Travelogue of a Birthday Trip: In the Time of Covid 2021
Because I am not much of a planner, and everything is closed, I wanted to do something different for Rita’s birthday this year. So I rented a car and said, “Let’s go wherever you want to go!” Because she is a planner, and always has good ideas, Rita found some really cool spots that I now want to share. Some of these you may already know about, and some might be new. The theme here is that despite the darkness, there is always light out there if you look for it.
Saturday
We started our trip on Saturday, taking the familiar A2 highway out of Riga toward Sigulda. One of our traditional stops is the Subway at the gas station about halfway there, so we stopped and Karu and I gorged ourselves on the sweet Subway sandwiches, while Rita held out for the superior food of the Hotel Cathouse. Hanna was, of course, our dutiful companion. Rita chose 3 locations to navigate to before returning to Riga. We were up against the clock because of the 8 p.m. curfew.
Stop 1: Harmony Park (Harmonizēšanas Parks)
Our first stop on the Rita Birthday Tour was Harmony Park near Sigulda, which she had seen photos of and heard about. Even after her explanation, I wasn’t sure what it was going to be. But, apparently, someone came up with this grand idea to create a kind of spiritual walking place (no dogs allowed) where they erected towers of virtues (Love, Truth, etc.) and created little prayers for each. So the idea is kind of the Catholic Stations of the Cross where you walk from tower to tower reciting the prayer. Love (mīlestība) was in the center, which I thought was nice. Each one was decorated with Latvian folk symbols, so there was this mix of pagan and Christian.
The more impressive and interesting part of the park was when you walk past the towers bordered by fences with grass, and enter the woods heading toward a lake. Here, a path leads from one iconic spot to the next with sculptures, again of both pagan and Christian representation, throughout. I enjoyed the throne with the hand of god sculpted in that overlooks the lake… I sat in it, and felt a very calming, empowering sensation.
There are chairs for the mythical Latvian gods and goddesses each with their symbol. And also a Christian altar. People had left offerings and their own iconic symbols, many of them Russian Orthodox in nature. The walk ends on a peninsula jutting out into the lake that has a bench underneath a beautiful pine tree.
We walked back out and saw the playground area, also decorated with folk symbols. The broken horse made me a bit sad, but overall it was an interesting stop. I wouldn’t make a day of it, but it is a cool roadside attraction that makes you think, perhaps meditate, and if you are open, you may feel something even deeper.
Stop 2: Paradise Hill/Painters’ Hill
Another impressive spot near Sigulda that is more well-known is Paradise Hill, also known as Painters’ Hill. I am surprised we had never been here before. We drove back through Sigulda, and there was some terrible construction on a major bridge going on which made traffic just awful. And as it was a beautiful, sunny autumn day, Sigulda was already packed with people, so navigating the streets was a bit arduous. We found the parking lot for the hill, and I was able to squeeze into a small space, so we could begin our climb to see the gorgeous Gauja river valley.
I was surprised at how easy the trail was to walk. It wasn’t steep, and there were lots of people with families climbing together. I think were were just a week or two too late to see the truly beautiful autumn splendor, but the view was still lovely, and I really enjoyed seeing Turaida castle through the trees in the distance. It felt like some fantasy movie.
Stop 3: Folksong Park (Dainu kalns un Tautasdziesmu parks)
As Rita was planning the trip, she talked to a friend who told us that despite the lockdown and Turaida castle being closed, there was a secret path on the backside that we could walk up, if we dared, to see the Dainu kalns sculpture garden. It was kind of like how the hobbits get into Mordor, I think. Normally, you would drive the car up to the castle which is at the top of a very steep hill, park, and then walk to the nearby sculpture garden. This time, however, we parked at the bottom of the hill at a campsite, and then we had to walk up the hill through the woods. There was a staircase, which made it somewhat easier, I guess, but it was steep and treacherous. Hanna had no trouble at all.
The park itself is absolutely beautiful. The grass was like a putting green, and these bulbous sculptures rise up from the neatly trimmed turf creating a surreal space with the backdrop of the natural forest. Each sculpture is a reference to some famous folksongs. I did not get much of the meaning or history.
I was much more interested in the 12 oak tree circle that, apparently, has been a holy spot for pagan rituals for a long time. In the center of the 12 oak tress, there is a stone with offerings on it. And when I entered the circle, I definitely felt something powerful and deeply moving. It felt like a place I should be and stay in. This fascinated and absorbed me while Karu rested in the grass, and Rita took pictures of the sculptures.
After we finished walking and seeing the sculptures, we exited near the parking lot, and got to see the castle and little village that is up there. We also stopped at the oasis of vending machines where we stocked up on coffee and candy for the long walk back to the campsite down the steep hill on the highway. I should say that none of this walking or hill climbing seemed to phase Hanna at all. She is a super trooper! I think we clocked about 23,000 steps by the end of the day.
Sunday: Halloween Photo Shoot
Since we had the car for the weekend, Rita and I continued our journey on Sunday without Karu or Hanna. This was on Halloween, so Rita started the day by making herself a mask. It was one of the most frightening masks I had ever seen, and I am very proud that my wife made it!
Seeing her wear it was even more wonderful.
Stop 1: The Big Cemetery (Lielie Kapi)
We started the day by visiting the grave of Krišjānis Barons at Lielie kapi (The Great Cemetery). It was the Latvian Father of Folksongs’ birthday, and usually Rita and her colleagues would gather to celebrate. But today it was just her with some flowers. By the time we found the grave, there were 3 other folklorists standing there, and Rita sang a song with them. It was Barons’ favorite song, “Tumša nakte, zaļa zāle” (Dark night, green grass), and hearing them sing it at his grave was moving. I think he would have been proud. On our way out of the cemetery, we saw Latvians doing photoshoots for Halloween with pumpkins on their heads.
Stop 2: Linde Manor
She then said that she wanted to go to a place called Lindes Parks, which she had been to with a colleague years before. It is near a tiny town on the Daugava river where an old manor used to stand. The German barons had planted over 300 linden trees which, I am told, were not native to Latvia. The trees still stand, but the manor is just a ruin, apparently it was destroyed in World War I. Rita wanted a photo shoot of her in a creepy setting with her costume. I was happy to oblige.
I found the park via Waze which took us off the main road onto the Worst Road in All of Latvia. I swear the potholes were so deep and abundant that the car was literally shaking apart. We slowly made our way toward the Daugava, which was beautiful, and found the stone archway entrance to the park.
Inside the park there is a field of linden trees which were all mostly barren. The sun shone at a low angle giving this perfect light to create the photos of Rita in her mask.
After the photo shoot, we walked along a pond and then back through the tall grass to look through the ruins of the manor. I just love to see how things were constructed in the old days and to imagine what these rooms used to be. The house actually felt pretty small, and I wondered if this sunken part was the cellar or if it was part of the living space. Sometimes I wish I had a historian with me at all times to recollect the stories of places we visit. At the backside of the park was this construction which seemed to be some kind of bleachers. I imagined that during the Soviet time, this was a gathering place for locals where they might have concerts or theater producutions. The manor and trees made for a very cool backdrop.
Stop 3: Death Island (Nāves sala)
On the way back from Linden Park, we planned to visit my cousins Grasmanis, but we were in no hurry so we found a couple of roadside stops along the way. The first was the notorious Death Island. This was a stretch of land, now fully encircled by the Daugava River, on which Latvian troops fighting for the Russian Empire in World War I, were slaughtered by invading German forces. Hundreds of Latvians died there. Later, a hydroelectric dam was built, and it flooded much of the land making it only accessible by boat now. We did not have a boat, but we walked along the shore and observed the island at a distance. It was eerily calm, and I found it hard to imagine such violence. I recalled the movie Blizzard of Souls which had battle sequences that really made you feel what it might have been like for these men.
I left my camera in the car, so I don’t even have any photos.
Stop 4: Daugmale Hillfort (Daugmale pilnskalns)
Nearby the Grasmanis house, Sēlieši, is the village of Daugmale which has one of the more famous hillforts in all of Latvia. Hillforts or pilsnkalns, as I have written about before, are fortresses built by Latvian warlords and tribes around 1000 CE. This one was important because it was a major trading post on the Daugava river. We got there just as the sun was setting, and the sun decided to make a show of it by displaying itself as a perfect round red ball just hanging in the sky, visible through the bare trees as we drove along. Photos do not do it justice, but every time we saw it, we gasped.
We climbed to the top of the fort excited to catch the last bit of the sun as it sank below the horizon.
Stop 5: Sēlieši
Our final stop was a Halloween visit to the Grasmanis family. I told them we would be there around 5 or 6, which is was, but I had forgotten that the end of Daylight Savings Time meant that the sun would have set by then, and it would be almost dark. This was perfect for our plan.
Rita had her mask, and I made one of my own by covering my face in a black cloth and putting on a hat. The effect was more eerie in real life than in photos. We planned to park away from the house, and then sneak up in our costumes to scare them.
I decided to park where we had for Ansis’ 50th birthday bash a few months earlier, which was the field of his neighbor. I pulled into the lot, and we began putting on our costumes when the neighbor rode up on his riding mower. At first he seemed confused and suspicious, but when Rita explained what we were doing, he laughed and pointed to the path so we could find our way.
We snuck past his property until we were in the front yard of the Grasmanis folk, and then knocked on the door. They were happily surprised to see us, and we had Ansis get his spooky costume on for a photo. We didn’t stay long as there was the Covid rule of no contact, but they did share some pumpkin juice with us and stories of their lives. It was nice to catch up, if only briefly.
And so ended the weekend of birthday trips. We drove back to Riga behind a painfully slow traffic jam. Everyone was trying to return before the dreaded curfew. I will leave you with a few more photos just in case you haven’t had enough yet!
