Today, I moved through Estonia and into Latvia, by way of bus. Because of the Russian occupation, the Baltics don’t have as much mass transit in place as other parts of Europe, and this was the best (3rd place) option I found for seeing the things I wanted to see on the way. My first two choices were both canceled because not enough people signed up for them, but that’s the risk of off-season travel.
But first, breakfast. I tried this yesterday, and didn’t like it. From what I could tell, “spiced” was just salted? And a sprat is a fish (I had to google it). Well, yesterday someone explained to me you have to eat it with sour cream. So today I tried it with sour cream. I still don’t like it.
The bus left at 9, with our first stop Viljandi. This town was part of what was called the Hanseatic League, which was a trading network from the Netherlands to Russia during medieval times. There are castle ruins; it was damaged in the 1600s during the Polish-Swedish War. (Full disclosure: I had no idea there was a Polish-Swedish War). It was eventually torn apart as materials to rebuild the city, after later wars.
The castle was well located, next to some natural valleys (created by glaciers) that worked perfectly as moats, and then a river on one side and steep hills behind.
Then we stopped for lunch. It was a buffet; I had no idea what I was eating, but most of it was good. We learned that Estonians also think breakfast is the most important meal of the day. The server shared that her grandmother says you should eat breakfast alone, to build your self and your strength up for the day. Lunch is meant to be shared with your friends. Dinner is meant to be given to your enemy (because eating at night will result in bad sleep).
After that, we entered Latvia. We stopped right at the border, because there is also an art piece, as we were traveling along the line of “The Baltic Way.” On August 23, 1989, over 2 MILLION Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians joined hands, in the largest peaceful protest in the world, stretching across Latvia to join all three capitals of the countries. That day was the 50th anniversary of the 1939 “Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact” between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union – which was the illegal agreement that gave these countries to the Soviet Union. It stretched over 400 miles – and was done by word of mouth. The countries were still under Soviet control, and this was before the internet – and the phones were monitored – so it was all planned by neighbors whispering to neighbors for months. And two million people was about 1/4 of the ENTIRE POPULATION; a picture from the protest ran in the New York Times, and is credited for helping raise awareness of the situation across the entire world.
From there we went to Sietiņiezis, in the Gauja National Park, to walk off lunch and enjoy more nature. It is white sandstone. They say it is the prettiest rock in Latvia. I collected rocks when I was little, so I’m a bit of an expert and I can confirm: this one is very pretty. There are small caves and gaps (cracks?!?) throughout, along with bees. There is one larger cave that has two exits, which was home to the Devil. I didn’t go in, just in case he was home.
I also learned about the Forest Brothers. They were underground freedom fighters, mainly from 1944-1956. When the Soviet’s were re-taking control in 1944, about 50,000 people from these three countries literally went into the woods to “hide” and fight – they built underground bunkers that they lived in year round, and would ambush Soviet patrols, etc. The last known Forest Brother officially came out of hiding in 1995.
Then, another Old Town, but this one in a city called Cēsis. This building is actually the same age as the one in Viljandi – it was just never bombed.
There is a church in Cēsis called St John’s Church. It has stained glass windows. Now, when Russia took over the Baltics again, they destroyed everything that showed local heritage. Except somehow, they didn’t notice that in the center of this window is the Latvian coat of arms. It survived their entire occupation.
From there, we went to Sigulda – and a bobsleigh (bobsled) track. It’s an Olympic Bobsleigh Track; in the winter they use the regular bobsled, and in summer they have a modified version with wheels. It was built in 1986, and is one of only 18 of its kind in the world. It is about 4,000 feet long with 16 curves, and speeds can reach 50 mph. It is used as a training location for bobsleigh, luge and skeleton events.
And finally, Riga. It was about 11 hours including the stops, so a full day, but a great way to see more of the country (versus flying, which was my 4th option).
I explored a bit tonight, but will see a lot more tomorrow.
At today’s closest point, I was about 80 miles from Russia.