Party at the Пляж (Plyazh, or Beach): Jurmala

When I first found out I would be going to Riga for six weeks this summer and I looked up the area, one of the first things that came up was the neighboring town of Jurmala. First I thought it was strange how I got a neighboring town for my search when it definitely said Riga, but whatever. Absentmindedly I decided to look up this tiny town anyways. And it seemed even more weird then when, upon doing research, I found out Jurmala was advertised as one of the best beach locations in Eastern Europe. According to it's Wikipedia site I read, I found out the beach only has soft white quartz sand, and stretches for a whopping 21 miles (32), making it one of the largest beaches in Europe and definitely in the Baltic States. Call me jaded or pessimistic, but that seemed a little over exaggerated/optimistic. I mean, Eastern Europe with its crazy weather can't have beaches right?

Funny enough, it can. And not only that, but it rocks the socks off the beach game.

Looking for something REALLY cool to show my family this week, I figured Jurmala would be a great place for an afternoon! I had never been there but I had heard only good things about it: it was close, it was free, it was big, the sand was soft and it was a beach, aka the place where happiness goes on vacation. And it did not disappoint on ANY front. My problem with normal beaches is that while it looks beautiful, there are a lot of silent hazards: sunburn from sun, it's too hot and you're sweating if you're not in the water, there's undertow if you're in the ocean, and people are packed in by commercial buildings and private lots.

I felt like the Jurmala beach was the best of all these characteristics, without the overkill. It had sunshine but the air was a nice 80 degrees F temperature, the water was 90 degrees warm, we had a light breeze off the sea, shallow water you could wade out into for a couple hundred meters and empty stretches of beach the whole way down. The lack of commercialization especially makes you feel like its everybody's beach, and the temperatures of the air and water were perfectly matched. For us in the family, it was a perfect afternoon swimming, chilling and walking along the sea.

Jurmala can easily be reached by train via the Centrala Stacija, or by bus from the same station. For weekend trips with friends, apartment-mate bonding time or family visiting time, this is one of my highest recommendations.

Comments

The Quest for Birkenstocks

One of the main reasons I go to Germany every couple of years is to restock my supply of Birkenstocks. I started buying them when I lived there, and I basically can't live without them now. It just about kills me when a pair runs its course and needs to be thrown away. I think in my lifetime, I've thrown away only three pairs. One that never was quite right (the straps were plastic and would cut into my skin after a long day), one pair that I wore gardening one too many times (the brown dirt stains wouldn't come out of the white leather), and the pair that I was wearing when I broke my ankle (they were an unfortunate casualty of broken ankle PTSD because those purple and blue paisleys go down as one of my favorite pairs of all time). I only threw out the garden ones a couple of days before I left for Germany, because I knew I would be getting a new pair. The only store where I have ever bought my Birkenstocks is Hoffmann's in Speicher. (Well okay, t...

Like Dominos....

It all began with glare. Simple, obnoxious, I-can't-stand-it-anymore glare. Our 60" rear projection TV in the family room was basically unviewable except after 10 o'clock at night. The glare from the windows was making it impossible to see anything during my 10 minute lunch break each day, and something had to change. Too, the TV didn't fit in the entertainment center from Germany. John, wanting bigger and better, hadn't considered that the space is only 40" wide. For the past five years, I have been nagged by 6" of overhang on both sides of the TV stand. I went to Lowe's to price blinds. $1,043 for five blinds, and that was at 20% off. I figured a new TV would be cheaper than that. I was right, even with the state-of-the-art receiver and new HDMI cables that sly salesman told us we needed to have. But where to put the old TV? It just needed a quiet, dark place to retire. Glo's bedroom. Her TV was a relic from the paleoneoneand...

Your Life in Two Suitcases

I remember when Johannah told us that she wanted to serve a mission. It was a couple of months after her freshman year had begun. When she uttered those life-changing words, "I want to serve a mission," my heart sank. Mark hadn't been home from his mission for very long, and the pain of having a child gone was still pretty fresh. Let's just say that I wasn't at all encouraging. However, time passed, and when she actually submitted her papers, I was so excited for her. I was excited for me too. While I can't pinpoint any specific blessing that came to us when the boys were serving their missions, there is just a special kind of purpose that enters my life. I can't really do anything without thinking about my missionary, and in some special way, my life is changed. I write daily letters which, for an introvert, is cathartic. I study my scriptures a little bit better because I want to be able to offer encouragement. I'm constant...

Sprechen Sie Deutsch?

Search This Blog