Rundāle Pils January 5, 2017 After a nice miegs (sleep), I looked out the window to see that more snow had fallen, but it didn’t look too terrible (famous last words). I went down to the free breakfast, and it looked promising at first, but it was somehow lacking some of the basics. They had …
Bauska Pils January 3, 2017 In my quest to see more of Latvia, I found myself embarking on a two day journey south of Riga the city of Bauska. My plan was to stay in a hotel in Bauska to see the famous and nearby Rundale Palace the next morning. The snow that had begun falling …
Riga Naktī January 2, 2017 I broke this up because it was getting long. If you are interested, you can read what happened up to this point here. I was at a fancy restaurant decorated with creepy statues that reminded me of the first season of True Detective. Tell me that’s not creepy. So they …
Riga un Sniegs Daytime Edition January 2, 2017 Ansis challenged me to try the bus instead of driving to Riga. He said it would be a good way to get back and forth. He left me a schedule, which I lost, but that did not deter me. I spent part of my day on Sunday …
Cēsis December 31 I love Gita. Can I just say that for the record? Never a dull moment! When she plans something, she goes all out! Even on New Year’s Day, when things are closed, and it’s raining, and cold, and all the forces and elements are against her, she still manages to make the …
Jēkabpils December 30, 2016 I had planned to wake up this morning and just go on a road trip somewhere. I got started late, but I put my finger on the map and drove some 130 kilometers to Jēkabpils, the tenth largest city in Latvia. What I learned is that there are no straight lines …
Gaismas Pils On Wednesday, at least I think it was Wednesday (time is moving in such a strange direction), I was invited to Gaismas Pils, the Latvian National Library, to see the first publication of one of the books that I helped to edit. I helped with the English version of the summary titled, “Intangible …
Driving in Latvia This is the third time I have been to Latvia, and I have driven all three times that I have been here, but this was the first time I was alone, navigating and fighting heavy traffic while trying to find a parking place in downtown Riga. Let me start by telling you what …
Latvia: December 26-27 The 26th of December was a Holiday. I am hoping you all spent it doing something memorable and wonderful! My cousin Gita invited me to see the Christmas show at the Kipsala Exposition Hall. We had planned to meet for coffee before the show, but my internal clock is still way off, and …
For this year, fate (or some other magical force) sent me to Latvia. I am here in Riga at Ausekla 2-7 (Bruno’s apartment) and I will soon transfer to Ansis’ home at Daugmales pagasts. I left on the 23rd and arrived on the 24th. It felt like I was in some kind of a time warp, …