Mark's Travels

10 years of travel blogging from 35+ countries around the world

My first trip to Latvia 7th August 2006 in Riga, Latvia


I finally had the opportunity to visit my relatives in Latvia. I stayed in the village of Adazi just on the outskirts of Riga.

I spent my first night enjoying dinner, meet and learning about everyone and then I had the chance to ask in detail about why my family left Latvia during the Second World War and details on the roots of my family and where the last few generations have been living and their ethnic makeup.

I also got to try a variety of Latvia beers and spirits. The next morning that alcohol had taken a beating on me but my cousin gave me some headache pills which completely got rid of the hang over in about 15 minutes. I was totally shocked because usually pills take hours to help me clear up.

We then went to the Dauga national park with Linda and Janis and looked at some castle ruins, Latvian sculptures and took a gondola across the valley to look out at everything.

After that I went to an adventure park where I got to climb through trees just like the park near Tartu in Estonia. I was glad that I managed to get through this park, only skipping a few bits in the middle that didn't interest me (read: looked to bloody difficult and not fun). But you can skip to the end bit which was a blast.

Then we went to a former secret nuclear bunker which was hidden under a health spa. This place was incredible and I could write a whole blog on it.

In the evening I went out partying in the old town with Janis and his mates. It was absolutely great. People really enjoy having a good time and are really open to meeting people, making friends and they don't care if they have to speak in English to talk to you. I had one small incident where I guy threatened to kill me in a restaurant but the six guys I was with helped me get him off my back.

The next day we went to the old town and stopped at the occupation museum. They describe in detail what happened during the Second World War to Latvia and the other Baltic states. I left feeling very upset and saddened. It meant a lot to me to have a comprehensive understanding but I didn't think it would be so hard to hear what happened. Usually when I go to a museum describing a country be invaded and its people repressed it doesn't sink in much but it felt so personal this time.

Then we went to a park where they simulate sky diving by putting you on top of a fan with a wire mesh above it. The wind pushes against you at 180 - 200KM/H. It was incredible but it hurt slightly. I could really imagine what its like falling out of plane after doing that. Before I went into the cage they trained us and I was with a group of Estonians. It was nice that a group of 8 people would all speak English because I was there. It really nice that people are so kind to go out of there way to make things easy for me.

After we walked around the old town some more and had a nice dinner together.

Overall it was really a wonderful experience for me. Some things that surprised me were:

1. The towns where my grand parents come from
2. Why they really were in Germany
3. How Bremen-like Riga is
4. How different Estonia and Latvia are from one another
5. The amazing hangover pills
6. How much people will go out of their way to make sure you have a great time :)


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