of coffee. The Aussie dollar has dropped 15% since we left Australia, so things are getting more expensive for us as we lose more money the more time goes on, but even so, 2-2.50aud is cheap for a coffee. And great cakes for only about 2.50aud. We walked up through the start of the old town. One thing we have noticed here is that there are police everywhere. They are either parked up watching, or on corners or walking patrolling. Not sure if this is normal or if something is happening as they were doing the same in Estonia. We came across a couple of weddings where the wedding party was having photos with the beautiful buildings in the old town. What awesome photos they would get. We went to take some more cash out, but the ATM didn’t give me any money and I am hoping it didn’t take it out of my account either – am still waiting to check.

There were little pockets of people selling paintings, knitted garments and amber is a very popular item to sell here as well. We saw beautiful buildings with gorgeous architecture and churches and then Scot spied a Kiwi bar. Of course we had to go in. When he told the lady there we were from NZ she said they give a free beer to Kiwis who come in. She gave us both one – a very large one. I don’t drink that much beer but I hadn’t realised she was pouring me one too. We spoke to an Aussie guy who was sitting in the bar with his dog who lived in Riga. His dog – Frankie – was a very cute cocker spaniel. We had another drink – this time mine was a cherry beer – a Kriek – nice. Then an English guy and a Scottish guy came in with a man who was born in Dunedin but lived there in Riga. We got talking to them and then they shouted us a drink (or 5). They were there in the Kiwi bar to watch a rugby game between Ireland and England, but were in Riga for a ‘boys’ weekend. Well you know what happened next, beer, rugby, great people to chat to and before I knew it the afternoon had gone and it was about 6pm. I knew Scot was pretty trashed so thought we had better head away before he got worse. I was way too late, after a couple of falls (and probably a few bruises) trying to get home, we ended pushing our bikes the 2km back to the campsite as Scot couldn’t ride. I won’t say any more, but those who know me well will know how I was feeling – apart from the dreadful migraine I then succumbed to by the time we got home. No food, a few ciders or cherry beers does that to me these days.

Alistair and Quentin whom we met at the Kiwi bar live in England and we hope to catch up with them when we return next year. One of the great things is the lovely people we keep meeting as we travel. My address book has so many more entries and I am loving that at some point we will get to see all these people we have met, once again.

The next morning, up reasonably early as we had a lot to fit into the day we now had left to see Riga. I was feeling a lot more comfortable with this city that had me quite apprehensive and it was great to feel that nothing I had read was justified. I couldn’t see any of the aspects that people had described as being so bad. The ladies in the markets didn’t speak any English, but they were all very accommodating and we managed to convey what we wanted and didn’t receive looks of contempt. The people we had met around the town were all incredibly friendly and helpful and we didn’t get run over on the road, cars were courteous on crossings, and I didn’t even feel unsafe at any stage, even with Scot staggering beside me walking home. I love when feelings change like this so that you do a complete turnaround.

We headed into the city the same way and again parked the bikes up. We had buildings ear marked on the map so we didn’t miss them. All through the town were supporters of the teams that were playing basketball chanting and clapping for their team. We managed to see the Cats house which is opposite the Small Guild and the Great Guild buildings. Everywhere in Riga there are things dedicated to cats. A lot of their souvenirs have cats on them. The black cat is a very popular icon for the city. The story we were told is that the Germans controlled the Guild and when a Latvian man tried to join they wouldn’t let him to join. So the Latvian started up his own Guild over the road from the Germans Guild and the Latvian put two cats on his roof both with their tails up and bums facing the Germans Guild. This being the height of insult to the Germans, after some time they told the Latvian that he could join their Guild if he turned the cats around. The cat has been a symbol of strength in the city ever since. We visited the Blackheads buildings which are iconic in Riga and just have beautiful architecture. We walked around the city looking at as many historic buildings we could. We eventually stopped for lunch at the Wok to Walk – not normally my thing but their food was very fresh and nice. We walked around the back of the old town to where the Russian Orthodox church was and they have the most lovely green strip along the sides of the canal that runs through that part of the city. Beautiful gardens and they had lots happening. There was a big stage set up that they were sound tuning likely for a concert after the basketball that night. We saw the freedom monument and then walked on past the French embassy whose building was beautiful. We then saw the Russian Orthodox cathedral. What amazing architecture – so impressive and this one was very spectacular inside. I really wanted to take photos but they aren’t allowed. The inside of this was up with the best of the churches I have seen.

We then visited the museum of occupation. There wasn’t a lot to see like most museums but it told the story of the years of occupation that Latvia (and Estonia and Lithuania) had to endure. On our side of the world we heard a lot about what happened to the Polish during WWII but we never heard that both the Germans and the Russians killed a lot of people from these Baltic states.

At the beginning of the war Russia had already taken over the Baltic states but then Nazi Germany and Russia had a pact that they would fight the allies. But Nazi Germany betrayed Russia and attacked them taking over the Baltic states during WWII. The people thought that Nazi Germany would look after them better than the Russian and let them become autonomous states, but unfortunately this didn’t happen and a lot got conscripted into the army to fight Russia. Nazi Germany took something like 90,000 Latvians, 12,000 Estonians and 24,000 Lithuanians and exterminated them all – the numbers actually change depending on what you read, but a large amount more than that were killed. Russia and Nazi Germany were still fighting and unfortunately that meant that people ended up fighting their own family at times since some had been recruited into either of the country occupiers.

Once the Germans had been defeated Russia then took back over the Baltic states where they stayed in occupation until 1991 when each of these countries pushed for and were successful in declaring independence away from Russia. Within a couple of years Russia had to remove it’s troops and equipment from these countries.

When you learn what the people in these countries have been through it’s not hard to have immense compassion and respect for them and realise how proud they must be of what they have achieved by being able to embrace modern society.

When we left Riga the roads deteriorated into a dreadful state. It didn’t look like any work had been done other than patch up holes for decades. When thinking about it, I imagine when the Russians withdrew from Latvia they wouldn’t have left any money. So in my mind I am thinking it has probably been something that the Latvian government has not had the money for until now where we see them starting to completely re-do a lot of their roads.

So, after visiting the museum of occupation and having a great history lesson (I am learning so much through travelling), we spoke to a lady who worked there and she said that Russia are still saying that they could have their tanks and army in their country within 48 hours and still think they have the right to do this and the Americans are telling them they can have theirs there within 12 hours. There is obviously still a major threat from Russia in the whole of this area. I guess you only need to see what is happening with Ukraine to know that Russia is still not happy with their existence.

We then continued across to the market to buy some salmon for the next couple of days. We had a drink in one of the cute bars in one of the many market type squares that exist in the city. As we were sitting there we heard chanting and a group of people walking through the streets. Some were carrying placards so I thought it was a demonstration of some kind and Scot thought they were basketball fans. Not sure who was right as we never found out, but there were a lot of them gathered together in one area all chanting some slogan. We stopped past this lovely colourful store that had ornaments that I couldn’t help but take pictures of. We ended up going inside and couldn’t help again but buy a small colourful memento. The German man who designed and made the creations unfortunately died a couple of years ago at a young age of 52. Scot keeps getting inspired by all the beautiful artwork, paintings etc and can’t wait to get to Greece so he can create some himself.

We picked up our bikes and headed back to the camp before dark as even though we do have lights we have never put them on the bikes and forget to take them with us!

Riga is a city full of surprises and is a lovely city to explore. I want to come back here and stay in the city and see Riga at night. Yes I have done a complete about turn and really enjoyed our stay. I am very grateful we didn’t bypass Riga as we would have missed out on a lot of history and a great experience.

Monday 7 September

We get up and get organised to leave. Most people are leaving today – the German van contingent too. So there are only a handful of people left in the camp. We decided to drive out west to the coast through Liepaja and then down to Klaipeda in Lithuania. Sue had warned me that they had been told of road works out on the coast somewhere but she wasn’t sure where. I couldn’t look at the map and get roadwork stuff as the free Wi-Fi at the camp wasn’t working, so we made the decision to still go the same way. Just out of Riga we encountered our first lot of road works – well this lot went for about 48km – get that! They have lights set up, but they aren’t controlled according to how many cars there are and they aren’t triggered by the last car through or anything like that so we sat at each set of lights and turned off the van for about 5 minutes each time. I lost count of the lights we went through – easily could have been 20 or more sets all up. The road surface we had to drive across was the worst roads I have driven on in years. The poor van, we are wondering what may have gotten broken by all the shaking and juddering it encountered. Awful really, we hate having the van subjected to that, but once you are on that road there is nothing you can do but keep driving.

Anyway, we got to Klaipeda and due to not being able to get any wifi to see where the free camping sites were on the app that Sue and Rob told us about we headed to a known campsite on the north side of Klaipeda (an inexpensive one). A group of German campers were already here and they had a little dog I am sure we have already seen in a camp ground we have stayed at recently. There aren’t many travelling around this part of the world so I am sure we have seen them before. Anyway, we will head off earlyish in the morning so we can get to Kaunas tomorrow to have a look around.

At this stage Lithuania’s roads are in better condition than Latvia’s roads so are much easier to get where we are going on time tomorrow.

You need to look up to see the best parts of the buildings

Having too much fun with watching the rugby

PARNU, ESTONIA AND VALMIERA, LATVIA

We were up reasonably early for us and left the marina around 10ish after a shower, this time separately as the lady in the office was watching, bugger another 2 euro wasted. After emptying the toilet cassette we navigated through the city and on the road south to Parnu on the coast. It was raining a bit but not too heavy as we threaded through the morning city traffic. As we passed through the outer suburbs we noticed lots of cops on some sort of patrol or sentry duty on intersections and outside buildings. We are still not sure what that was about whether it was normal for a Tuesday morning or a security or refugee issue as there was a major alert out of Hungary where the refugees had shut down the train station trying to get to Germany but through Austria. They now have figures of over 250,000 this year mainly Syrians so a huge problem.

It was pretty quiet on the road except for lots of trucks, no campers or caravans seems they have all gone home or staying in Tallinn. Actually we were the only campervan on the ship from Finland and there were only a handful on Finnish vans in Tallinn – doesn’t seem like many come to these European countries. We stopped at a highway stop for a coffee then drove on to Parnu. It was still raining when we got to the camp (again where would we be without the tablet) and found a nice spot overlooking the river. Not the biggest or prettiest of camps but within a 1km walk to the town and all facilities. We managed to get a couple of loads of washing done but the dryer wouldn’t tumble so pain but got them hot then hung them out in the van. Vicki’s ingenuity came to the fore and we emptied out the cupboard and hung some washing in there and turned on the heater and it acted as a warming area with the sheets hanging off the doors. Very efficient and dry in a couple of hours and also a cosy little van with the sound of rain on the roof. Great wifi here so explored the net, caught up on the sport while Vicki did the more important task of sussing out campsites for the next two countries. Had a nice ready-made salmon fettuccine meal for the 3^rd nite but still yummy.

It was only misting light rain when we walked into town the next day and halfway in thought we should have taken the bikes but too late. Like a lot of these places they have an old town for tourists then surrounding modern shopping centres and buildings which are not really for tourists. We had a wander around in the rain then found a lovely warm café for coffee, cappuccino and a tasty cherry tart. The drinks were so nice we had another round and then the place started to fill up with lunch people so we left. By this time the rain was still coming down but a bit harder. So brollies out we walked down to the seaside area through beautiful oak tree lined streets, parks and residential dwellings with the occasional restaurant or café. Obviously this area would be buzzing in summer as it is a very popular with locals and tourists but as the summer has now ended it is quiet especially today with the rain. The beach is a really well laid out area with lots of children’s play areas, volleyball nets, sun loungers, changing booths and even an elephant slide out in the water which would be great for the kids when the tide is in. It looks a very safe beach and was originally established by the Russians in the late 1800’s and they built a larger resort spa and mud baths which they have just reopened. The whole area is surrounded by spectacular parks, rotundas, flower and trellis lined avenues and even today, raining and grey, the beauty is evident. Vicki had to go to the loo so she went to one where a lady looks after it and keeps it clean. It cost 40c and great to help to keep someone in work and small price for cleanliness which we don’t see often. Unfortunately I am a jew and hate paying to go to the loo so a little way along I find a secluded free tree to contribute to nature.

Carrying on we find a large building which is supposed to be Estonia’s largest pub but it is closed for the rest of the year as there would be no custom to make it worthwhile now. We see a poster advertising some show which looks quite cool and when I see another smaller one I feel I have to have it for our future bar. But as I am souveniring it a lady comes along then turns back around walking towards us talking on the phone like she was providing our description and giving me what Vicki said was a filthy look. The little poster was now out of date so surely who cares but maybe they are precious about tourists taking things but who knows. Vicki started getting up me about how we have to be bloody careful in other countries doing something which we know is trivial but not worth the danger (seems to have forgotten the (bigger)poster we ‘acquired’ inside a Helsinki bar) (Actually I wanted to ask if we could have it and Scot just took it…V). Sure enough two minutes later as we are walking through a park to the little café we had spied for lunch we heard sirens and a cop car heading towards the beach. Not sure if it was us related but Vicki still didn’t want to swap rain jackets with me as we slunk further into the park to hide. Hopefully the cops saw the other poster that was left and put it into the too hard basket or hopefully cautioned the lady for wasting police time. But we have heard the police are on the take in this part of the world so any excuse may be attractive. (I was literally shitting myself and felt sick….V)

However we had a nice lunch V fish soup and me a dish of olives, capers, artichokes & oven grilled capsicum with a brioche yum yum. After that we headed back to the old town looking a statues and monuments on the way and walked around the 1400 bastion surrounding it which now has a small marina and walkways. We didn’t feel the need to see any more of the old town so walked in the steady rain back to the camp earlier than we normally do for beer & cider and a warm van. V got to pat and cuddle a camp pussycat that was happy to sit on her knee for a bit making her very happy. Tea is the last of the fettuccine so glad that it is all gone now. A small port and chocolate rounds off the day.

(I continue..V)

When we left Tallinn the outer areas of the city were interesting. A lot of the houses look really old but most were in a very poor state of repair on the outside. It seems as if people are unable to afford the upkeep of the outside of their homes – mostly timber. It is a great shame as even if they are lovely on the inside the outside looks so shabby. Even in the city though I have to say that although a lot of the buildings were very nicely done up, there were those that were in great need to re-rendering and painting. I imagine it is quite costly to do and most here wouldn’t be able to afford the upkeep I am sure. As we hit the rural areas even the bush looked quite unkempt and unloved. There is a lot of rural land that looks like it is unused by anyone and then you come across the standard pine forests. Here, they take off all the lower branches so you can see right through the forest easily – looks funny compared to the forests in Scandinavia.

This morning we left Parnu and were going to head across to Tartu before then heading down into Latvia but decided we weren’t going to go into Tartu since it is the second largest city and what would be the point so we took a lower road across the bottom of Estonia and drove via Valga which is a town divided by the border between Estonia and Latvia which driving through seemed quite strange really.

As we were driving in southern Estonia the countryside changed and became far more organised with farms and where there were houses they were better looked after and had nice gardens and a lot were growing their own veges and flowers which was great to see. The southern area is certainly really lovely and was worth seeing. As we drove through Valga and crossed the border the road deteriorated and the cars became old rundown heaps showing what appears to be less well off people in Latvia. Having said that, the houses and gardens still looked really well kept and tended to. We followed a truck almost all the way from Valga down to Valmiera on a road he didn’t want to go fast on as it was so bad, so we took it easy as well and maintained the slow speed and watched while everyone crazily overtook us both even other trucks. We are in a small campground on the outskirts of Valmiera, Latvia and are the only ones staying here. We didn’t see a Campervan or Caravan all day so feel we are a bit on our own now. It will be interesting to see how many are staying in Riga when we arrive tomorrow.

I must say I am completely out of my comfort zone (even though Scot isn’t). There is a lot of very unpleasant things to read on the internet about Latvia and how bad Riga is etc, but I have not let that influence our travel hence tomorrow we are going to stay in the city camp in Riga. Initially we were going to drive straight through Latvia and not even stop, but I think that is a copout and we should at least see some of the country and Riga is supposed to be really lovely, even if it had/has the largest crime rate in Europe. This country is still part of our experience and adventures and it will form part of our memories as much as every other country will. We will NOT be acquiring any posters or even any wild flowers on the side of the road here. I won’t even take a free sugar sachet! We had to bike into the town here in Valmiera as we didn’t have any coconut milk for the dinner Scot is cooking for the next few nights but I just don’t feel comfortable. Maybe it’s because people look at the van and then seem to look at us with contempt or something I’m not sure but this part of the holiday for me is done a little under duress and I am not finding it as enjoyable. I will look back on it I hope and think it wasn’t so bad. I am concerned about driving into Riga tomorrow though as it is supposed to be quite insane and we have to drive right into the heart of the city – maybe I am a sucker for punishment, but I will have the video recorder playing for sure just in case. A lady at the camp in Parnu said people don’t stick to lanes and even though there may be two lanes they still drive three abreast. Stay tuned for the Riga report after the weekend – if we make it through…lol!

One hinge has just broken on our van door that now we have to look at getting fixed, but that is another story – unless Steve…..you could just pop over and weld the aluminium hinge together for us????