After a good night sleep it was time to head to Cesis, a town with 20,000 residents. First job was find a parking lot, after that we decided to check out the castle of a 16th century castle. Entry fee was 2 Ls, and it included two exhibitions as well.
Cēsis Castle of the Livonian Order
We took our time making our way around the ruins, and hunger decided our next location for us. We wondered around looking for a place to eat, and we came across Rose Square. In one corner there was this small terrace with just few tables, and we decided to give it a chance (and there was bbq-friday). The waitress/cook was quite a character, and was doing the barbie next to our table. Though the food and service was great and the self-made ice tea delicious, it was little expensive. But if your not on tight budget, I really suggest this place for anyone.
After the lunch we headed across the square to St Johns Church, built in the late 13th century. Nothing really special in that building. So we decided to head for the Ligatne nature trail and drive the car route around because we didn't have the time to make the 5,5 km walk. But of course we got there five minutes after closing. No luck with this one and the clock was ticking, we had to start driving towards Jürmala, our second pit-stop.
The pavement quality on A2 didn't offer any better driving experince, so still doing about 10km/h under the limit. It got little better just outside riga, but still nothing I was used to back home. Nevertheless we managed to arrive our next place of stay, Valensija hotel. The hotel itself was a big disappointment. A "four-star" hotel didn't accept credit card payment, only cash. And for that we asked for a receipt, 'cause we don't want to feed any gray economy. After five minutes negotiation, we received the receipt. The room was very ascetic, but we didn't mind for it, 'cause we stayed only for one night. We unpacked a fresh set of clothes, showered the days dust off and headed towards the main pedestrian street. The feeling was just like you were somewhere in Spain. Warm summer breeze in the darkening night , tourists everywhere, bars and dinner places on both sides of the street... After a good italian dinner and a few glasses of wine, it was time to call it for the day.
One more thing, the rooms walls were like paper. Fortunetly we didn't have any loud neighbours. Oh well, time to check out the "four-star" and head to grab some brekkie down to the pedestrian street. After getting some much needed energy, it was time to check out the famous Jürmala beach. The beach didn't lose for those in the mediterranean countries.
Jürmala beach.
I'm not a beach person, so I left the missus to catch some tan and headed for a walk. What really was weird, there was abandoned houses every now and then. And right next door was a multi-billion state-of-the-art houses, Porsches and Mercs standing on the driveway... Seems like the history still haunts here, trying not to be overrun by an Audi Q7. After the day on the beach (or walking around), it was time to head to outskirts of Liepaja, where our next, a four-day pit-stop was waiting for us. Again the road (A9) gave no improvement to my driving indulgence. People was still hangin on my tail and pavement was from the last century. We arrived to the hostess' house and we had to speak german with her, well no problemo, we both spoke equally bad german, but everything was solved and she directed us to our cottage. It was a bit small, but just enough for two people to have their base for eating and sleeping in it. Again, unpacking new set of clothes, quick dust removal operation and we headed for a nearby beach to see the sunset. The hostess gave us directions to the beach, which led us driving a small and bumpy sand road through a forest. And boy was the place amazing! We were the only people on the beach and it kept going left and right as far your eyes could see.
The Beach
Once again, the day was coming to it's end and we headed back to the cottage for a good night sleep.
To be continued...
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