Lawrence's World: August 2006

The Hill of Crosses

Well... It's a hill of crosses. Not a graveyard, more of a monument.

Mamaite's Storks

There were storks in Mamaite's hometown - just like everywhere else...

Here's Mamaite's Hometown in Lithuania! We were driving back from Latvia and saw a sign for Zagare - and Milda said "Mamaite grew up near Zagare."

One short detour later we found the town and drover around. We didn't let anyone know we were coming (it was a surprise to us). Next time we'll be better prepared.

Raz Driving!

This amusement park had a bumper car city. Technically he was too young for this, but he was amazing! He zoomed around on the roads and had a blast. The hardest part was when they told him he had to stop...

Castle 3

The last castle we visited - this was a later castle and built with early artilery in mind. The walls are thicker on the exposed sides than they are on the inner side and there are a number of spots where big guns had clearly been mounted.

A Rest Stop

The food was great, but we decided not to stay the night.

Sulkrasti

The last of our beach visits - we stopped at Sulkrasti in Latvia. Again, stunning beaches.

Eurodisney?

No - more of Riga.

Vida and Laime

Vida and her dog Lucky (Laime) with us in Riga. We stayed with her for several days and she was an amazing hostess.

Riga and Milda

Riga is a beautiful city! The architecture is stunning and frequently nautical in theme as this was once a major port city. The statue here is on Milda - the goddess of love - and is in the city center.

More Castles

The other side of the river.

Tramway

This cablecar crossed the gorge between the castles built on either side of a river by rival Christian powers in the 13th century. We crossed over to look at the castles on the far side (pictures are here as well) but we didn't note the time that the cablecar stopped running back and forth.

At 6:30PM they stopped service and began allowing passengers to bungee jump off the car! Sadly we were on the far side of the river gorge from our car when the service stopped. That's a story for a nother day over a glass of wine when you are paying...

Milda's a Pretty Adventuress

Milda trooped over the rough terrain after Raz boldly determined to see everything we saw and not miss a moment.

Knight's Templar

These castles were all part of the Livonian order of Knights Templar - a group of Germannic knights who conquored Latvia in the 13th century.

Here's the castle chapel.

Raz and Me in a Tower

Raz is the adventrous sort - always running ahead and investigating. Lot's of fun when you're in a ruined castle built on a 600' nearly vertical hill with open holes into lower levels...