Day 106 & 107: Gauja National Park & Sigulda
DAY 106
Date: 16 DEC 2008
What do you normally put on your bread for breakfast? Butter or Jam? Guess what I had as a bread spread here in Latvia?? Its liver. I had liver as my bread spread for breakfast. Different yah?
After breakfast, I met up with Joey and we made a day trip out of Riga to the countryside, the Sigulda part of the Gauja National Park.
The Gauja National Park in Vidzeme is the largest national park in Latvia, with an area of 917.45 km² running from north-east of Sigulda to south-west of Cēsis along the valley of the Gauja River, from which the park takes its name. It was established on 14 September 1973 and is thus also the oldest national park in Latvia. The park is particularly noted for the Devonian sandstone cliffs, in some places as high as 90 metres, along the banks of the Gauja, particularly in the northern parts round Sigulda. In the south-west it is mainly used by the inhabitants of Riga as a leisure facility, while further to the north-east it is more strictly protected.
Sigulda is a town in the Vidzeme Region of Latvia, 53 km from the capital city Riga. It is situated on a picturesque stretch of the primeval Gauja river valley and because of the reddish Devonian sandstone which forms steep rocks and caves on both banks of the river, Sigulda has been called the "Switzerland of Vidzeme".
After the restoration of Latvian independence in 1991, an emphasis was placed on conserving Sigulda's public monuments and parks as well as improving the town's tourist sector. Supported by the town council, a traditional Opera Festival takes place in an open-air music hall in the castle ruins each summer. A Town Festival is celebrated in May when cherry trees blossom, while Sigulda is known for the colors of its trees in autumn. Sports such as skiing, bobsledding, and the luge are popular in wintertime and bungee jumping is practiced during the rest of the year.
Here are the pictures.
The temperature here is quite low. You can see ice forming on branches.
And I am now standing on top of a frozen lake.
It was a slow and nice walk in the park.
We brought along dark bread for lunch.
After lunch, we made our way back to Sigulda where we took the train back to Riga.
By the time we got back to Riga, its time for dinner. I went over to the hostel where Joey stayed at and we prepared dinner together.
Here are some interesting notice that the hostel has put up.
Then after dinner, I made my way back to my host's place where I just relax and rest for the evening.
P/S: The day is getting shorter. The sun now sets at about 4pm.
DAY 107
Date: 17 DEC 2008
Woke up in the morning, looked out of the window and was happy to see snow!!
Did not do much today. Went to a museum in the morning and then spend the rest of the afternoon relaxing.
Read this. It is interesting and disgusting.
This is the widest Zebra crossing I have ever seen.
Then in the evening, me and Joey took a coach and left Latvia.
Guess where are we going next? Tallinn!! Where is Tallinn?? It is in Estonia!!
This bus is really meant for traveling long distance. Just look at what they have in the bus? Other than a toilet, it also has a microwave and hot water facility. How nice!
What did we do to kill time in the bus? We watch Hong Kong Drama series on the laptop.
And oh, as usual, before I leave a country, this is how the Latvian Lats looks like.
Number of days in Latvia: 3 Days
Total Amount Spent: SGD$71.10 or USD$50
After a few hours on the coach, we arrived in Tallinn, ESTONIA!!
As usual, I went over to my new host's place but this time round Joey came with me. Markus, my host in Tallinn, stays in a community house. Which means many people stays together. I was kind of surprise by the very warm welcome I got from them when I arrived. They pulled me into the house, stuffed a beer into my hand and we started drinking. I was barely 3 minutes in the house. After the qiuck beer, they then took me out. It was crazily fun. This was what we did.
It was MINUS 2 degree Celsius (sub zero) outside and we went CYCLING into town for some drink. In the first pub, I had a local drink, Vodka with Tabasco in it. Then we cycled to the next pub and then the next. We drank, we smashed beer bottles onto the ground with beer in it and played chess using the floor tiles as the chessboard in the pub. It was a crazy night. I had never done all these stuff before. I know that I have a crazy host, I know that I am going to have a crazy time here in Tallinn, I know that I am going to enjoy it. I know that I will love it.
What else will happen tomorrow? We shall see.
*Click HERE to return to the Main Page of The Cold Journey.*
Date: 16 DEC 2008
What do you normally put on your bread for breakfast? Butter or Jam? Guess what I had as a bread spread here in Latvia?? Its liver. I had liver as my bread spread for breakfast. Different yah?
After breakfast, I met up with Joey and we made a day trip out of Riga to the countryside, the Sigulda part of the Gauja National Park.
The Gauja National Park in Vidzeme is the largest national park in Latvia, with an area of 917.45 km² running from north-east of Sigulda to south-west of Cēsis along the valley of the Gauja River, from which the park takes its name. It was established on 14 September 1973 and is thus also the oldest national park in Latvia. The park is particularly noted for the Devonian sandstone cliffs, in some places as high as 90 metres, along the banks of the Gauja, particularly in the northern parts round Sigulda. In the south-west it is mainly used by the inhabitants of Riga as a leisure facility, while further to the north-east it is more strictly protected.
Sigulda is a town in the Vidzeme Region of Latvia, 53 km from the capital city Riga. It is situated on a picturesque stretch of the primeval Gauja river valley and because of the reddish Devonian sandstone which forms steep rocks and caves on both banks of the river, Sigulda has been called the "Switzerland of Vidzeme".
After the restoration of Latvian independence in 1991, an emphasis was placed on conserving Sigulda's public monuments and parks as well as improving the town's tourist sector. Supported by the town council, a traditional Opera Festival takes place in an open-air music hall in the castle ruins each summer. A Town Festival is celebrated in May when cherry trees blossom, while Sigulda is known for the colors of its trees in autumn. Sports such as skiing, bobsledding, and the luge are popular in wintertime and bungee jumping is practiced during the rest of the year.
Here are the pictures.
The temperature here is quite low. You can see ice forming on branches.
And I am now standing on top of a frozen lake.
It was a slow and nice walk in the park.
We brought along dark bread for lunch.
After lunch, we made our way back to Sigulda where we took the train back to Riga.
By the time we got back to Riga, its time for dinner. I went over to the hostel where Joey stayed at and we prepared dinner together.
Here are some interesting notice that the hostel has put up.
Then after dinner, I made my way back to my host's place where I just relax and rest for the evening.
P/S: The day is getting shorter. The sun now sets at about 4pm.
DAY 107
Date: 17 DEC 2008
Woke up in the morning, looked out of the window and was happy to see snow!!
Did not do much today. Went to a museum in the morning and then spend the rest of the afternoon relaxing.
Read this. It is interesting and disgusting.
This is the widest Zebra crossing I have ever seen.
Then in the evening, me and Joey took a coach and left Latvia.
Guess where are we going next? Tallinn!! Where is Tallinn?? It is in Estonia!!
This bus is really meant for traveling long distance. Just look at what they have in the bus? Other than a toilet, it also has a microwave and hot water facility. How nice!
What did we do to kill time in the bus? We watch Hong Kong Drama series on the laptop.
And oh, as usual, before I leave a country, this is how the Latvian Lats looks like.
Number of days in Latvia: 3 Days
Total Amount Spent: SGD$71.10 or USD$50
After a few hours on the coach, we arrived in Tallinn, ESTONIA!!
As usual, I went over to my new host's place but this time round Joey came with me. Markus, my host in Tallinn, stays in a community house. Which means many people stays together. I was kind of surprise by the very warm welcome I got from them when I arrived. They pulled me into the house, stuffed a beer into my hand and we started drinking. I was barely 3 minutes in the house. After the qiuck beer, they then took me out. It was crazily fun. This was what we did.
It was MINUS 2 degree Celsius (sub zero) outside and we went CYCLING into town for some drink. In the first pub, I had a local drink, Vodka with Tabasco in it. Then we cycled to the next pub and then the next. We drank, we smashed beer bottles onto the ground with beer in it and played chess using the floor tiles as the chessboard in the pub. It was a crazy night. I had never done all these stuff before. I know that I have a crazy host, I know that I am going to have a crazy time here in Tallinn, I know that I am going to enjoy it. I know that I will love it.
What else will happen tomorrow? We shall see.
*Click HERE to return to the Main Page of The Cold Journey.*
posted by ZeeVinCeZ at 6:45 AM
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