Sigulda

As much as one doesn't really need to leave Riga at all, we wanted to see just a little bit of the country outside of the city.  Mark had wanted to visit Sigulda, so we had a destination.

Sigulda is only an hour or so southeast of Riga.  An hour that is by Latvian highway.  In the States, it might be just a 30 minute drive.  However, Latvia does not seem to put much stock into people driving around the country, judging by their highways (and I use that term loosely).  It's a four lane divided highway, but the road has been repaired so many times that it's a bumpy ride, and I do believe the construction manager forgot his LEVEL on the day it was built.  I seriously had to keep my eyes on a fixed point in the distance, because my stomach thought I was riding one of those wooden roller coasters at Cedar Point...and that's NOT a good thing :-)

As we were driving, I did take a moment to look out my passenger window, and I noticed once again the very different countryside.  The land is covered in pine and birch forests, but unlike most pine forests I've seen where the ground is covered in pine needles (and nothing else), the floor of all forests in Latvia is covered in soft, long grass that looks like it's coming out of very loamy soil.  I don't know how the grass grows with the falling pine needles, but it does.

Too, it feels like we've stepped back in time (or place perhaps) to a Grimm's fairy tale.  I would see some random walker, or bicyclist, moving along the side of the road.  And when I say bicyclist, I'm not talking a Shimano or Colnago bike, pedaled by a sinewy, sponsor-bedecked athlete.  I'm talking a grandma-looking woman, in a skirt, pedaling her 50-year-old pedal-brake Schwinn with a basket on the front.  I kept asking John where he thought the characters came from, because we could see no house, or village nearby.  I honestly think they are ghosts who have stepped out of the Latvian forest, pedaling to their ghostly market for dinner.  Or maybe they are out collecting children for their dinner of stew and brown bread.  I just don't know....

Anyway, we finally arrived in Sigulda, carrying some nausea and a small migraine out of the car.  We stopped by the iconic "i" for information, seeing as I couldn't find much on the internet.  Turns out, Sigulda thinks it has a lot to see and do, judging by the 22 items numbered on the map.

We headed to the local cable car which takes tourists across the Gauja valley and river.  John wondered if we should be worried, when we could see four car batteries strung together under the eaves, powering the thing.... It wasn't the Alps (we know, because we've been there), but it was a lovely view.

I guess there is the option to actually hike across the valley also, but we didn't have time.

And across the valley, there were supposed to be castle ruins.  Agreed, the ruins are definitely ruinous, with one wall of the old castle standing.

However, the best part of Sigulda isn't on any map.  Turns out, there are hiking trails everywhere.  We would start down one, thinking it was taking us to some tourist destination, but as the forest just got thicker, we expected to see some candy-covered house around the bend.  And I held Glo's hand tighter than ever!

Just some random stairs in the forest...leading who-knows-where?

The forests are so beautiful, and they go on forever.  In the same way that Riga hasn't really been discovered by tourists, Lativa hasn't either.  It's all so raw, and beautiful, and real.

After we rode the cable car back, we decided to stop at the "the New Castle of Sigulda", or that's how Sigulda is selling it.  I do believe this is the one place in Latvia that understands Western commercialism.  In fact, there was a Jaguar sales event happening on the grounds of the castle when we arrived.  Such a dichotomy of images--brand new, off-the-charts luxury Jaguars...and an old castle in the background :-)  Turns out, by European standards, the castle isn't that old, having been built in 1893.  However, they work Western capitalism pretty well at the castle.  For each new place you want to enter, or see, or any event you want to try, that will be 2 euros, thank you very much.  Well, of course we wanted to see more, so we kept plunking down our money.  And the pictures turned out pretty terrific.

This picture is for Mark's blog.  "Dabbing"--something I don't understand, but that seems to be happening everywhere :-)

I can only hope I look as good as this castle at 130 years old :-)

My favorite picture of the day.

I think if I went back, I'd go strictly for hiking.  I'd bring along some water, and pack some bug spray, and just head off.  After all, I'd like to see where all those ghosts actually live.