another early morning start. went down to breakfast and barely anything was left. breakfast started 20 minutes ago! oh well. that’s what happens when you are touring with people who go to bed at 10 and wake up at 5. they were ready for breakfast even before it started.

the agenda was filled to the brim with castles. six castles total. being a castle junkie, i will finally get my fix. we were driving from madona to the gauja national park in latvia. the national park contains a bunch of little towns, and we would visit the two main towns. the first town we will visit is cesis with two castles and then on to our final destination, another town called sigulda, which has four castles in the area.

the drive uneventful, and i was asleep most of the time. cesis is latvia’s most latvian town. the cobblestone street is lined with old tan and brown stone buildings, a crumbling castle (cesis castle), freedom monument, and a gothic/baroque church shadowing the town. next to cesis castle is a newer castle that doesn’t really look like a castle at all. it has a turret that is attached to a house. after walking through the new castle, i discovered the foundation of the building used to be a castle and it has since been renovated/rebuilt.

we meandered through the gated wall of cesis castle to meet our tour guide. unlike trakai castle, this castle showed its age, which made it even more impressive. before entering the castle, we were given candle lanterns so we could have light while climbing in the towers and interior of the castle. as the tour guide led us through several chambers where the workers slept, the kitchen and the master bedroom, john and i grew tired of trying to listen to her struggle with english and the slowness of the group, so we went off on our own to climb to the top of the tower and explore the different passageways and rooms. all of the stairs we climbed were spiral and dark. i loved climbing around the tower and finding dark alcoves and different rooms. we were given a lot of freedom as to where we could go. barely anything was off limits, which would be completely different if we were in the states.

we finished the main castle rather quickly and went around to a side entrance where the prison was. in order to access the prison, we had to climb down a rather steep ladder in a cramped space in the floor. the prison was a very small room with a tiny breathing hole. i couldn’t imagine being imprisoned in this type of room. it must have been hellish to be stuck underground with barely any light and surrounded by stone. here’s john escaping the prison from the hole in the floor.

afterwards, we went to the new castle next door, which was basically a museum about the castle and the old brewery of the popular beer, cesu.

so far, two castles down, four to go.

we went into the interior of st. john’s church, which looked like every other church we had visited on the trip. we meandered through the main drag looking for a cafe. the little town was quaint and beautiful. we found the aroma cafe and enjoyed some coffee before we headed back to the bus to continue the journey to sigulda.

the drive from cesis to sigulda was a quick route through the national park. as we crossed through the valley heading to sigula, i saw turaida castle looming in the distance. we arrived at the sigulda hotel, dropped our stuff off, and boarded the bus again to take us to turaida castle.

turaida castle is the centerpiece of a museum reserve that has a statue garden, a church housing a history museum, and the gravestone of the legendary Turaida Rose. The story behind Turaida Rose involves Sigulda’s local beauty who grew up inside Turaida castle. her beauty was widely known, but she loved Viktors, a gardener at Sigulda castle across the valley. they would meet in a cave halfway between the castles.

one day, a desparate polish suitor tricked her to come to the cave by means of a letter forged in Viktors’ handwriting. in an attempt to be let go by the suitor, she offered to give the suitor the scarf around her neck. she believed the scarf had special powers to protect her, and to prove the power, she suggested he swing his sword at her. the scarf did not have any powers and the suitor decapitated her. he fled and viktors found her dead. at first, viktors was to blame but another suitor came forward and told the true story. viktors was freed, and it is believed that viktors buried her at the gravesight, planted one of the trees, and disappeared. the gravestone bears the inscription “Turaidas Roze 1601 – 1620.” at the base of the grave were flowers, and the gift shop had jewelry in the shape of a rose as well as other souvenirs involving the tragic story.

turaida castle was another impressive castle. partially rebuilt, you could climb to the top of the tower for a small fee. the way up was a worn down spiral staircase that opened to several chambers before reaching the top. the top was a round room with several view ports. the views were great of the surrounding countryside and the castle grounds below. the bricks had been engraved by visitors as far back as 1957. at first, we were confused as to why that was the oldest year we could find until we read that the tower was rebuilt in 1957.

the rest of the castle featured exhibits about the armor, weaponry, tools used in masonry work (which hadn’t changed much since), and the history of the castle and way of life. after exploring as much as we could, we headed back to the main entrance of the reserve where a cafe was across the street. we had some time to kill before the group reconvened back at the bus, so i had a zelka beer and john, of course, had a coffee.

after we regrouped, adam offered to take us on a hike through the forest to see another castle and ride the gondola across the valley back to sigulda. i was all for it cause it involved a castle, a gondola ride, and nature. john was being lazy and headed back to sigulda on the bus where he could lounge in front of the tv to catch up on current events on cnn.

the hike involved a lot of steps. 200 steps down, and 360 steps up to reach the Krimulda castle ruins. when we reached the top, i couldn’t see the ruins until adam pointed out what looked like a small hill which was the old castle wall. it became more apparent that it was a castle as we walked around and saw the only castle wall still standing.

alright, four castles down, two to go.

we rode the gondola across the valley, which was cool. i wasn’t able to photograph much due to the condensation building up on the windows from all the people in the car, but i could see turaida castle in the distance and the river below us. as the gondola approached the other side, we could see the sigulda new castle sitting on top of the ridge. we were scheduled to have dinner in the new castle that evening.

it was a long walk back to the hotel and when i arrived at the room, mr. lazybones was laying under the covers watching the news. an advantage of having john catch up on the news is that he briefs me on the latest current events, kind of like the abridged version of cnn.

i went out to the terrace to start working on the site. as i was prepping the photos, adam, the tour guide, joined me and we discussed how some people stay in cubicles for life while others, like him, find ways to incorporate travel with work, and even though it doesn’t pay as much, the lifestyle suits him more than being in the corporate path. it was interesting to hear his perspective on his experiences with the tour groups and his life pursuits.

time for dinner and we walked down to the new sigulda castle to dine in a castle. i envisioned being henry the eighth holding a big chicken leg and a goblet of beer with chamber maids and what not. of course, the dinner wasn’t that. the interior of the castle wasn’t stone or drafty. it was a 19th century interior with paintings, and the dining room had a long table with place settings for the group.

we all sat down and commented on how we couldn’t remember what we ordered. three days ago, adam passed around the menu and we had to choose what we wanted ahead of time. we were given name plates so the waitress could match the name with the order. finally, i could figure out everyone’s names. so, the unknown meal was going to be a surprise, and even after the grilled salmon was placed in front of me, i still thought i had ordered something else. the salmon was a bit dry, but the cesu beer compensated for that.

the dinner’s conversations revolved around talking about new york, current events, and travels. after dinner, i went out back to see the final castle of the day, the old sigulda castle. it was dusk so i got some good photos of the castle at night. we went into the courtyard of the castle. it was pretty dark by now, so we didn’t do any exploring of the castle. if we had a flashlight, i will be crawling up in the castle, but we didn’t. there wasn’t much to see in the courtyard except for the castle walls and an open air stage.

we walked back with the group to the hotel, and i setup outside on the terrace to finish the work of the site before going to bed.

castles galore. i loved visiting the castles and my favorite was the first castle, cesis castle, where i was able to explore the interior of the castle. the interiors of the castles were cramped and i couldn’t imagine living in one, but being able to explore the ruins was exciting.

tomorrow, we head to the islands off the coast of estonia. out of all the countries we visited, estonia is my favorite. it is the most modern, westernized country, and wireless is everywhere in the country, my kind of country!