When Mark was first considering coming to Riga, I must admit that we pulled up a map to see exactly where it is. I was surprised to see that Riga sits next to the Baltic Sea. Turns out, the Soviets recognized that beautiful area Riga is, and set up a few hotels along the coastline. One of those towns along the coast is Jurmala.
Jurmala is only 25 minutes (by car or by train) from Riga. It's a tiny town, but Latvia has done a wonderful job of making sure that it is everything you would expect from a resort town. Sometimes, I felt like I was at Disneyworld instead of a small Eastern European city because every flower box is filled, and the streets are immaculately clean, and the sun is shining. It's just lovely.
Through the town (and the surrounding area), the countryside is covered in birch and pine forests. I actually wondered exactly how there was going to be a beach anywhere. But while in Jurmala, you are never more than five minutes from walking over a hill (covered in the aforementioned trees), and there before you lay miles and miles of white sand beaches. This isn't the normal, obnoxious kind of sand either. Most of it is rather packed down, making it super easy to walk those miles and miles.
And I don't know if providence was shining down on us just for that day, but the weather was perfect. It was high 70's for air temperature, and 80 degree water. And because we are so far north on Planet Earth, and because it was partly sunny, we didn't worry about burning at all. I'm sure I don't need to mention that we have NEVER had this situation before. Usually we're ducking for cover, wearing layers of clothing, reapplying sunscreen every 30 minutes, and just generally hiding from sunshine in general. When Mark, Glo and John decided to walk the beach to find Pokemon, I was happier than a dog with a belly scratch to sit on my towel and sleep.
And another lovely thing about the beach? You can wade out forever and the water never goes above your waist! It took a long time for us to finally hit some water that came to our shoulders. We ended up sitting in the shallows, just talking and relaxing.
Mark really got his photographer's groove on, and came up with a great idea for a picture. Using the PANO choice on the iPhone, we shot a panoramic shot with Glo and Mark moving around me to set up another pose as my camera moved towards them. I loved how it turned out!
John is probably the most predictable person I know who is completely unpredictable. I knew without even looking that he was carving our initials in the sand...just like he did when we were dating. I honestly wish I had taken pictures throughout our lives of every time he does this. I never doubt that my man loves me.
I didn't want to leave. In fact, I'm finding that's a common theme about everything we do in Latvia. It's all so nice that we just don't want to leave.
Jurmala is only 25 minutes (by car or by train) from Riga. It's a tiny town, but Latvia has done a wonderful job of making sure that it is everything you would expect from a resort town. Sometimes, I felt like I was at Disneyworld instead of a small Eastern European city because every flower box is filled, and the streets are immaculately clean, and the sun is shining. It's just lovely.
Through the town (and the surrounding area), the countryside is covered in birch and pine forests. I actually wondered exactly how there was going to be a beach anywhere. But while in Jurmala, you are never more than five minutes from walking over a hill (covered in the aforementioned trees), and there before you lay miles and miles of white sand beaches. This isn't the normal, obnoxious kind of sand either. Most of it is rather packed down, making it super easy to walk those miles and miles.
And another lovely thing about the beach? You can wade out forever and the water never goes above your waist! It took a long time for us to finally hit some water that came to our shoulders. We ended up sitting in the shallows, just talking and relaxing.
Mark really got his photographer's groove on, and came up with a great idea for a picture. Using the PANO choice on the iPhone, we shot a panoramic shot with Glo and Mark moving around me to set up another pose as my camera moved towards them. I loved how it turned out!
I didn't want to leave. In fact, I'm finding that's a common theme about everything we do in Latvia. It's all so nice that we just don't want to leave.
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