Aparjods Sigulda

... a little passenger ferry to go from A to B, this was a freakin cruise ship!! I was on board the Silvn Festival from Riga to Stockholm. This thing had 9 floors, with everything you could want from a onboard supermarket, cinema, salon, disco, and live band. holy jeeves. I was in a female cabin with a Lithuanian gal named Elena, who was similar to myself (as in she was going to a conference in Stockholm, hers was on EU development). I stayed out on ...

sigulda is set deep with-in the Gauja National Park. The town itself is quiet small and caters to the day-tripping tourists from Riga and the campers & mountain bikers who come to stay in the park.

My first point of call was the lutheran church - classically undestated and smelt strongly of pine and paint, bless the poor babuska who was trying to given me a tour in German (despite ...

... boar, deer, owl and a number of assorted lesser mammals. I stocked myself up on some info material inside and got my exploration started. First next thing, right by the Sigulda church I stumbled upon some ruins. It was Sigulda castle, an edifice built in 13th century, but now in total disrepair. All that was now left of it were two or three dilapidated walls, and the best use they seemed to put it all to now was a large wooden stage for open-air summer concerts. It used ...

... National Park. And the flag flying from the tower mast proudly certified that Cēsis was the birthplace of the Latvian national flag. Striking the New Castle off the list, it was now the old one's turn. It's said to be Latvia's most impressive and best preserved complex of castle ruins, and the most popular sight in Cēsis. Its construction began in 1207 by German crusaders known as the Livonian Order and it took some 30 years to complete. Throughout the centuries ...

... When knew from our guidebook there was a lot to see - three castles, caves, a river and a forest, but first, a cable car across the river. We arrived at the cable car start point right on 10, it's schedule departure time. No tourists at all were about, so we had the car to ourselves. It was a great but quick journey, giving us superb views over the Guaja valley. We arrived at the otehr end of the span to be greeted by absolutely no one. The place ...

... 16th, blown up in the 17th and rebuilt twice in the 18th, renovated in the 19th etc, but the foundations are 14th. . . . . . . " We have had a fantastic day just slowly meandering through the streets, and ended up at a lovely outdoor cafe for beers, that turned into dinner, that turned into a bottle of wine, that turned into Justin carrying me home! Had a great day! Love Riga!

... other side of the river, to the other valley rim. The arch-bishop's castle, a red brick structure, sits in its semi-dessicated state on a promontory. The original castle was built in the 1200s but destroyed in 1770 when a "careless shot" ignited powder stores in the tower. The castle has been partially reconstructed in the last 20-30 years (according to our guidebook). We climbed the tower for a good view of the river valley -- the river ...

... a few clearing with houses in. After I passed one group of houses a dog began to bark very loudly and this echoed behind me for ages. I kept looking but nothing followed. When I had a choice in path I generally took the one to the left so that I stayed by the river. Even when I was well away from it but I knew I needed to remain close. After a while the more detailed map of the Sigulda area ended and I was on the map of the national park, which had ...

... beautiful buildings and the parkland along the river was peaceful. I spent most of that afternoon at the internet cafe (I will go cold turkey one day - it's the only way to kick the habit). Not wishing to walk around in the rain looking for more non-existent or closed restaurants to try, I returned to the Latvian buffet place were I tried some new things. Again not Rockpool, but more adventurous than TGIF.