More nature and good company

Friday, May 15.

The weather this morning is cold, pretty gray and miserable. At home, we would probably hole up somewhere cosy with a good book. However, we have a date with Ingrida and Aigars to which we are looking forward

regardless. We are off for another nature trail, this time across a bog. We are well kitted out with umbrellas and rain gear and off we go.

The area we are walking is a former swamp which has been pushed up geologically. Thus, it is not all watery everywhere but one would not want to walk on it because the ground is still spongy. A walkway has been constructed which basically floats on the wet surface.

We approach through another beautiful Latvian forest. The Australian bush has its charm but there is a special magic about the Northern forest. It invokes much sentiment for me and memories of times spent in similar settings in Kurzeme and in my early teens in Germany.

The swamp is a harsh and difficult environment. Only plants and trees which have adapted to being immersed grow and survive. Even so, because of the generally poor growing conditions, the ground is covered mainly by various mosses and the trees are stunted much like Bonsai. Growth is very slow and small pine trees may in fact be 20 years old. At this time of the year, there are many plants and flowers which of course one would not usually see elsewhere. 

Some of them are almost microscopic in size but jewel-like in their brilliance and delicacy. The beguiling sound of a cuckoo accompanies us for most of the way. It is an enchanting landscape of a very special kind. As we walk on, there are more and more small lakes like shards of a broken mirror, reflecting the clouds and the landscape.

But there is more! Almost miraculously, the day brightens up and by mid afternoon, it is a brilliant day. Our friends drive us towards Ķemeri, which was once a resort and health spa.

There is still a sulphur spring that we can smell as we go by. The noted former Sanatorium which is part of my parents culture, is now abandoned and almost derelict. My mother, showing signs of potential TB, spent time there. Remnant scars on her lungs were a grave concern to us when we applied for emigration to Australia. We feared that something might be picked up by the X-rays but they did not.

Further on is Kauguri, another former favourite place for rest and recreation. However, because this area is very close to Jūrmala, THE beachside resort town, Kauguri has sadly declined. The setting and landscape is still most attractive.

The little white boxes are changing enclosures.

Our lunch destination.

Aigars and Ingrida seem to know all the best spots. We target a small tucked away restaurant for lunch. It is so intimately set by the beach that even they have to make two attempts at locating it. However, it is worth all the drive from Riga. The setting is most relaxed and informal; the food as traditional as any food can be in these times. 

I have an old Latvian specialty of brown peas and a bacon, sour cream etc. sauce – all beautiful. Aigars has chosen bull’s testicles! In my mid it might be akin to tripe but a sampling convinces me that if we had more time, I would have it. Lois orders grilled  “reņģes”. It is also an old local favourite but I do not have the English translation. It could be reasonably described as baby herrings. Rounded off with beer, few things could be better. The servings are so generous that we end up with a stack of doggie boxes.

Aigars specialty is in the foreground - with trimmings.

And all the colour as well at no extra cost.

But the great day is not over yet.

We got our dates and engagements a bit mixed up and find that tonight is ‘free’ which gives us an opportunity to catch up with Martiņš Greste and his girlfriend Ļena. They have just returned from a holiday in Turkey. They collect us at the hotel for dinner at a very fine Azerbaijani restaurant. 

The food is most interesting but we have to sample delicately on top of our king size lunch. Ļena has Azerbaijani heritage on her father’s side as a result of the dispersal and forced integration of people in the days of Stalin’s USSR. It is a most engaging and cordial evening with my distant cousin. Regrettably we miss seeing Martiņš daughter Gabriella. We might even see them all in Australia around the end of the year. We part with sadness because we are running out of time to visit them in Jūrmala. But hopefully there may be another time.

What a brilliant day it has been!!!