Indiana Moment

Day 200
I was up early and packed quickly. I had a lot to accomplish today. After storing my stuff I headed to the bus station and to Cesis. Cesis is meant to be a very typical Latvian town.

After finding the tourist office and then eating what I thought was a potato pancake but turned out to be chicken I headed to the Cesis Cathedral. Inside was pretty basic, but the bell tower was fabulous. Up top there were hundreds of bells, not just the big one or two. Most of the bells were very small and they all had a note tied on them. I wonder how long they have been there and what they symbolize.

When I had finished at the church I walked over to the castle. The castle is a ruin and has no electricity. When I bought my ticket they gave me a candle lit lantern.

Cesis castle is pretty interesting. A few years ago during an excavation several skeletons were found. The people had died during a cave in. Quite a bit of money was found with them. There are still rumors that there is more treasure to be found.

At first I didn't think that the candle was really needed, but then I saw the pitch black spiral staircase. This might not have been such a hot idea. I am a notorious klutz and I know how much it hurts to fall on spiral stairs. About 5 years ago I spent a night in Bolton Castle in England. After dinner we were given a scavenger hunt and period clothing. There was no electricity and we were carrying flashlights. We were also running around to be first. I lost my footing hurrying down the steps and slid about one floor down on my butt. It wasn't a highlight of the evening.

I went carefully up the staircase and slowly checked out all of the rooms. Somehow I managed to not slip. It was scary and fun all at the same time, I felt like Indiana Jones.

I was kinda relieved and sad when the tour was over. My next stop was meant to be the brewery but it was closed. After checking out some of the statues around the city I got the next bus back to Riga.

I had a really late night bus and still had hours to kill. I was also just about out of reading material. I ended up going to the movies to pass the time. When I got back to the hostel I charged my ipod and read the NY papers that Karen had brought for me. Right when I was about to leave I met an Australian girl and we exchanged books. I didn't have time to read the back cover, I just knew that I needed something for the long ride.

While I was sitting at the bus station cops came around and woke up all of the homeless people. They then gave them tickets and the people paid on the spot, but didn't leave. I don't know what that was about.

On the bus I was happy to see that I had four seats across and could spread out. I opened up my book and began to read. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas might be one of the most haunting books I have ever read. I read it all in one straight shot. When I was finished exhaustion took over and I finally closed my eyes.

Too Much Fun

Day 199
Fun Friendly Franks is way too fun and friendly. I have been up way to late every night this week. I had planned to go on a day trip but just didn’t get up in time. Instead I decided to just walk around Riga until something caught my eye.

After some time I ended up at the Art Museum. It really wasn’t very good. There were a few interesting pieces and I could tell what Western European school each of the artists had trained at, but that was about it. None of the art seemed quite right.

I then spent a few hours trying to find the best art nuovo buildings that my guidebook had mentioned. I managed to find a handful of them with a lot of work.

My stomach began to growl for dinner and I knew that it was time to head back to the hostel for dinner. I cooked myself pasta. I had already decided that I didn’t want to be up late so I skipped the bar and writing in my journal. Instead I simply went to my room, which I had to myself, and finished reading Attonment. This took almost the rest of the evening. Soon I feel asleep, way before midnight.

Zelta Part Two

Day 198
After some oatmeal for breakfast I went for another walk around Riga before heading to the city Cathedral. This cathedral was really pretty. For some reason several of the tombs had coins all over them. Most of them were so old that you couldn’t make out more than lumbs for the carvigns. There were also no signs about who they were. I don’t know why some had coins on them and others didn’t.

In the cloisters there were bits and pieces that had been found during different excavations. There was also a very large German tour group that seemed to enjoy walking in front of my camera whenever I went to take a picture.

Next door was the Latvian History Museum. Each room had a book type thing in English, but not really an explanation of the individual objects. This made me very curious as to why there were six mummified hands spread throughout the exhibits.

The Romans had some contact with the early Latvians, but not much. During the medieval ages Riga was a small market town with a harbor. Eventually the town came under Germanic control. There was no Germany at this point. Latvia was westernized and introduced to Christianity. Riga became a trade hub between Russia and the Germanic states, very little was actually produced here. St. Christopher, who is the patron saint of travelers, is also the patron saint of Riga.

During the Reformation the bishops lost control of the city and a town council was created. Not much longer the Livonian war began. This was a lengthy fight for land between Russia, Denmark, Sweden and Poland. In 1583 Latvia fell under Polish control, but in 1621 Sweden took over.

In the 17^th century the Russians came. There was a lot of animosity between the various groups. In fact, one of the girls working at the hostel is of Russian decent, she considers herself Russan, not Latvian, despite the fact that her parents were born in Latvia as well.

Then something changed in 1868. People felt a renewed interest in their heritage; this is known as the National Awakening. In 1901 Riga had its 700 year anniversary as a city. Art Nuovo buildings became all the rage.

After this the museum began to repeat much of what I had learned at the Occupation Museum. During the world wars much of the museums collections were moved to either Russia or Germany. About half never returned.

The museum was closing and I headed to the central market. The building is a Soviet monstrosity that looks more like a train station than anything else. Everything here is super cheap though and I picked up some more pasta and some water for almost nothing.

Back at the hostel I read Attonment while I made dinner. After eating I went to the bar to be social and to write a bit. There were a couple of British stag parties there. In fact, for most of the night I was the only girl around. I ended up spending most of the evening talking to a guy from Nottingham. Eventually I called it a night and went to sleep.

The Legend of Zelta

Day 197
Ok, so I was out a bit late and slept later than I had during this entire trip. The group from the hostel hadn’t left for the bar until 1 am and I was there for about 1.5 hours. That is much later than I normally stay up.

I decided to allow myself a very lazy day. I went to see Tropic Thunder, very stupid, and then back to the hostel to read Attonment.

Later that night I hung out with the same guys I had spent most of the evening before with. There was another group of Brits that was very very drunk. Two of the guys had pulled two of the bar stools together and were almost sitting on each others laps. They were pretending to dance and kiss. It was very strange. The next night one of the guys pretend dancing started chatting with me to complain that his friends were all lightweights and that it was only 8 pm and they were all drunk. He then told me that he never drinks like that. I asked him if he remembered the night before. He turned red and then went to talk to someone else.

As for me, I didn’t want another late night and lazy day so I went to sleep.

The reason this entry is called the Ledgend of Zelta is because that is the local beer and I thought it was funny.

Occupied Mind

Day 196
After breakfast I decided that it was finally time to explore Riga.

I started at Bastion Hill. This is a really pretty park that used to have a castle in it. When the castle was torn down the moat was turned into a scenic canal. Next up was the freedom monument. I don’t remember what this was freedom for though. For some reason there were two soldiers marching back and forth in front of it.

At this point it was nearing lunch time but I thought I could fit one museum in before then. I went to the Occupation Museum. I had thought that the museum in Tallinn had been detailed. This was was just out of this world. I spent almost three hours here. A lot of Latvia's story is quite similar to Estonia’s, so I will try to skip those parts.

Prior to WWI Latvia had been occupied by both Germanic forces and Russia. After the war both countries were unable to take control and Latvia gained freedom. This lasted for 20 years. Just like Estonia, Latvia was affected by the 1939 Non Aggression Treaty between Germany and Russia. Almost over night more Russian soldiers were in Latvia than the entire number of soldiers in the Latvian army.

Just like in Estonia Stalin tried to stamp out Latvian history. Latvia’s first president was sent to a Gulag in Siberia, never to return. The Soviet Union even held a fake vote, there was only one candidate to vote for. When people voted they would receive a stamp in their passport. If they didn’t have this stamp they could not be employed.

In June of 1941 Stalin had 1% of the entire Latvian population arrested and deported to Siberia in one night. Most of these people never returned and were never given a reason for why they were arrested.

About two weeks later the Nazi army arrived. At first they were looked on as liberators. The Nazis did their best to strengthen this idea. They dug up the mass graves of those that Stalin had had killed. People were able to identify and rebury their loved ones. Soon, however, the people began to realize that the Nazi’s were just as bad as the Soviets had been. Latvia lost 70 thousand Jews to the Holocaust. One hundred thousand Latvian men were conscripted into the Nazi army, half never returned home.

During all of this there was a resistance movement. When the tide changed and the front once again crossed Latvia people began to flee.

In 1945 Germany surrendered and the Soviet Union returned. In 1953 Stalin died and Khrushchev took over. This brought on a bit of a thaw and an end to most deportations. Some of the people that Stalin had sent to Siberia were able to return home. This is much like what was going on in Estonia. People were not allowed to talk about the atrocities that had happened under Stalins rule.

In the 1980’s glasnost began and resistance grew. The largest group was called Helsinki 86. In 1990 Latvia declared independence. One year later Russia tried to take control but the people protected the government buildings from being taken over.

When I had finished here I was definitely ready for a break from serious stuff. It was also that weird time of day when the museums were closing and it wasn’t quite time for dinner. I went to see the Accidental Husband. It was cute.

After making myself dinner at the hostel I went to the bar to be social. I ended up meeting some nice Brits and going to a nearby pub with them and the rest of the group from the hostel.

Return to Riga

Day 195
I woke up around 6 am. It was so incredibly cold that I couldn’t sleep any longer. Apparently sleeping in a tent in September is not such a hot idea. After grabbing breakfast and packing up I headed into the city center. I made a quick stop at the post office before heading back to an internet cafe. I still had loads more blogging to do and I wanted to get as far as possible before my flight.

I can’t stand middle of the day flights. I would rather they be early in the morning or late at night. A 2pm flight just sucks away the whole day, plus I was working with a time change that further stole away the day.

The flight was fine, not a bit of a bump the whole way. In fact, I think that I slept through most of it. When I got to Riga I knew just what bus to take and how to find my hostel. At one point though I thought that I had missed my stop and got myself together to get off at the next one. Luckily, the next one was my stop after all!

By the time I reached Franks it was time for dinner. I went out and found the Hesburger. There was a publ crawl that evening at the hostel but I decided to skip it. There wasn’t a very large group and I still can’t get the crappy pub crawl in Rome out of my head. After writing in my journal I simply called it a night.

Reunions

Day 191
It was time to put Eastern Europe on hold for a few days and head back to Germany. I was headed to Munich to meet up with one of my former co-workers, Karen. We were going to Oktoberfest!The bus ride to the airport was a bit odd. I couldn't figure out how to buy a ticket so I just got on. Then a woman approached me, I thought, crap I'm gonna get fined. At closer inspection I saw that she had tickets pinned to her sweater and that I was meant to buy one from her. She seemed to stand there patiently while I figured this all out.

At the airport I got some food and went through security. They second they saw the American passport I got the pat-down treatment. I don't really care though, as long as they let me through!By the time I actually got to Munich it was just about time for dinner due to the time change.

Karen was already at the hotel room waiting for me. It was really fabulous to get to spend a few days with one of my New York friends.We headed straight out to the place you have to go to in Munich, the Hofbrauhaus.

After some good beer and German food we tried to do a bit of shopping, but there wasn't really much time left for that. We finished the night off at the hotel bar. I gave Karen some of the behind the blog secrets (don't worry, nothing juicy) and she updated me on the work front.

Never Enough Time

Day 190
I got myself up early and went straight to the bus station I had to get to Riga, Latvia at some point today. I turned out that I could either go on the noon or 6pm bus. I knew that I couldn´t entertain myself all day in Parnu.

I screwed up. For some reason when I looked at my guidebook I picked Parnu over Tartu. Tartu is a university town and would have been more fun.

I had two hours to kill and only 7 croons (about $0.75) left I bought a pastry for breakfast and then just wandered around the town taking pictures. I had wanted to see the art museum, but wasn´t going to take out more money to see it.

On the bus I met a French girl named Pauline. She had traveled quite a bit, but was on her own for the first time. Chatting made the bus ride seem shorter.

Pauline had a night bus to Lithuania but had some time to kill. She came with me to drop off my bags at my hostel, Fun Friendly Franks. You get a free beer on arrival.

We ended up getting pizza for lunch and exploring Riga for a couple of hours. When Pauline left I went back to the hostel and spent some time writing and chatting with the other people there. I had to call it an early night though, I had a big morning that I didn´t want to sleep through.