Fit for a king, indeed. The Latvian capital is a charming city, instantly likeable in its understated lustre.
For most of today’s journey, the sat-nav once again showed us traversing a massive, white expanse. As far as she (our sat-nav is a lady, in case you didn’t know) is concerned, we might as well have been bounding across the dark side of the moon.
Yes, around these parts, a paper map is still indispensable. Luckily, we had one at hand for navigation 20th century style.
We’ve been struck by the number of storks we’ve seen on our travels so far. They’re a common sight as one drives across the countryside. Many families have erected large poles in their garden, on which they hope a stork will build its nest (and, more often than not, they’re right). The reason they hope the stork will visit, of course, is to bestow children on their household. We still haven’t seen the rarer black stork, however.
We drove north-eastwards to Roja on the coast and then turned south-eastwards along the P131 coastal road. The road was less interesting then we’d hoped, but it was still a pleasant drive.
Our chosen destination for lunch was Jūrmala, a beach resort about 25 km west of Rīga. Back when Latvia was still an unwilling member state of the USSR, Jūrmala was a favourite holiday destination for high-ranking Communist Party officials, including Brezhnev and Khrushchev.
These days, Russian can still be seen and heard everywhere, from restaurant menus to posters advertising toe-curlingly cheesy evening entertainment crooners. Even we, as we walked down Jomas iela, were addressed in Russian by market stall vendors.
It’s hardly surprising, really. During the days of the USSR, 1.5 million Russians (were) moved into Latvia, rendering ethnic Latvians a minority in their own land. Things have evened out somewhat since then, but even now, only just over half the country consists of ethnic Latvians. In Rīga, the capital, ethnic Latvians are still outnumbered by a mixture of Russians, Ukrainians, Poles and others.
Jomas iela is the main drag in the Jūrmala sub-resort of Majori. We actually managed to score some decent food on that street, which, judging by the restaurant facades, one wouldn’t have dared anticipate. This kind of street looks much the same all over the world. Only the languages on the menu differ.
Afterwards, we headed for the beach, which turned out to be a 30+ km stretch of golden sanded coastline. The beach was really lovely, and both Eloïse and Lucas certainly agreed.
Sand sculptures lined the beach, some of them quite stunning. I got the impression there had been a competition earlier in the day.
We had to press on, though, so we were forced to leave the beach and head back to the car for the remaining half hour of our journey to Rīga. And, to my surprise, the drive did take only half an hour. I was prepared for longer, given the fact that we were driving into the heart of a capital city with a destination in the mediaeval centre, but the sat-nav guided us right to the door of our hotel.
After checking in, there was time for an hour’s exploration of the city before dinner. The capital quickly revealed itself to be charming, relaxed and unpretentious. There are overtones of a multitude of mediaeval European cities, but with enough distinct, idiosyncratic flavour that Rīga doesn’t remind me of any other city in particular. Of course, we’ve seen very little of the place so far and I’m lucking forward to getting stuck in properly tomorrow.
Latvia is shaping up to be a very memorable holiday in its own right. The country is quite distinct from the rest of Europe. It’s scarcely twenty years old as an independent nation, sparsely populated and bore the unenviable distinction of being the poorest country iin the EU in 2006. In recent times, its economy has boomed as the free market rushed in to fill the post-Soviet vacuum.
Now, of course, things have slowed again, which may just give Latvia a chance to catch up with its own growth. For example, there are twice as many cars on the road today as ten years ago, but Latvia, together with the other Baltic countries, now tops the EU road fatality charts, having bumped Greece from the number one position that it had seemed it would occupy for the rest of time.
From an environmental perspective, the country is relatively unspoilt, with about half of it covered by dense forest. New types of flora and fauna are still discovered here and the country is home to the continent’s largest wild mammals. There are wild horses and bison here, for example.
It’s clear that the Baltic countries are still largely undiscovered gems, ancient societies and yet burgeoning independent nations. I can’t think of a better place for us to have come for our summer trip. I just hope that we’ll have enough time to pack it all in before we have to be back in Amsterdam.