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Our 7-hour bus trip, broken by several stops took us through mostly mixed forest (both countries are abt 50% trees). Apparently, one has to venture to the south to find grain fields.
When it is sunny, by some kind of national consensus, most folks call in sick & head to the beach. Today was not one of those days -- Parnu was deserted save one girl in a bathing suit.
From Parnu to Turaida Castle it sprinkled a bit, just enough to justify wipers. At Turaida, umbrellas were suggested as a precaution; after some discussion we elected to carry ours.
Annika, our guide, started with the tragic love story of Maija Weil who fell in love with a local boy but was murdered by a Polish soldier when she refused his marriage proposal. Maija, the Rose of Turaida, died at 19 ans buried next to the chapel. Couples still come to her grave on their wedding day to pay her homage.
The chapel is centuries old but was boarded up by the Soviets in 1960. Although it fell into horrible disrepair, it was rehabilitated and reconnected in the 1990s.
As we left Maija's grave there was a huge roll of thunder. Annika says it doesn't usually rain this time of day/year. But more thunder and a 5-minute downpour as we sheltered in the chapel.
We continued our tour of the castle and as we left the big tower, the skies opened and it really came down for at least the next 40 minutes. Our group had no choice but to return to the bus. Even with umbrellas, we were all pretty soaked.
The Bunker was great fun and Oskar, our guide, stayed in character as a man from the early 1980s and selected several of the group to assist in role-playing.
We got to Riga after 7 pm, had supper and a quick spin around the block and called it a day.Read more