Wednesday May 10, 2006

Holiday in Sicily - Etna

From our hotel room Mount Etna was usually visible as a hazy form on the horizon. However on one day it was clearly visible. This was the day to go and see Europe's highest active volcano. From the hotel its Northern face looked like a zebra with alternating snow and black rock. Our first attempt at the summit had us approach from the Northern face as we had heard the cablecar on the Southern side was still not working ( having beeen destroyed in a previous eruption). We drove to Lingualossa and then up onto Piano Provenzana hoping beyong there to pick up one of the jeeps that take you further up. At first the road had conifer trees eitherside but these soon gave way to an alien vista of mostly black covered rock; lava ejected from the volcano over the years. We reached the place where were expected to find the jeeps but they were not running. We did however get a chance to see the mountain closer up and take this photograph.

We returned the way we had come and headed to the Southern side hoping for better luck there. The trees re-appeared but one the other side they were different types to the North side. More lunar landscape appeared and we then reachedRifugio Sapcienza and it was soon clear the cablecar had resumed service. This takes you up to a 2500m level before continuing in large 4X4 vehicles. As we went up we saw a cloud cover was approaching and threatening to engulf the mountain and spoil the view.

We then got into the large vehicles and followed a path sometimes cut into snow as high as our vehicle but mostly on black scree. Our destination with our guide was one of the most recent eruption sites a small crater. We got out and soon realised why the rented coat and boots were needed. It was very windy and cold. Our guide took us to the crater and explained what had happened here during the eruption. The scree was still very hot to the touch and in the centre of the crater steam was rising. He also explained why one side of the crater was higher than the other - due to the prevailing wind. We walked around the craters perimeter and at the highest point we could barely stand up and we got a small idea of what it is like to undertake one of those artic walks to one of the poles.

An amazing day and if you get the chance to go do so - but pick your day carefully. The cloud did not spoil the view to much. If you want to see a real piece of volcano action you should visit a small island off Sicily called Stromboli where you climb a volcano at night and watch the action in the dark until dawn.

Last part tomorrow.

Tuesday May 09, 2006

Holiday in Sicily - Taomina

Last week had an excellent holiday in Sicily on its East coast staying at two places on this island off the coast of Italy. It was interesting that one of the leading Mafia bosses Bernardo Provenzano was arrested before we arrived. But the plain truth is you are not going to come into contact or be affected directly by this organisation on a trip to this lovely island. From the UK it is a short less than three hour flight to Catania on the East coast. We drove from this airport down the A18 autostrada following the coastline in our hire car a Peugeot 307 convertible useless that day as it was raining. The countryside along the road was still green the full heat of the summer sun not having baked the place stone dry and turned it brown. There were lovely terraced hills, lemon/orange groves and cyprus trees to see. We arrived late afternoon in Taomina which is said to be the prettiest on the island and the following day explored the town.

In the town is a Greek theatre; Teatro Greco which was very spectacular with views from the seating down to the sea with Mount Etna just visible in the background mostly covered by clouds. However as we walked around it started to rain and we sheltered until it stopped under one of the arches at the top of the theatre's seating. By our hotel the Belvedere there are some pretty public gardens Giardino Publico endowed by a Florence Trevelyan who went to Taomina in 1899 after an ill advised liason with the then Prince of Wales- the future Edward VII. In the gardens are one of the Italian mini subs used in World War two to devastating effect.

The second day had us climb past the memorial Madonna della Rocca up to a ruined castle Castello Saracervo. In the interior of the castle were loads of wild flowers in full bloom - poppies mainly, confirming summer was here and that plants here were getting a move on producing seeds earlier than at home. This is the view of the castle from the Madonna della Rocca.

From the castle you got a great view of the town, theatre and coastline. Back down to the town we strolled along the Corso Umbieto its main shopping road and then down to a cablecar station that takes you to the coast. We visited the little island Isola Bella reached by a short causeway from the main beach. We then followed the coastline all the way to Mazzaro before returning up to the main town by way of the cablecar again.

As regards driving on the island it is said to be nearly a competive sport but as long as you are clear on what you want to do it is not so bad. One thing they do do over here is insist you stop beyond the stop line at traffic lights. If you do not do so they will squeeze past you and take that place. At this position they can no longer see the traffic light so rely on the cars behind to beep when the light goes green. A cup of coffee arrives in a cup hardly large enough to hold a hen's' egg and it amused most cafe owners that my wife wanted it watered down with aqua and put in a larger cup. More tomorrow.

Wednesday April 05, 2006

Second half of the short Norfolk holiday

Our second half of our brief holiday in Norfolk had us staying at the Saracens Head Wolterton . From here we visited Blickling Hall. This is a very attractive early 17th century building. It is said to be the greatest English Jacobean house. It has a large library ( sadly suffering from damp problems - hopefully now fixed) It also has some fine Mortlake tapestries, intricate plasterwork ceilings and paintings.

In the afternoon we went to the town of Sheringham and saw the sea at last. Along the coastline which is strengthened to protect the shoreline from the seas ravages were just a few of a fine old English tradition the Beach hut. A bit like your average garden shed but full of things you need when visiting the seaside. They are often painted an attractive colour. We then visited the parkland of Sheringham park which was designed by Humphry Repton. We were a bit early for the Azaleas and Rhododenrons but a few early ones were out.

Day two we started with a walk around the pub. It was not spectacular a six mile walk the highlight being the moated Mannington Hall.

In the afternoon we went to the National Trust, Felbrig Hall one of the "Finest 17th century houses in East Anglia".

Much of the furniture in the hall is original 18th century and has one of the largest collections of Grand tour paintings by one artist. It also feature a large shoe shaped bath that you clambered in. At its top was where hot water could poured in to keep the bathwater hot. A pipe led from here to the bottom of the shoe so the hot water reached your toes! In these houses I enjoy their gardens more than the houses and the recently renovated walled garden was no exception. They grew grapes on squat wigwams and in a greenhouse a Passion flower and Jasmine were in flower. The Jasmine was giving off a lovely scent. There were lots of different herbs to see most still dormant.

Tuesday April 04, 2006

First half of the short Norfolk holiday

We have just got back from a few days away in Norfolk the county that myself wife were born in ( different areas though). We were to stay in two pubs the first Rose and Crown at Snettisham . On the way as an interlude we planned to do a walk at Swaffham Burbeck, halfway between Cambridge and Newmarket We parked at Swaffham Burbeck by this pretty church and set off in the direction of nearby Reach.

This church is one of two on the same piece of land, there were two wealthy landowners in Swaffham Burbeck and they each built a church. Nowadays only one of them is used for worship. This photo is the disused one called St Cyriac's with its 15th century tower. St Mary's ( still in use) was built by the Norman's and has a strinking octagonal tower. We passed through the rest of the village and saw its water tower which are very commmon in this area. By its side was a windmill. We were soon in open country and saw Devil's ditch an embankment built in the seventh century and is seven miles long. It was probably used as a defence against the nearby kingdon of Mercia It is said to be the finest Dark ages earthworks in the country. We soon reached the village of Reach and had a pub stop. Reach was a busy port in the Middle ages boats using the river Cam and Lode to reach it. we followed a simple path back to Swaffham Burbeck. We then visited the nearby National Trust building of Oxburgh Hall.

This is a tudor house built in 1482 by the Bedingfield family who still live in a portion of the property. There are some embroidery examples worked by Mary , Queen of Scots and Bess of Hardwick. The property also has a Priest hole .In its church were some modern day constructed Heraldy examples of many famous people.

Day two we did our longest walk for many months, eight miles. We started at Wighton where we saw its pretty church.

We crossed a railway bridge where a small gauge steam engine runs between Wells and Walsingham. We were climbing ( not real climbing in flat as a pancake Norfolk..) to reach Gallow Hill where there was a small plantation of trees. We then turned right and in the distance the church of Wells next the sea slowly became visible. This small town is very pretty and we had a stop at a green called Buttlands at a very nice pub. Our route then took us to the coastline itself , although the sea is not really visible as there is a marshy area that extends from the town to where the sea can be found. We were now walking alongside this marsh area with lots of different birds visible. We passed a large freshwater pond where frogs were busy mating to produce tadpoles in a few weeks time. An old coaster boat was meant to be visible on the marsh but I think it has now broken up. These boats used to carry grain to the port and as many as 330 of these arrived every year. Today the granary is now flats. We turned away from the coast and walked along a pleasant lane to Warham where we just managed to get a drink before closing time. From our path before we returned to Wighton an old Iron age camp was just visible, just a muddy hill now. This dates from 50 century BC.

Friday March 03, 2006

This will make you green

Well one holiday is sorted this year. Much to my amusement my wife always fills in the free magazine competitions for holidays, prizes etc. Well it has come up with a winner. Sometime this year at a time of our choosing we are off to Hong Kong. A five days trip with flight, transfers, hotel included. Who says going in for those competitions is a waste of time....Two things to think about; hope we ticked the no publicity box and where to go in five days?

Wednesday November 09, 2005

Days in the Yorkshire Dales

My last writeup of the short holiday now takes us to our second stop this time in the Yorkshire dales. Before leaving the moors we decided to take a look at Castle Howard an imposing period property where the Brideshead film was located. We never got there. Each road we tried to go down to visit the property was closed for road works so we gave up and headed to Grassington in the dales to start a walk there. The walk took across fields where I took this picture.

Soon after this we entered Grass wood and climbed up the summit towards Gregory fort which was a Brigartian stronghold which for a time resisted the powerful Roman army as it invaded the UK. On this summit an ample covering of leaves, lack of signs had us lost. We retraced our steps back and we followed a road back to Grassington. Our next pub we were staying at was along a very narrow road and literally on its own; the only building for miles. You always know when you are in trouble along a narrow road in the UK, first the central white line goes away and then if things get really bad grass can be seen growing in the tarmac. The pub is called the White Lion at Cray. It is by a very pretty water cascade called Crag gill which was flowing very well after all the rain the area has had recently. Inside the pub was full of old world charm with a Bull ook game, a log fire, stone floors and a more modern giant Jenga to entertain visitors. Cray is a few miles south of the better known parts of the dales, eg places like Leyburn, Bedale and Aysgarth.

The pub is one you can visit as you go round a large circular walk around the dales. To prove you have completed the walk each pub has its own custom paper punch to show you visited. This hung from the outside wall. On our final day we ventured out for a walk despite the threat of rain. The walk started at the pretty village of Burnsall and followed the river wharf to the equally pretty village of Linton returning back over fields. As we walked along the river fallen leaves were being wipped into the air by the strong wind and then fell like confetti into the water. Later on we crossed the river by way of a very old and narrow suspension bridge which wobbled as we went over it.

Later after following this bank for a mile we recrossed the river just outside Linton. The water in this area is brown in colour and this colour of water comes out of your taps too!

We then followed a track to Linton's twelfth century church with an odd tower. Most of it was rebuilt in the fifteenth century. The church is built away from the centre of the village as when it was built it served four parishes and is equidistant from each. ( no excuses for not going to Sunday service then!)

We then retraced our steps and went into the village proper and had lunch. By our pub was the Fountaine hospital founded in 1721 by local benefactor Richard Fountaine as almshouses for six poor men or women. It is thought the building may have been designed by the distinguished architect St John Vanbrugh. As it was now raining we decided to return back by the road and two thirds of the way home a white goods repair man took pity on us and drove us back to Burnsall. We dried off and had another pleasant meal in the pub that evening.

The following day we drove back home South two hundred and seventy miles. Excellent break.

Tuesday November 08, 2005

Days in the Yorkshire Moors (part2)

Our second full day on the Yorkshire moors saw us go the the coastal town of Whitby. In its long history it has been the centre for fishing, whaling, shipbuilding and the production of alum used in the dying and tanning industries. It is also famous for the fact James Cook made his first voyage from there and used ships built in Whitby on his momentous voyages of discovery. It also has a splendid ruin of an abbey built in the eleventh century. The walk took us from the town across fields inland towards a lighthouse and fog signaling buildings both now holiday homes.

The foghorn building had two large horns on its roof and anyone in the building must have been deafened when they were set off. Both are near the point where we joined the coast at Whitshore point where we followed the coast path back to Whitby. Looking at the map afterwards the coastline has interesting names for each feature; North and South bats, Black and Saltwick nab, the scar, rail and Saltwick hole . Before we returned to the town itself we saw the ruins of the abbey and we went down one hundred and ninty nine steps to the centre.

We then drove to the pretty coastal village of Robin Hood's bay and had a good wander around it. Once a smugglers haunt its houses cling to the cliffs and lower reaches of its bay precariously. Its name derives from the fact that it was a one time haunt for Robin hood who fled here while being persued from Nottingham by boarding a fishing vessel to it.

Monday November 07, 2005

Days in the Yorkshire Moors (part1)

An unscheduled holiday had us having a short week in both the Yorkshire moors and dales. On our way there we had a stopover to visit my wife's cousin and her husband who live in Burton on Trent. During the day we went out toSudbury Hall (above) This house was built in 1660 for George Vernon. The house also has in its stables a museum of childhood with all sorts of toys and games from yesteryear. The rear of the house overlooks a lake with the gardens in a Capability Brown style. The following morning filled from a lunchtimed English breakfast we drove up the M1, then turning off it for the city of York, bypassed that and took a smaller road to Pickering. We were staying at the White Swan hotel on the market place road. We had a nice room behind the main hotel block which was quite new with a fancy TFT television and DVD player. We had a very pleasant dinner that night in the hotel afterwards taking a stroll around the town.

The next morning we had an excellent Yorkshire breakfast ( served until 10am) and headed out for our first walk of the day. This walk centred around Rievaulx Abbey.

We took advantage of the audio wand tour as we wandered around the ruins. This abbey is the first Cistercian one built in 1132. The Cistercian monks were known for their spartan lifestyle; no meat and they denied themselves many other things others deemed normal for those times. Choir monks were the core brothers in the abbey with helpers called Lay brothers doing a lot of the hard labour intensive work. The Cistercian style was relaxed over time and eventually the abbey's grip on the rural lifestyle weakened and was like many others destroyed by Henry Eighth. Having toured the abbey we then did a three mile walk around it. We then visited the nearby pretty town of Helmsley and had lunch there. We then drove out to Kirk Dale where we found this pretty church at the start of our second walk.

This church St Gregory's minster was built by the monks of Lindisfarne in the seventh century. It is called a minster because it was the centre of missionary activities ( mission house) in the early days of christianity. It was destroyed during the Danish invasions and then was restored in the mid eleventh century prior to the Norman conquest by Orm a local landowner with a name ironically suggesting he was of Viking origin! A detailed inscription on the sundial records this event. The walk took us up high onto Kirkdale howl and then across to two farms before a long and pleasant walk under trees along Robin Hood's howl. We were soon back to the church and back to the hotel for a quick nap before dinner at a local Italian restaurant in Pickering town. More tomorrow...

Wednesday September 28, 2005

The Greek holiday (Part two)

The Peloponnese are seen as very orthodox and traditional compared to other parts of Greece. Widows wear black and do not normally remarry - if they want to remarry they must first leave their village else they are considered in bad terms. Like many other parts of Greece the roadsides will have memorials made of metal or stone with a cross on top. These are to thank god for a lucky escape of a relative or to protect all motorists at a place in the road where danger exists. Rarely they are built where a loved one has died of an accident. They contain a bottle of water and oil and often have a icon in them. Back to our tour of ancient sites we drove to Corinth. This was a capital city in Roman times. Only a small portion of its total site has been dug out. The temple of Apollo is its famous building although only a few of its columns stil stand.

The museum was again excellent this time with two wonderful complete mosaics. Above the main ancient city is Acrocorinth a four kilometre hike and scramble to the most powerful fortress known in the middle ages. I was very keen to visit the Corinth canal nearby which links the Aegean and Ionian seas.

Where were saw the canal was at one end where a girder bridge carried the road over the canal. When a ship wanted to pass the bridge was submerged onto the canal bed. Further away where the walls of the canal are at their highest a motorway and railway cross the canal. Nero planned to build the canal in his reign but it was only in the late 1800's that man had the technology to build it. It seems strange that man often builds bridges, tunnels etc to join bits of land but this structure actually separates the Peloponnese from the rest of mainland Greece.

One of the other principle sites we visited was Mycenae. This gate still stands with two lions who have sadly lost their heads but the structure is still very impressive. The city was said to be founded by Perseus the slayer of Medusa but it later fell into the hands of the house of House of Atreus. This family did their best to wipe each other out after a fued that started with brother seduces wife, his sons are fed to him....

A nearby beehive stone lined structure built into a hill is known as the treasury of Ateus is very impressive but sadly looted as it was so easy to find.

Our last full day had us stay in our town and walk up to the fortress Palamidhi named after the inventor Palmedes who invented dice, scales and lighthouses. He was killed by the Greeks of Troy on charges trumped up by Odysseus who did not like any competion and thought he was the smartest of the Greeks at the time. The fortress is reached by climbing eight hundred steps from the town. It is actually three castles on the summit each of which can be clearly seen (not in my picture).

Back in the town we hoped to go into the Archeological museum where a complete suit of armour Pendra Cuirass ( Mycnaean armour ) can be seen. The museum was sadly closed for renovations. We then took a boat trip to the second fort of the town which is in the harbour called Bourtzi built in 1473. It was the home of the town's nineteenth century public executioner and also a modern day hotel until it closed. Finally we walked up to the third fort Akronafplia now partly a luxury hotel. On this summit is the town's clock that like a lot of continental towers chimes the hour twice after a short gap.

It was interesting to compare Greece today to what we remembered when we went to the islands over twenty years ago. Of course it might be different on the islands still but the mainland seems affluent, smart new cars, and modern days goods in the shops. The Greek food and wine is still the same but for me it is the right accompaniment to the country. The Greeks are as friendly as I remember them all those years ago. Toilets are as good if not better there than in parts of the UK and the place the paper in a seperate bin was not evident anywhere we went to. I am sure we will go back to other parts mainland Greece soon.

Tuesday September 27, 2005

The Greek holiday (Part one)

So the last holiday of the year had us going to mainland Greece to the area known as the Peloponnese. An early flight from London's Gatwick airport on the charter airline Excel who for a charter airline are pretty good. The usual queue chaos in Gatwick was there to greet us despite arriving earlier than the required two hour check in. We soon arrived in Kalamata on the southern tip of the Peloponnese. The weather was hot and sunny and we now face a two hour drive in our hire car to the North Eastern coastline namly the town of Nafplio. We had a GM Corsa as our car and as soon as I got to the motorway I soon realised this is the first car I have driven for ages that is not able to exceed the speed limit - in fact it struggled to reach the 120KM limit on Greek motorways. Driving on the right hand side of the road is not hard it - just requires a bit of extra concentration and care. The roads are quiet in any case compared to the UK. On the way to Nafplio We saw roasted whole pigs under glass enclosures by the roadside in case you fancied a quick snack. At the town we checked into our hotel the excellent Byron which is named after the British writer who died while in Greece during it's independance war. A church nearby has a memorial on its wall with the names of Byron and the others who perished in that war. The hotel is in the old town partly pedestrianised so is nice and quiet and safe. Our first trip is to Olympia which we elected to take a coach tour as it is a long drive there and back. The games started here in eleventh century BC gradually becoming more organised and eventually becoming the four yearly sports celebration we know today. That four year cycle probably started ninth century BC.

It is easy to be disapointed by the site as not a lot stands and all that is left are mainly foundations and large blocks of stone scattered about. Earthquakes, invasions and the river Alfios changing its course have caused the damage to the site. However the size of the blocks of stone are amazing - try and visualise building temples without modern machinery that we now take for granted... The whole site comes to life after walking through the remains of a tunnel to the stadium where the ground still marks the first 200M race track. A line of stones indicate the starting point of the race. The ancient olympics kept going and the Roman emperor Nero broke the four year cycle so he could enter. Despite falling off his chariot (twice) and not actually finishing he was awarded the race. This was in 67AD. The ancient olympics were disbanded in 393AD. The nearby museum is awsome. It contains statues, glassware, pottery, cauldrons emblems, shields and many artifacts found at the site. The amount and quality of these finds is amazing.

Our next trip had us of to another site this time called Epidaurus. The site is well known for its excellent ancient theatre which snuggles into the hills very naturally. It has excellent acoustics in fact a group of girls sang on the stage and you got an excellent impression of its sound qualities. Even more impressive was the applause from the crowd as it carried around the stadium.

Next to the stadium are a series of building remains dedicated to Asclepius the healing god. It also hosted its own games with its stadium also visible. Two of the buildings were for sick people one being partially rebuilt is believed to have been like a maze where a sick person would crawl along where he was bitten by snakes in the building. It was a kill or cure clearly!

The plains under the shadow of the mountains in this area are used to grown many things, they are irrigigated by wind driven pumps that have airplane type propellors on them to catch the wind. Later in the week the weather got cooler with thundery showers later in the evenings but during the day it remained dry. I liken the Greeks as the ultimate recycle nation. As you drive along especially in towns you can find pretty much anything you want. Parts of cars, ballast, larger lumps of concrete carefully placed for re-use at some time in the future. nothing is thrown away. Sadly the collections of empty plastic bottles are not found new homes and the countryside is destined to be covered by these unwanted items for a long time in the future. Second part tomorrow..

Thursday August 11, 2005

Riga Part two..

So the second part of our holiday in Riga. The tour continues past an art nouveau building called the Black cat. The legend has it that the owner when blackballed by the Riga guild had two cats put on the towers of this building with their rears pointing towards the guild building. Later after a successful law suit they were turned to a more respectful position.

The houses and buildings of the old town have a wonderful charm with many gothic features and decorative items attached to their walls. However a favourite must be the Three brothers , three houses who are all built next to each other. The first, the white building looks like it is ready to collapse into its brother and dates from the 1400's.

There are plenty of green areas around in the old town and beyond and one area had a pretty stream and bridge. The bridge had loads of locks fixed to it with names and dates. I assume these are memorials to folks who have died or perhaps those lost during the occupation years.

Riga had the usual continental style beers and a local spririt called Rigas melnais balzamms a gloppy herb flavoured affair which is said to have elixir qualities I have brought back a small bottle to try some time at home..

On the last day we ventured outside the old city towards the newer area. Unlike the old town where trendy people wander around or drive in the BMW seven series etc things are more downbeat outside. We went to a refurbished set of Zepplin hangers now a covered market. All sorts of items were on sale and prices were very cheap. I think you can learn a lot by visiting a local market. We saw the ugly but symbolic Academy of Sciences built in the 1960's nicknamed Stalin's birthday cake constructed using gingerbread chunks of stone. We quietly popped in the church of Annunciation where several babies were being publically christened. It was very pretty but very dark inside. A quick visit to St Gertrude's church was made longer by a prolonged chat with a local. We think her father was kicked off his land by the Russians and she clearly was still very upset by those events. Nearby we passed the so called house on the corner where the Soviet secret police hung out and is now used by the local Latvian lawkeepers.

So I would recommend a visit to the city before it becomes overwelmed by tourists like us. It is clean safe and plenty to see for a long weekened. The old centre itself is largely pedestrians only but be aware if you take a taxi from this area it will cost more than picking up a cab outside it. The streets maintain their square cobbled surface which are very attractive. There are many landmarks that I have not mentioned but I can assure you there is plenty to see in this historic old town. The locals mostly had a good command of the English language, to our disgrace we only learned one word and that is thank you the word being Paldies. If you go you should take a camera with a wide angled lens as the streets are narrow and it is hard to get all of the buildings in with a regular lens. I would also suggest taking some waterproof clothing as it does rain even in the summer. The trip has certainly inspired us to visit the other two Baltic countries that is Estonia and Lithuania

Wednesday August 10, 2005

Riga - a long weekend

So a long weekend away to one of the Baltic states. Latvia was our destination and its capital Riga the city we stayed at. It is described as a nest of narrow streets lined with an engaging ensemble of buildings reflecting eight centuries of history. The city has three quarters of a million inhabitants that being a third of the countries total population. In Latvia itself only fifty five percent of the population are ethnic Latvians the rest Russians who were persuaded to move in when the country was part of the Soviet bloc. The river Daugava disects the city in two with the old city centre on the eastern shore. Our flight was a short two hours from Heathrow and Latvia is two hours ahead of BST. Riga is one of the places where stag nights seem to be held; on our flight was a load of chaps wearing DJ's and the groom in a flowery dress!

The cathedral a red brick monster thats dominates its square was begun in 1211 by Albert Buxhoveden the warrior priest who founded the town. The organ has an amazing 6768 pipes and is the fourth largest in the world today but had the largest number when built. We stayed in a hotel right to the cathedral called Hotel Gutenberg which is named after the chap who started the whole publishing business off using metal type. He printed the first bible but never visited Riga so the link between him and the hotel is a bit tenuous. The other big church in the centre is St Peter's church that you can actually go up inside its steeple by way of a lift. The views around you are wonderful. The steeple (initially wooden) burnt down and its modern replacement is 137 feet high.

Back on the ground the square near St Peter's is the House of the Blackheads recently rebuilt after being demolished. It was a meeting place for Riga guilds and named in honor of their patron the Roman warrior saint of north African origin Maurice. It is now a upmarket cafe and musical hall. Next door to it is the haunting museum of Occupation. Its exterior is very sombre but captures the mood of the tale it has to tell very well. Inside you follow the story during the second world war when initially the Stalin Ribbentrop pact sealed Latvia's fate and Russia moved in. Thousands of folks were deported to various parts of Russia into camps. Later in the war Germany took over initially to the countries enthusiam but they soon found out things were not to improve under Nazi rule. The Russians then took over again after Germany's defeat and the Iron curtain came down. The museum holds many items owned by these deportees some of which were made by them like needles, a wonderfully carved chess set and much more. I think at least 1/2 million folks were lost during those terrible years.

Back to older history the Powder tower below has cannon balls still embedded in it but my picture does not show them I am sorry to say. It is of fourteenth century origin.

The entrance fee to most of the museums/churches is around one latvian Lats which is well under a pound. An evening meal even with a french bottle of wine would be no more than twenty Lats perhaps up to thirty if you really went up market. The traditional food is quite wholesome but there are plenty of other foods from around the world to suit your taste. My two favourite places to eat were Vecmeita Ar Kaki in a cellar off Doma Laukums and the Four rooms place ( road name lost!). There is a nice cafe culture and when it is not raining it is nice to sit outside with a glass of the local beer.

More tomorrow..