Arnolds Grinvalds 25 October 1956–10 November 1990 Arnolds was the second child of Liesma and Vitauts Grinvalds. He was named after his uncle Arnolds Grinbergs, his mother’s brother, who had been a soldier, stranded behind in Latvia after World War II. Uncle Arnolds’ wife Alma fled the country with their children in October of 1944, …
I honestly have no idea what this is going to be about, but on this foggy morning in Riga, I felt like it was time to write something. Philosophy of Writing and Sharing I have not been writing my blog because I had this moment last year where I thought… why am I sharing my …
The Best Chili in Riga 2019 A Love of Cooking “I make it with love”. That is what my beloved mom told me once when I asked her why her food tasted so good. She never made anything fancy or even interesting, but everything she made for us was irresistible. Growing up with 6 siblings …
Movin’ on Up! For anyone who reads this under the age of 40ish, watch this to get the title reference: The rest of you can watch it just to feel a dose of nostalgic inspiration. Rita, Max and I have moved. The process has been delightful and I love moving so much. Seriously though, …
Darbu 25 August 2017 I am sitting in my old friend, the Beer House having a celebratory IPA and fish and chips while pondering my future here in Latvia. Today I signed a contract for a half-time teaching job at Gymnasium 2 in Riga, Latvia. Rita tells me it is where her heroine, Anna Bērzkalne …
The Epilogue In some cases, this might be called the “What did we learn?” segment. I think epilogue is appropriate. I wrote most of this on the plane as I flew home next to a hyperactive little kid and a father trying his best to be patient. Writing was therapeutic. Now I’m editing listening to …
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 …
Note: Okay, I finally got to it. If I hurry, I’ll still get four hours of sleep tonight before we fly back. But I can sleep on the plane, right? Enjoy… Smiltene: Vitauts’ Home I know I’m not spelling this right, but I’ll correct it later. Dad lived on a farm for sixteen years and …
Abragciems Abragciems is a tiny Latvian village on the coast of the Gulf of Riga which is part of the Baltic Sea. Many Latvians have summer homes across the coast. They finish work for the week, and then drive to their cottage on the seaside. Bruno and Maruta have just such a cottage, but it is …