Small town of Jurmala is divided in two parts, you may say. There is the center center, popular with tourists, with restaurants, promenade, concert hall, etc, and there is the sleeping part where actual people live. Sometimes it is clean and tidy with new buildings, but sometimes it is like this. I didn't have time to do proper sightseeing, so that's all the pictures i have.

I took the train from Riga out to Majori, the main beach of Jurmala. It's about a 30 minute train ride and is very cheap round trip (not even 2 euro). There are streets of beautiful late 19th and early 20th century homes. I was really surprised at how nice they are.  All of them have unique and interesting details that are a sight to behold. The main street along Jurmala that connects all of the beach communities is filled with cafes, shops, and steet vendors selling locally made goods. There is nothing fantastic here, just a nice peaceful small town beach atmosphere. I really enjoyed it.

The beaches along Jurmala are fine light brown sand. There are trash cans everywhere so, trash isn't littering the beach. People were playing volleyball and soccer as others just stroll along the water's edge. I saw many families enjoying the sun and sand with their children and even a newlywed couple having their pictures taken. There are birch trees at the edge of the sand, which makes for a beautiful backdrop. The buildings range from timber framed to Latvian (victorianesque) to communist concrete.

Jurmala is a small resort where the land is very expensive and almost all inhabitants live in private houses - modern, tidy. But some inhabitants still live in shabby and old houses - little bit late with renovations and still don’t understand that it’s not a village anymore.  Same ones are Kitija’s neighbours. They keep some home animals and birds… so every morning we had alive alarm clock 7:30 - a real rooster! First of all I thought that this is Kitija’s alarm clock, but still had a hope that she is not that crazy… ;) Every morning… 7:30… ;) It kept ‘alarming’ until we got up… and every morning the same time… it would be a real attraction if we had enough of sleep, but after 3-4 hours of sleep the rooster did not cheer us up… maybe just a little bit… ;) Kitija went to work at 9am and I stayed home until 11am, and then went to meet Ivan and Lena at 12am in the station’s square. They took train or bus from Riga. It’s only 30km. They came to see Jurmala and just walk around. The weather was so humid - it had to rain for sure.

Cloudy sky, fogy surroundings, not the best day for a beach. But it had an oddish charm. My mind were somewhere out that morning/afernoon. Just wanted to spent some time alone with my thoughts, so put my ipod on and took a camera. That moment lots of birds were at the beach - pigeons, crowns, and seagulls. They were sharing same land, same water, same remains of food… Just like people…

Ivan and Lena were walking in front of me and discussing some actual themes. All I saw was sea and birds. Such a relaxation…!

After short meditation we went to have a coffee and some food. And then it started raining. Small early autumn rain, mizzle. We sat outside near fountain under the roof - was really cosy to watch the rain and have a cup of hot drink. Going back to the station we decided to take another walk by the beach. As it stopped raining, the air was so refreshing. Lena and me were talking about different types of people and their conception and Ivan used the moment to play with his camera.

Kitija and Ivars had to finish work at 5pm and take us to see Latvian autumn resort Sigulda and medieval castle there. So we all took a train back to Riga and went to have some food in the old Riga. Lena left us, so it was me and Ivanito.

Kitija came on time but Ivars was a bit late. We reached Sigulda only around 7-8. It was almost dark and we did not see all the beauty. But it was a fun trip, we joked and laughed a lot. And then Ivan heard my famous phrase - Ivan, can you stand normal?! :) Little explanation: in all the pictures during these days Ivan was hugging me and that time I just wanted NORMAL pictures, so he heard these words… :) Sorry Ivanito… :) I didn’t mean anything bad! Just wanted a normal picture! :) And from then this phrase is just like a joke. Every time we took other pictures together he heard same words: Ivan, can you stand normal?! ;) But anyway, he didn’t…. ;) Oh well…. ;)

Night sight seeing was finished and we were on the way back to Riga when Ivars suggested to have a dinner in a very funny place called ‘Witches kitchen’. Many wooden sculptures were made inside and outside. As you can see in the pictures - the main Witch was the best one!

We got home after the midnight. First stop was Riga, then Jurmala. Last night in Latvia was really quiet, because fatigue did it’s job…

Next day I had to go back to Vilnius. Ivan decided to join me, because his next stop had to be Vilnius as well. It was quite early 4 hours bus, but we made it very easy with ipod music and chatting.

Jurmala is known locally as the Baltic Riviera although we like to think of it as the Baltic Butlins!  We stayed in a log cabin (shed) on a campsite by the sea.  The area is very touristy and mainly attracts Latvians from Riga as a weekend retreat.  However, the beach here is really nice and we enjoyed having picnics along the seafront and early evening strolls.

tbc