Baltic Adventures: Sigulda

Welcome to Riga! Any hostel that greets you with a beer is a winner in my book.

Sigulda is apparently the most hilly region of Latvia, a fact that they are extremely proud of, advertizing the Gauja National Park there as 'The Switzerland of Latvia'. This seemed a bit inexplicable to me, since it was about as mountainous as North Jersey.

Behold, a ski area. I actually think Mount Peter has more vertical.

But I managed to forgive the shortcomings of the hills of Latvia because it was so attractive. It also certainly didn't hurt that it had snowed. Adding a little snow to a landscape can only improve it. So I had quite a jolly day strolling around and exploring the area.

Behold, the concert hall. Pretty snazzy architecture for a small country town.

One of the coolest features of the area was the bobsledding museum and track. Unfortunately, since it was a Sunday, they weren't actually running sleds, which was a bummer. But still, it was pretty cool to see. I had no idea bobsledding was so popular in Latvia, but apparently it is.

The view out over the valley from the top of the bobsled track.

Another view from the track.

The winning bobsled from some Olympics. I'm unsure which ones.

The rest of my day was spent just walking around and enjoying the chilly winter weather, and the calmness of getting out of the city. It was a much needed break.

Check it out. Some trees and such.

More happy little trees. Absurdly picturesque.

A church.

A disused bunker, now used by a colony of bats. Unfortunately I didn't meet any.

The best thing about wandering through eastern Europe is the high likelihood of stumbling across a castle.

This particular castle was quite colorful.

In an interesting twist, there was another castle behind the colorful castle. This one was significantly older.



The castle I had the good fortune to encounter was the headquarters of the Order of the Brothers of the Sword. They started work on it 1207. They were defeated in 1236 and the castle passed into the hands of the Livonians. It was destroyed during the Great Northern War and has not really been restored since. Today it serves as a venue for concerts and such, as well as a cool place to go explore. It's run by monks, who may or may not be members of the Brotherhood of the Sword. Difficult to say.

In fairness, this castle was more ruins than an actual building.



One of the lookout towers.



Behold, a bus stop. And the award for the weirdest word for a bus station goes to the Latvian language. 'Autoosta'.



The Latvian countryside.