What's Up Al ? 遊記隨筆 生活點滴

Flying in to the capital of Latvia, Riga via Moscow was a breeze as the connection time was only an hour and a bit.  We stayed close to a number of green parks along the River Daugava and found the capital city a relaxing place to un-wind after our 12 hours' flight. Much to our pleasant surprise, the late Summer sunshine shone for us and the Gulf of Riga presented its finest cloudless blue skies for much of our stay with a whopping 26C ! Having had our hearty breakfast each morning, we ventured off to explore the beautiful Old Town dotted with stunning cathedrals along winding streets basking in the warm sunshine. Among the many landmarks where we got lost and found, were the Powder Tower, the Swedish Gate, the Freedom Monument, the Nativity Of Christ Cathedral, the cute Cat house, the House Of The Blackheads and we spent many happy hours strolling along the blue and pristine River Daugava.

Riga was a calm city running at a relaxed pace but we found on our day trips to Sigulda and Jurmala that the country side was even more relaxed ! Sigulda was a nature reserve with lots of walking trails leading to castles (Turaida, Livonian), lookout points, cascading rivers, the Gutmanis sandstone caves with the interesting rock carvings and we walked our limbs to much satisfaction and we enjoyed a deserved early dinner near the quaint Sigulda train station before heading back on the train to Riga. Now, Jurmala, a city by the Gulf of Riga, offered a different scene altogether as we were greeted with the whiff of salty air as we disembarked the train (another quaint train station). We walked down the main avenue lined with good-looking wooden villas and holiday homes, then we passed through an area densely covered with pine trees and then the welcoming sight of the blue coast of the Gulf of Riga presented itself in its full glory - white sandy beaches, relaxing beach-side cafes with soothing jazz music playing at the background as well as miles and miles of clear blue sky. After these five days in and around Riga, we felt energised to board our bus to Vilnius, the capital city of Lithuania lying about 5 hours away - we were again greeted with clear cobalt blue sky on the day of our departure and we left with fond memories of the lovely city and its residents.