Summer 2013 East Coast Trip

Hello again! It has been quite a while since our last post, but given our recent trip to unknown territory, we thought we would  share our experience with you all. So, our vacation couldn’t have worked out better. I had been wanting to explore the Northeast and then all of a sudden I got an email about a nurse practitioner conference in Cape Cod. I immediately knew it was meant to be, and then on top of that Jordan had been previously invited to speak at the BALSSI (Baltic Studies Summer Institute) language program in Pittsburgh. It was fate! I booked the conference and Jordan accepted the invitation to be a guest lecturer, and so began the endless planning that I do. 🙂 We drove from Knoxville to Pittsburgh, PA, then to Ithaca, NY, then Cape Cod, MA, Providence, RI, Bordentown, NJ, and Alexandria, VA, before finally heading back to TN. We hope you enjoy the pictures…

First of all, this is the scenic view we enjoyed while eating our picnic lunch. We stopped in Virgina on our way to Pittsburgh. This area was called Benge’s Gap. JORDAN: Hey, everybody, Brittney instructed me to chime in here and there. So here I’ll offer a travel tip: If you ever get a chance to tour the Appalachia region, I highly recommend Highway 23 from Kingsport, TN up through Virginia. That highway has some of the best vistas east of the Rockies, at least from what I’ve seen (including the one below).

Below is the Cathedral of Learning on the University of Pittsburgh’s campus. It is a 42-story Gothic style cathedral that was built between 1926- 1934.  It is the 2nd tallest educational building in the world! Jordan was so fortunate to be invited to speak at BALSSI this year and this was the building where he gave his lecture on Latvian 4-H during the Ulmanis regime.

This is looking down onto the commons room inside of the Cathedral of Learning. The ceilings in this room are 52 feet tall. It was so beautiful inside. How lucky the students are who get to study in this magnificent building every day. JORDAN: Indeed! Why can’t every humanities department be housed in a magnificent building like this?

Below is a picture of one of the nationality rooms in the Cathedral of Learning. Each room is designed to celebrate a different culture that had an influence on Pittsburgh’s growth. There are 29 nationality rooms and the rooms are actually used for lectures. This happens to be the Austrian room. It reminded us of the Rundale palace in Latvia.  Can you imagine sitting in a classroom that looks like this?! JORDAN: Another thing that is cool about these rooms is that much (or perhaps all, I’m not sure) of the money to furnish them was donated by the local ethnic communities. What’s more, it also gives you a sense of how wealthy the city was during its steel-producing heydays.

After we left Pittsburgh, we made our way up to Ithaca, NY. This is the bed and breakfast that I found for us to stay at. It is on a farm about 5 miles from Ithaca. It was so peaceful and quaint.

We went to Cayuga Lake in Ithaca to watch the sunset. Ithaca sits on the southern end of the 40-mile-long lake. It is the longest of the Finger Lakes.

We also drove along the western side of the lake and visited some of the wineries. The area was quite scenic but, unfortunately, we were not too impressed with the wines. Here is a view, as the picture suggests, from one of the vineyards.

We left Ithaca and headed for Cape Cod. This is a picture of a typical farm in the countryside of Upstate New York.

This is a view of the Cape Cod Canal Railroad Bridge. JORDAN: So what you see above the water, way up in the air, is the railroad track itself. It is on a vertical lift, which is lowered when a train needs to cross. Pretty amazing!

This is Old Silver Beach in Falmouth, MA. We took these pictures from the deck of the resort where we were staying for my nurse practitioner conference. It was a pretty rough conference when at every break I could just walk outside and see this view. 🙂

This is down in Woods Hole, one of our favorite spots. It had a more Bohemian, laid-back feel. This picture was taken from the restaurant we were eating at, Quicks Hole (see below for pics of our meal there)…

A view of the restaurant.

One of the best things about traveling is enjoying the local food. This was my first lobster roll experience. I thought I loved crab cakes, but now I’m obsessed with lobster rolls. They are oh so good! Jordan opted for the lobster taco, which was so fresh and tasty. I never liked lobster because of the texture, but I realized I had just never had fresh lobster. 🙂

Sitting at Quick’s Hole, we realized that the parking lot wasn’t covered with white rock or crushed concrete but with broken seashells… Then we started paying attention elsewhere, and it seems that this is pretty common everywhere in the region.

Below are some pictures of the harbor in Woods Hole, MA. These two appeared to be on their way back home from a grocery run.

Here is a picture of the cars waiting to get loaded on the ferry to go to Martha’s Vineyard. Maybe next visit we will take a trip over to the island.

           JORDAN: This was kind of cool. In Woods Hole there were a number of ocean research centers. The big ship here is one of the research vessels used for deep sea missions. It’s hard to get a sense here of how big the ship is, but let’s just say that it dwarfed the nearby building.

Check out the houseboats/floating houses in the background!

On the last day in Cape Cod, we went to the less touristy area near Woods Hole. The beach there reminded us of Latvian beaches because it was smaller and more natural (save for a few insanely nice homes).

The area also had one of the nicest lighthouses. JORDAN: Kimberly, I hope you are still following our blog, because I took this picture while thinking of you.

Of course, no trip is complete without finding a good bakery. This was on main street in Falmouth and they had really good almond croissants and chocolate croissants. 🙂 JORDAN: This bakery was awesome! A number of the guys working there were actually from France, and their baked goods were so good that they renewed my desire to master croissants. And on the front, I can report that my first batch of croissants last weekend were pretty good, but I still have some tweaking to do.

We enjoy visiting college towns, so after we left the Cape, we stayed in Providence, RI, where Brown University and the Rhode Island School of Design are located. This was in front of the famous front gate to Brown University. We were told by a campus security guard (with whom Jordan chatted for a while) that the gate is only open on graduation day, and only the graduates are allowed to walk through (everyone else has to use the smaller side gate to the left).

We were walking around the campus area in Providence and stumbled upon this beautiful building. Jordan was being his curious self and walked up the steps to get a better look. We were then invited in by the local artist who is using the first floor as his studio. We had a nice chat with him and a local art professor, and at the end of our chat he graciously gave us one of his drawings of this street in Providence. Who says Northeasterners are rude?! We would just like to debunk this myth now, because everyone we encountered in the Northeast was outgoingly friendly.

If possible, we prefer to stay in B & Bs when traveling. This is the amazing staircase in the Christopher Dodge House in Providence, RI. I highly recommend this place. It had a great location, friendly staff, a deliciously filling breakfast (we were served Finnish pancakes with lots of other goodies), and it was in a beautiful, very historic building.

From Providence we headed south, but decided at the last minute to spend a few hours in Newport, RI, thanks in part to the urging of the kind artist mentioned above. Newport was a wonderful experience and a perfect way to end our time near the ocean. So, this view is of the bridge that takes you to Newport, RI. We tried to capture the effect that we saw, which looked like the bridge was taking you up to Heaven. 🙂

Newport was founded in 1639. This is a typical colonial style building near the “downtown” district of Newport.

We took a walk on the famous Cliff Walk located on the eastern shore of Newport. This is one of the mansions that is on the trail. JORDAN: Newport has some crazy, crazy mansions. I guess during the first two decades of the twentieth century Newport became THE summertime playground for the ueber-rich. For example, two of the Rockefellers had “summer homes” in Newport. The biggest Rockefeller mansion there, The Breakers, were it to be built today, would cost some $350 million — and for a “summer house” where they only stayed eight weeks a year!

These pictures below are views of the ocean from the Cliff Walk. JORDAN: It’s hard to know which way to look while on the Cliff Walk. On the one side are these unbelievable mansions, but on the other side are these breathtaking vistas of the Atlantic.

Here is the Newport Shipyard. It was neat walking around and seeing them actually making ships. It was also quite interesting to see some of the yachts and sailboats that people own. These buildings were located in the  middle of the shipyard, and the awning on the end was Belle’s Café, where we had fresh seafood for lunch.

We had to try the littlenecks, which are small clams. They taste amazing!!

This was the view from our café table.

Here is my fresh salmon over greens. It was unbelievably good. It is not fair that the whole world can’t experience fresh seafood. It is hard to beat.

Jordan had to try the lobster rolls at Belle’s. They were quite tasty. JORDAN: And I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the potato salad was finished in a Southern German style with cream and vinegar. Tasty!

So, I had to find a good stopping point between Rhode Island and Pennsylvania and we didn’t want to deal with traffic in a big city, so I found a little town called Bordentown, NJ, which is about 30 minutes north of Philadelphia. Bordentown is an old historic town that sits on the Delaware River. We got into New Jersey late Thursday evening, so we spent Friday morning walking around Brodentown and we stumbled upon this Episcopal Church that was built in the 1840s. It was beautiful inside and had an old cemetery behind it (see picture below)…

JORDAN: To further Brittney’s point about Northeasterns being quite friendly, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the very nice guy who was there cleaning the church. He waved us in, stopped what he was doing, and despite that fact that he was, in his words, sweating boats (it was really hot and humid that morning), he took us for a personal tour of the entire church. What a nice guy!

We couldn’t even read some the the headstones because they were so old. I think the oldest ones we could read were from the 1770s.

  Our last night we spent in Alexandria, VA, which sits on the Western bank of the Potomac River and just south of Washington, D.C. It was settled in 1695! (JORDAN: But let’s not forget that by that time Riga had already been around for nearly 500 years!) We visited Old Town Alexandria and fell in love with the quaint feel of the city and the beautiful and historic homes. For instance, here is the somewhat recently rebuilt home that George Washington had built in the late 1760s.

JORDAN: I want to buy the blue house! Seriously, I’d like to live in a place like that.

We found Le Refuge, a quaint little French restaurant right off of the main street in Old Alexandria. It was very eclectic and cozy inside and the food was outstanding. Definitely makes our top 5 list of best restaurants we’ve ever been to here in the States.

Below is a picture of Jordan’s duck with raspberry glaze, scalloped potatoes, and whipped carrots.

 Below is a picture of my soft shell crab with almonds and a lemon-garlic sauce. The soft shell crab is lightly fried, and you actually eat the shell. I’m not a fried food kind of person, but I’ll make an exception for crab. 🙂 The picture definitely doesn’t do my meal any justice.

For dessert we had the pear tart paired with vanilla-infused homemade whipped cream and chocolate sauce that was quite tasty too.

Finally, after our meal we took a stroll along the Potomac. Here is the view we had. We had an amazing time visiting the Northeast and highly recommend exploring the area! Until next time…

Enough is enough…

I’ve had enough of this violence, especially the gun violence. But what irks me the most is that so many Americans refuse to admit that we collectively, as a country, have a huge problem. Why is it that when I tell people how much safer Europe is than America they scoff at my remarks and label me as “anti-American”? Look, I’m only offering a comparison, that’s all. I don’t dislike America or Americans, I just want to see progress, not a descent into even more violence. And if Europe might offer some ideas about how to improve our society, then why shouldn’t we consider their example? Let me ask you this: Would you feel comfortable letting your child take public transportation alone (that is, if in fact we had public transportation)? Having lived in both Germany and Latvia and traveled through much of Europe, I can say that it is not at all uncommon for children (both alone and with their friends) to hop on a tram or bus and travel across town to, for example, school or another public space, such as a park. Perhaps I am way off here, but my sense is that most Americans would not let their children (and I’m talking here about young children, like maybe an 8 year old) maneuver through the city by themselves. Why is this? Well, perhaps they are afraid their child will get lost, but mostly I think it is because we don’t trust each other. We are afraid that someone might harm our child. And this, even more than the ridiculous prevalence of guns in our country, says a lot about the lamentable state of our civil society. And one simply cannot realize until living somewhere else just how much this unstated fear damages the milieu in which we live. Only then can one fully realize that, just as President Obama suggested in his remarks at the vigil in Newtown, we Americans are in essence being held hostage by our obsession with individualism, by our “exceptional” (yes, in this way we are an exceptional people) notion of “freedom,” and by our continued slide into an ugly, violent, atomized society in which it is everyone for him or herself. At its core, freedom is not a law or a political right, it is an intellectual state of being, a worldview, a Kunderian feeling of lightness. Our strange sense of freedom has paradoxically resulted in a society of burdened, selfish people. Just look at the question of gun control. The argument for “more guns” is rooted  in two strains of thought: that 1) I don’t trust you; and 2) I WANT my guns. This — fear and selfishness — is slowly destroying our society. Let’s hope that this latest tragedy causes us to reject fear and selfishness in favor of hope and a renewed commit to creating a new and better society.

Recent adventures

Hello everyone. Since it has been so long since I’ve posted anything, I thought I would share some pictures of your recent adventures in our kitchen, around Knoxville, and from our big road trip with Valters and Anda. So, here you go (and remember, you can enlarge the photos by simply clicking on them):

This is my wonton soup with homemade dumplings, carrots, mushrooms, and some mini bok choy from our garden. Brittney and I sort of have a tradition of eating soup on Sundays, so I’ve really expanded my soup recipes to accommodate this habit. As of late Brittney’s favorite has been a cream of cauliflower with roasted red peppers and corn, while I have enjoyed the cream of mushroom and a delicious carrot ginger soup.

Here are some Tennessee spring wildflowers. We picked them while on a walk one day, despite some curious glances from passersby. I guess locals must not go around cutting flowers from road ditches.

This is my German-style farmer’s bread. My recipe is still a work in progress, but it’s getting closer to the real thing. The flavor is very close, but the texture and color is still off. It should be chewier and much darker. I think I need to turn down the heat and prolong the baking time to allow for more of the so-called Maillard reaction which is so key for the development of the flavor and color of rye breads.

Local Tennessee blackberries! Just look at the size of those — some of them were bigger than my thumb. I’ve never had better blackberries than those from here in East Tennessee.

This is an Italian almond cookie called Ricciarelli. They are made from almond paste and toasted and ground almonds. I made these for a parfait of homemade lemon pudding and local blackberries and, wow, was that a great dessert. Too bad I forgot to take a picture. And by the way, these cookies are extremely tasty!

Here I’m in the process of making homemade pasta. Wow, our kitchen looks really dirty in this picture! Sorry.

The final product that day: a homemade spinach and cheese cannelloni topped with my homemade San Marzano tomato sauce.

I don’t make this deli-style rye bread quite as often as the farmer’s bread, but this bread is extremely good toasted, especially when you put a little bit of pure, spun honey on it. A local shop here sells a rape flower spun honey from Germany (yes, in Europe they always specify on the label what the bees were feasting on) that is crazy good. When Gram and Pop were here last spring he loved that honey, so I need to remember to bring him a jar the next time we come home.

Here is an image from the farmer’s market in downtown Knoxville. In this photo you are seeing the food trucks and carts that are becoming very popular. In particular, the one on the right, the Cruze dairy truck, is always swamped with hungry patrons. Since we moved here in 2008, it is impressive how much Knoxville has changed. I think that Asheville, NC has been a great influence, and it’s good to see Knoxville embrace a model that works.

Here is a picture of the milk maids that run the truck and milk bar (yes, a milk bar! It’s like being back in Latvia.). In my opinion, this has been one of the coolest recent developments in Knoxville, that one can now get tasty milk and ice cream from a local dairy whose owners are embracing the recent explosion of foodie culture in America. I need to remember to take a picture of their peanut butter ice cream the next time they are selling it. It is our favorite.

Here we have a spring pasta dish with carrots and broccoli from our garden, topped with a sundried tomato and garlic oil and some pecorino romano cheese. I paired it with a honey-balsamic vinegar glazed chicken breast.

I’m quite proud of this dish. It is Flammkuchen, which is extremely popular in Southwestern Germany and Southeastern France. It is like pizza, but the crust is completely different than a “regular” pizza crust. We topped this one with roasted salmon, roasted red peppers, artichokes, and herb-flavored, German-style quark cheese, which I learned how to make since I’ve never seen it in a store. As it turned out, it’s really not hard to make cheese at home, so I’ve been making Latvian and German-style fresh cheeses over the last few months. And the leftover whey has also come in handy when I feel like a smoothie.

This is one of Brittney’s favorite meals. It’s a New York strip served over wilted spinach and topped with gorgonzola cheese, sauteed mushrooms, and roasted red peppers. On the side — some “Moroccan syle” whipped potatoes. This was something I came up with one day. It’s a 60/40 mixture of sweet potatoes and regular red potatoes which I whip and then season with a bouquet of common North African spices like paprika, cinnamon, cumin, etc.

I just made this dish the other day. It’s a roasted chicken topped with a chanterelle mushroom sauce, which is perhaps the most loved sauce in Latvia. And the cool thing about this dish was that we got the mushrooms at the farmer’s market from a retired teacher who now spends his days picking mushrooms in the forests around East Tennessee.  I paired the chicken with some local green beans, which I tossed in a German-style stone ground mustard-Sherry vinegar sauce (I think this is hands down the best way to eat green beans), in addition to some local cabbage, which I braised in a mixture of chicken stock, white balsamic vinegar, and caraway seeds. Yum! Brittney especially loves the braised cabbage. So, now to some pictures from our trip.We stopped for a picture somewhere in the middle of the Sandhills north and west of North Platte. Honestly, I had forgotten how amazing and beautiful the Sandhills are. I’m so happy that ostensibly the XL pipeline won’t be going through there. From what I’ve read about the tar sand oil and what happens when there is a spill, Nebraskans did a noble thing by fighting against it. If you want to learn more about this new type of oil, read this great piece: http://www.npr.org/2012/08/16/158025375/when-this-oil-spills-its-a-whole-new-monster?sc=tw

A nice picture of Brittney standing amid the prairie grasses just outside of Chadron.

Here we are on a bluff overlooking the Missouri River valley in Hermann, MO.

As many of you know, I never pass up a chance to visit a cathedral. Here, then, is the St. Paul Cathedral in St. Paul, MN.

When we stopped to visit our friends in St. Louis, we ventured over to the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis. This place was really unique, as I had never been inside of a Neo-Byzantine style church. The mosaics were breathtaking.

This place was also really cool. It is the City Museum of St. Louis. They took an abandoned industrial building and turned it into this crazy, jungle gym-like place. For instance, they converted the circular towers on the right into these gigantic slides.

Finally, here is a photo of my favorite spot on the trip. We were driving on some random gravel road in the Badlands when we discovered this awe-inspiring view.

Our last days in Riga, and first days in Knoxville…

Hey everyone! I hope you are all doing well! Sorry, it has taken us so long to post. We have been just a little bit busy though 🙂 Well, just four weeks ago we were flying into Omaha. It feels like our time in Riga was all a dream (and a fantastic one). Our lives have been a blur the past few weeks. It was so good to see family and friends and get to spend a few days with everyone back home! Our moms and sisters traveled with us to Knoxville to help us unpack. On our way to Knoxville we stopped in Missouri to stay with Jordan’s oldest sister and her husband. They are always so hospitable and have such a lovely home 🙂 The next morning we sidetracked to Hermann, MO, one of our favorite places in the U.S. Hermann was founded by German immigrants and sits on a bluff overlooking the Missouri river, so it is really picturesque. The climate and topography make it a great area for vineyards, so Hermann is most famous for its number of wineries and B & B’s. We also think it has one of the best bakeries in the States, so we always stop to get a doughnut or European-style sweetbread. From Hermann, we stopped in Kentucky to stay with some family friends and had a wonderful evening chatting with everyone. The next morning we finished our long trek to Knoxville and started unpacking almost immediately. We had enough help that we were able to get our POD unloaded in just a few hours, so the next day we were able to take everybody up to the Smoky Mountains and enjoy a day of shopping at the outlets 🙂 Time flies when you are having fun (but not while you are driving across the country), and before we knew it, we had been back for a week, our families had departed, and our new lives in the States had to begin. Jordan started his teaching duties at UT right away and was welcomed back with a stack of 80+ midterms to grade. I had a little bit of training at the clinic the first week, but didn’t officially start until the 2nd week. We somehow managed to get completely unpacked and settled within the first week. I think it was because we knew if we didn’t get it done right away, we probably would never find the time.

So, here we are, back in Knoxville, as if our lives had never really changed. I guess that’s what we get for moving around so much — even a transcontinental move doesn’t seem like a big deal. It doesn’t take us any time at all to adjust anymore. We are still quite lonesome for and nostalgic about Latvia, but we are trying to find similar things here to help us adjust. I try to come home every evening and go for a walk, and Jordan has even gone with me quite a bit too 🙂 (he usually doesn’t have the time). Walking up the hills is definitely quite different than walking the city streets of Riga, though! Probably the biggest adjustment has been the change in grocery shopping. We were quite disgusted, to say the least, with the difference in the quality of produce (things were a lot fresher, cheaper, and of higher quality in Riga). I’ve had to cut back on my daily red bell pepper consumption (I paid less than 3o cents for a red pepper in Riga, as compared to almost $2 here). We also were overwhelmed with the enormous selection of everything. In Riga, there were just one or two things to choose from and here there are like 10 options of the same, crappy thing! Do we really need that much choice? It just complicates things! I have also been surprised at interactions in public space. I don’t think I have gone out yet without having a stranger start up a conversation with me. I just didn’t have that happen hardly at all in Riga, so I have had to get accustomed to that again. The other major life change has been working 7:30 to 5:30 Monday through Friday. I haven’t worked those kind of hours since summers at the Buckle warehouse over ten years ago!! I know, I sound like such a whiner, but Jordan and I definitely enjoy our flexible lives, so this new schedule has been a really hard adjustment for me. It will get better though! Other than that, I do really like my new job. The people I work with have been so nice and wonderful to me, and it feels good to be taking care of people again! This last week was my first week of seeing patients and it started out pretty rough, but by Friday things were running smoother and I was starting to feel a little more at ease!

Well, we just wanted to share some stories and pictures with you of our last few days in Riga and, now, of our first few weeks in Knoxville. So, the pictures below are just a summary of the harvest celebration in Riga, the weekend before we left, in addition to a few other pics of things we saw daily, but never stopped to take pictures of, and then our hiking trip last weekend in the Smokies. Hope you enjoy!!

These are pics from the fall harvest festival in Riga the weekend before we left.

This was some kind of creature made completely out of carrots!

They even decorated Roland!

You can't see them, but there are bunnies hopping around everywhere in this little petting area. And check out their house. That is the coolest bunny house I have ever seen!

The cute floppy-eared bunnies at the harvest celebration.

More vegetable creations at the harvest celebration.

A vendor booth at the harvest celebration.

Eating at our favorite Japanese restaurant. They had it set up so you could sit on the floor and there was a screen to separate you from the other diners, so it was always intimate and relaxing.

They light up some of the art nouveau buildings at night, so we enjoyed walking around late at night because sometimes they were even more impressive to see in the dark.

Here we are on a bridge in the park in Old Riga, near the National Opera House. It is tradition for couples to engrave their initials on locks, which they put on a bridge on their wedding day. It’s a big occasion for photos, particularly when the couple throws the key into the water. Well, since Jordan and I spent our 5th wedding anniversary in Riga, I had my dad engrave a lock for us so that we could leave our mark on Riga 🙂 So now we want to challenge all of you to go find our lock. Good luck!!!

Here is a very prominent Soviet building near the center of Riga. We went here on our last day so Jordan could buy some important history books related to Ulmanis times.

Here is the powder tower in Old Riga. There are even cannon balls still stuck in the walls of it.

This is a narrow street that passes the original city gates of Riga on the right.

We somehow managed to find time the last day to sit and enjoy some of the best cappuccino in Riga and enjoy the view in the Art Nouveau district. Check out the cool espresso art!

So this is our $50 fish and chips! We spent a night in Dublin on our way back to the States and decided to venture out to a little village just outside of Dublin. We wanted authentic fish and chips, and were recommended this specific restaurant. Had we known it would be that expensive, we probably would have picked something else, but you can’t be in Dublin and not get fish and chips! It was mighty tasty though!

One thing we definitely missed about Tennessee was the Smokies. So, last weekend we went hiking to see the beautiful fall colors.

This was at Grotto Falls. We actually walked behind the water fall!

It is crazy how fast the leaves are changing, and actually a lot of the trees had lost their leaves already.

More pictures from our hike last weekend…Jordan climbed down to the water and out onto a log in the middle of the ravine to take this pic. Of course I was yelling at him to quit being such a MAN!

Jordan is so happy to have his full kitchen back. He is a baking fool again! This is homemade German beef rouladen with homemade German spaetzle and butternut squash. It’s just a thin cut of beef rolled up with mustard, celery, carrots, onion, and pickles, and then simmered in a wine and beef broth. Yes, it may sound like an interesting combination, but it is so tasty!

This was my first loaf of banana bread that I made all by myself! We bought a bunch of ripe bananas, so I made two loaves last weekend and took one to the nurses at the clinic as a pre-apology for any chaos I would create on my first week of seeing patients 🙂

Living in limbo…

Hey everyone! I know it has been a really long time since I (this is Brittney) have posted anything, so I thought I better do one last post before we leave…I really don’t know where the last nine months have gone, and I definitely can’t believe that we will be back in Nebraska in just one week! I am so excited to see family and friends and I won’t even begin with the list of things I will be happy to have in my life once again:) However, our fast approaching departure has led to a lot of reflection and evoked a variety of conflicting emotions in me. Which is the reason for the title of my post. For the last month, I have felt like my life is in limbo. I can’t be completely excited about returning to the States, because there is so much that I will miss in Latvia. Yet, I can’t fully embrace what time we have left here either, because I know we are leaving and I get really emotional just thinking about it. My heart literally feels like it is being torn in two, because part of me is ready to be back in the U.S., but the other part of me is not ready to leave this life. I’m so grateful for the opportunity that we were given to live in another country and experience a different culture. It has been an amazing journey and my life will forever be changed by the people we have met, stories we have heard, and experiences we’ve shared, which is why I am so sad to leave. We have met some amazing people who have openly welcomed us into their lives, and have largely influenced our overall experience here, and for that, we will never be able to fully express our gratitude. I know that we will be back in Europe again, but people and places change; therefore, this experience can never be replicated. Our lives here have been wonderful! Jordan and I work hard at what we do, so it has been nice to relax and really enjoy life together here. Living here has made us realize pretty quickly what we take for granted in life and the things that really matter to us. There are just so many things that I want to wrap-up and bring back to the U.S. to help you all understand why it is that we love Riga. The everyday experiences such as walking everywhere, choosing which of the dozens of cafés to frequent, strolling in the parks, seeing all of the flowers sold on the street corners, going to the market to get groceries for supper, listening to the locals speak the musical Latvian language, never getting accustomed to seeing Eastern European fashion, eating fresh, local foods, looking up at the indescribable, blue sky, the list is endless…It’s just a different life, and I will miss it dearly. However, that doesn’t even include the gems that are here: the central market, where your senses are overwhelmed and you can literally find and buy anything; the Baltic Sea, which is so calming and refreshing to walk along; Latvians’ deep-seated love of nature and music, which is reflected in so much of their traditions; our favorite café, Rigensis, which has the best honey, carrot, and dark chocolate cakes; the beautiful architecture that you can look at every day and yet always find something new that you didn’t see before; Old Riga, which is so picturesque with its winding, narrow, cobblestone streets, little shops, and beautiful churches. Really, the list is never-ending. It is impossible to sum up our experience, but I hope that our blog has given you a window into our lives and that you all have been able to at least get a sense of what a great place Riga, and Latvia for that matter, is. I am so glad that you all have visited and enjoyed our blog. Until our next big adventure…

Last warm days…

Hi, everyone. Here are some photos from the last few weeks. First, here is a picture from the rooftop cafe that we went to two Sundays ago. I think that day will probably prove to have been our last warm day, as autumn seems to have arrived here in Latvia. The days are getting much shorter, there is suddenly a chill in the air, and the leaves are already turning. Anyway, that Sunday was very lovely, I guess around 73 or so, and we very much enjoyed just sitting there and admiring the eclectic rooftops and spires of Riga.

In the middle of reading old Latvian newspapers last week, I looked out the window of the national library and noticed how stunning the contrast was between the dark buildings and the vivid, pre-dusk sky. I’m really going to miss this view. And also the sound of the church bells on Thursdays at 18:45.

A picture from underneath a large oak (I think) as we strolled through the park next to Old Riga.

Recently Latvia held its first ever international beer festival. Here is a caldron of delicious food that I had trouble walking past. It smelled better than you can ever imagine.

A late-summer panorama of the Right Bank…Please note that you can click on the photo to enlarge it.

A few of my favorite buildings just around the corner from the library. I wish I could fully explain how much the architecture here influences the “feel” of the city, but really it’s only something that can be understood from first-hand experience.

This is one of the more impressive buildings in that neighborhood. It serves as the Slovakian embassy.

Here is a close-up of the facade just above the main entrance. Simply amazing.

I just realized the other day that I had not posted any photos from inside of St. Peter’s cathedral. So, here you go.

And another of the vaulted ceiling. As someone who has been around the bricklayer’s craft, I would like to know how those brick arches are constructed.

A few weeks ago I went with my friend Valters to the very famous Brothers’ Cemetery. Next to it are a number of other cemeteries, including, among others, a Muslim cemetery,  a Jewish one, and one for notable Latvians. Here is the grave of and monument for Janis Rainis, Latvia’s most famous writer.

And here is one for an artist/actor. I can’t remember the significance of the name.

This grave was interesting to observe because it helps one understand that language and ethnic identity are an issue of contention even after death. What we see here is the grave of a Lativan. The first and bigger stone is, as you can see, in Russian. But years later the family of the deceased decided to add another stone in Latvian. It would be interesting to learn more about the stories behind these stones and how the family wrestled with questions of identity.

Here is the main boulevard leading to the Brothers’ Cemetery.

Just before you descend down into the cemetery, you encounter the eternal flame.

As you can see, the cemetery is protected by stone walls on each side.

The cemetery honors those who died during the First World War and the ensuing Freedom War. Each small stone marks a grave. At the back of the cemetery is a statue of Mother Latvia.

And on the stone is the name and rank of the deceased.

Mother Latvia and the sandstone eternal flame.

The traditional Latvian warrior kneeling out of sadness and respect for those who were lost.

To me, this is the most moving monument. It is for Zigfrids Meierovics, the first foreign minister in Latvian history. In particular, I like the inscription, which reads “To Zigfrids Meierovics from the Latvian people.”

And Janis Cakste, Latvia’s first president…It was really fascinating to talk to Valters and  others about how these monuments became sites of nationalist mourning and social tension during the Soviet years.

One of our favorites — carrot cake from Rigensis.

Really, just look at this photo from Livu square. The quaint buildings, the sky, surely you must understand from a picture like this why Brittney and I love Riga so much.

recent travels…

Hello, everyone. Today I thought I would share with you some photos from our recent trip through parts of Kurzeme, the westernmost province in Latvia. My friend Valters was kind enough to serve as our chauffeur and tour guide, and thanks to him we had a very pleasant trip. Here, then, are the photographic highlights of our journey. Above is a photo of the pasture ground along a rural road. Thanks to this luscious, green grass and the unique Latvian blue cows (click here for a photo: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Zila_govs.jpg), Latvia has, in my opinion, perhaps the best dairy products in the world, or at least anywhere I’ve been anyway. Abe and Kaleb: you guys need to get some blue cows!

I asked Valters to pull over the car so that I could walk out into the rye field. I so badly wish that someone in the U.S. would grow some European ryes so that we can improve our bread selection back home.

Here we are at the sacred hill on the edge of Kandava, a small town with incredibly old buildings that somehow survived the tumult of the twentieth century. In Latvia these “mountains” have always been important meeting places, as, for example, on the night of Jani (summer solstice) tradition dictates that bonfires be placed on top of the highest hill in the region.

A typical view of the quaint streets in Kandava.

An example of a countryside backyard. Lots of flowers, lots of plants, lots of fruit trees, and also usually a big vegetable garden.

In Kandava we also ventured to the local museum, where they had a section devoted to Soviet times. On the left is a standard Soviet-era military uniform. Next is a bust of Joseph Stalin. Then some Soviet-era flags. And finally, a bust of Lenin, the key leader during the revolutions which led to the foundation of the Soviet Union.

This photo is incredibly sad. I’m not sure if you can see it very well, but each column is comprised of small strips of paper, upon which is written the name of each person that was deported to Siberia. And what is most shocking is that at that time only about 1,800 people lived in Kandava, so as you can imagine, absolutely everyone had a loved one who was rounded up and sent to camps.

On our way from Kandava to Kuldiga we stopped in Sabile to see the famous Sabile vine hill, home to what is claimed to be the northernmost vineyard in Europe.

In the distance is a very old and traditional Kurzeme farmstead.

Kuldiga is a city of waterfalls. Here is one next to what I presume was an old mill (the building seems abandoned now).

Kuldiga is also famous for one of the longest brick bridges in Europe. The centuries-old bridge just got a facelift and looks as good as new.

And here is Kuldiga’s most prized treasure, the widest waterfall in all of Europe (though as you can see it’s certainly not the highest). I guess in centuries past this was also a great fishing spot, as fishermen would somehow affix baskets to the rocks and catch salmon as they went to and from their spawning grounds. Now, sadly, there are not very many wild salmon left, due to over-fishing and poor Soviet-era environmental policies.

Valters and I were pretending to be the old dukes of Kurzeme.

One of the picturesque streams that wind through Kuldiga.

One of the oldest buildings in Kuldiga. If my memory serves me correctly, I think the sign stated that it was from the 14th century.

Main street in Kuldiga.

My giant meal at the local restaurant. This is a typical Latvian plate: breaded and fried pork, boiled and fried potatoes, Latvian sauerkraut, and tomatoes and cucumbers.

A stork hanging out by the river. I kept trying to take a picture of their enormous nests, but I could never get my camera out fast enough. So instead I am including below a photo which Jill took of a stork’s nest atop the famous Rundale palace. How would you like to have a nest that size above your dormer window?

After checking out Kuldiga, we met up with Valters’s cousin, who invited us to spend the night at his place. I didn’t take many photos, because it feels awkward to photograph someone’s house, but Brittney did take a photo of the sauna that he built when he turned an old blacksmith shop into their (he has a wife and son) new home. He was such a nice guy and gracious host that he fired up the sauna for us. And the European way of doing it is to hit each other with the bundled birch twigs that you can see in the bucket. To be honest, I’m not exactly sure what it is supposed to do for your body, but it does feel good…For me, our stay with them was the best part of the trip, because they had never met any Americans and were very interested in hearing about our lives (though it was sometimes probably not the best conversation since they didn’t speak English and my Latvian is still a work in progress).

The next day, after Valters’s cousin loaded us up with an impressive array of fresh vegetables from their garden, we headed off to Ventspils, which is where I took this photo. This is the Venta river as it nears the Baltic Sea.

I couldn’t find any signs explaining this huge cow. They should have made it a blue one though.

A historic old street in Ventspils.

Valters asked a friend in Ventspils (we have learned that Valters knows nearly everyone in Latvia) for a recommendation for lunch. He told us to go here, to a place called the Tailor’s Cafe. It was a great little eatery, very unique. For example, the legs of the tables were made of old Singer sewing machines (I should have taken a picture of that).

On the table was a bouquet of the national flower of Latvia, the Blue Rye flower.

One of the old main squares in Ventspils.

After leaving Ventspils we decided to check out this old Soviet spy radio telescope. It is 105 feet in diameter, making it sill today the eight largest in the world. As the Soviet Union came crumbling down, the original order was to destroy the telescope. But since the staff working there understood how valuable it was/is, they instead simply destroyed the electrical wiring. Now today it is used to study natural and artificial sources of radio waves.

On our way back across Kurzeme, which is were some of Latvia’s most fertile ground is, we spotted a number of farmers harvesting their wheat and rye.

I had to really zoom in for this one, so it’s a bit blurry.

Finally, a couple “people” photos. The first, above, is from last night, when we went for a late-night stroll through one of Riga’s many parks. And below is a reminder of just how cold and snowy it was here back in February…I hope you enjoyed the photos.

Videos of our trip to Germany…

Hello from Riga. Here, below, is the two-part video of our trip to Germany. We hope you enjoy watching it.  Oh, and I should also report that yesterday Brittney accepted a position at a cardiology clinic. So we are about to say goodbye to our days of both having academic-life schedules. Sad. No, but we are thankful that the job search is over; that process is never fun…

 

 

 

Ahhh, Freiburg…

Hi, everyone. Well, we are back safe and sound in Riga. Our trip to Germany was great. It was so nice to be back in Freiburg, the city where Brittney and I first started our relationship, and to see old friends. We have so many pictures and stories to share that we’ve decided to do another video, like what we did for our trip to Prague. So, since it takes me a while to slowly piece together the video every night, I thought I would give you a bit of a preview by posting a few photos. To begin with, the above photo was taken on the Dreisam River bridge. This street is one of the most famous and busy in Freiburg. The tall tower in the distance is one of the old city gates.

Here is another of the old, beautiful city gates.

A photo from the Cathedral Square, where there is a daily market with farm-fresh food and local crafts.

The best bratwurst in the world! When I lived in Freiburg I ate these nearly every day. And this might sound strange, but the biggest difference from U.S.-style brats is the bun. German broetchen work perfectly as a brat bun, especially because the first and last bite are only sausage, and because it isn’t horrible, soft Wonder bread-style bread. There is nothing more annoying than uebersoft bread.

The famously delicious Blackforest Cherry Cake!  I’m not even going to attempt to find words to describe how seductively delicious this cake is. All I can say is that everyone should eat a slice at some point in their life.

A view of Freiburg from Schoenberg, my favorite hiking spot in Freiburg.

One reason why I like Schoenberg the most is because it is so relaxing to stroll among the vineyards. Germany is fantastic for hiking because you can walk pretty much anywhere you please. No gun-toting, private property crazies. Only people who respect the centuries-old cultural practices behind the unique German noun “Wanderlust.”

A photo from the high Black Forest region, though here we were in more of a pasture land region. It makes me so happy just to be up there, to smell the sweet scent of grass and wildflowers, and to see the vibrant green landscape. Fore sure, if I had to pick my favorite place that I have ever been, the Black Forest would be it. And to go back to the word Wanderlust, once you visit a place like this, you better understand why the Germans felt the need to come up with a word to describe what one feels inside upon seeing this landscape.

Finally, I have two short videos to share with you. The first one I took aboard a German high-speed ICE train. I wanted to show you how fast, and yet how amazingly quiet (I promise, it really is that quiet), these trains are. Sure would be nice if we had something similar in the States!

 

And now, the promised video (from my last post) of the church bells in Freiburg (I took this video from my friend Johannes’s place, which is about a ten-minute walk from the city center. And, yes, he lives next to the old city cemetery)…

 

 

 

Sigulda and Gauja…

Greetings from Freiburg im Breisgau, perhaps my favorite location on our beautiful planet. As I am sitting here writing on this most lovely of Sunday mornings, I am sipping on a light and crisp Gutedel and listening to the centuries-old sound of the church bells. It is quite simply one of the best experiences of my life. I recorded a video, in the hopes that you will be able to share this experience, so I will post it on my next entry…Yeah, sorry it’s been so long. I’ve been working like a mad fool this past month, both because I wanted to try to make up for the time that I am going to miss while we are on holiday in Germany and also because we only have two months left!, meaning that I am beginning to feel a bit of angst about whether or not I am going to get a chance to look at all of the documents that I think I need for my dissertation. It’s becoming evermore obvious that maybe I am trying to do a bit much, but nonetheless I am stubbornly going to try and see if I can pull it off. Anyway, because I’ve been working so much, often times until 8:00 p.m., I haven’t really had a chance to work on the blog. But now that we are on vacation, I am trying to catch up. So, in this post I am going to share with you some photos from our trip to the Gauja River and National Park, which is about an 80 minute train ride northeast of Riga. Let’s begin, then, with the above photo of the best klingeritis that we have ever had. We bought it at a local bakery in Sigulda, one of the two largest towns adjacent to the national park. After eating it, I now have the goal of trying to learn how to make these, because they are so uniquely delicious.

Here we are on the bridge over the Guaja River. That day we walked from the train station in Sigulda to Turaida castle. It was a very picturesque walk, but it was rather hot and humid that day, so we were rather tired by the time we made it back to Riga.

Here is a photo from the other side of the river, from a bluff that overlooks the valley and the distant castle.

Along the way to the castle we stopped to check out the famous sandstone caves, which were first made famous by the Baltic German traders who used them for shelter during their trips up and down the river, though of course the local Latvians had always known about the caves.

Inside the caves, which extend maybe 30 yards into the hill, one can find numerous carvings dating back to the 18th century, and sometimes even older. The main carving at the center of this photo has the date of 1813. It was incredible to look at because it seems like it was only carved yesterday.

The southwest side of Turaida castle.

Here is one view from the main tower. The castle dates back, if my memory serves me correctly, to the 14th century, though what one sees today is in fact a reconstruction, since the castle was repeatedly destroyed during the various wars that ravaged the region, and in this case, particularly during the Great Northern War.

A panorama of the Gauja River valley from the castle tower.

A photo from inside the tower. This was the guards’ dinning/beer hall.

Finally, here is a picture of the sky when we got home that evening. I don’t know if you can tell from this shot, but the sky in Latvia is for some reason so much more vividly blue than back home. I don’t know if it is the horrible pollution in the U.S., as we don’t really seem to care much about environmental policies, or if it is perhaps simply because we are so far north, but whatever the reason it is so enjoyable to be outside and look up at the sky. Well, sorry for the somewhat abridged version. We are about to leave for a short trip up into the Black Forest. Hopefully I will get around to posting some photos of Freiburg. Take care, everyone.