Vitauts in Latvia 6: “Kuldiga Tourists”
Kuldiga the Pearl of Kurzeme
We spent the rest of the afternoon in Kuldiga. First, we rode the train all around the city watching a strangely translated video explaining some of the really cool sights of the town. We crawled through the cobblestone avenues soaking in the history of this beautiful city.
The train was perfect for Vitauts who has trouble walking long distances. After we finished, Ansis and Bruno drove over the bridge and let Susan, Glen and I walk across to really get a look at the amazing scenery. I tried to imagine the ships that used to float on the river. Now there isn’t enough water to support even a small boat, but back in the day, this was a major waterway. It’s amazing how things can change so much.
We also observed what a perfect wedding city Kuldiga is. There were eight weddings (Sue counted) in the time that we were there. Every angle is picturesque and the churches are perfectly adapted to photos for newlyweds.
We spent the remainder of the day having an incredible meal at Pagrabins (cellar) on the canals with a new stray kitty friend that I named Kis Kis (that’s what Ansis said Latvians say instead of “Kitty, Kitty!). Ansis ordered the traditional Latvian blood sausage which we thought was a joke menu item. Vitauts used to cook these sausages when we were little and stink up the whole house. Vitauts enjoyed the trout which he insisted was lake trout and not river trout. He could tell by the taste.
We all enjoyed the beer, and when the bill came, Glen and Vitauts thought that it came with a cookie, but it turned out to be a rock to weigh the money down. Dad kept feeding the cat until the waitress chased it away. I felt bad for inviting it to join us in the first place.
After our meal, we walked through the streets looking at shops, but everything closed at 3 p.m., so we were too late to be really touristy. We had some saldejums (ice cream) and enjoyed the sites of the town including the statue of Jekobs Kettlers, the Duke of Courland whose sculpture, we thought, represented him moving Kuldiga from the rusty past to the silver future. But who knows!?
After our time in Kuldiga, we loaded up the cars and drove toward Talsi.
To be continued….
