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)…
crookedtimberofhumanity 
