2020

 

 

In January we spent our anniversary in Laulasmaa and in February made a roadtrip to Riga. In March I managed to squeeze in a quick sunbathing trip to Sharm-El-Sheik and after that our trips to Georgia, Poland and Switzerland were cancelled. Instead we had long walks in old town and watched, how the nature is blooming again. We followed the cherry and all other blossoms. In May we had the first post-corona trip and mid of May went to Tartu and Pühajärve. We spent my birthday in Pärnu and midsummer in Haapsalu. We ate a lot of local strawberries. And picked some too.

In July we flew to US and said farewell to our beautiful home in Ann Arbor. And to all squirrels. In August we had a road trip to Latvia and Lithuania and bought us a new home in Kassisaba. We spent September on our new huge terrace and in October went to Laulasmaa for Scott's birthday. In November I changed jobs and for Christmas we brought a Canadian spruce on our terrace.

About flights and no-flights

2018 I had 35 flights, 2019 I flew 43 times and 2020 ... drumroll ... six times! Booked trips to Kutaisi, Krakow and Zurich were all cancelled.

Outside of Estonia our travels took us to Latvia, Egypt, United States, Latvia again and Lithuania.

Baltics and the white sands. How we left the depressive town in Lithuania.

By the sunrise, Scott was so disturbed by the depressing town that we skipped the pancakes and left right after finishing the packing. We visited the Hill of Crosses and started our way towards Riga, in the hope of having some breakfast on the way. In a roadside bar we managed to get some coffee and eggs. Scott, who was still dumbfounded by the pearls of the sovjet architecture, asked, if we could skip Riga and drive right home. Especially considering that the restaurant we planned to eat in, is closed on Sundays. We couldn't skip Riga completely, because we had to pick up a package from a local shipping company. We followed the map and it brought us to a five-story building, filled with different businesses. None of which seemed to be open on Sunday, but I still decided to make sure. Main door was open and stepping into the dim lobby I was greeted by a renovation from 1985 and a little table in the corner, covered with a white table cloth and little ghetto blaster playing pop songs from the 80ies. As an added bonus, you could make yourself a coffee or tea and disinfect your hands. The logistic unit I needed, was on the second floor and to my surprise, even that door wasn't closed. However, all the doors that I needed, were closed. Next to the directors room, there was another disinfectant. Walked back to the car and informed Scott, who needed a toilet break for the last half an hour that there's a restroom on the second floor, door wide open. Like back in the times in my elementary school. Sovjet students had nothing to hide!

We had already figured out that skipping Riga means we can have lunch in Ainaži and that's what we did. We ordered bruschettas, tomato soup, Caesar salad, salmon tartar and crispy chicken. Everything they served was eaten and finished and we were looking for the waiter to pay, when the kitchen sent us a message that it's not going to take much longer with our tomato soup...

Baltics and the white sands. Experience lunch and gourmet trip.

 

 

This morning we had planned to eat in the hotel buffet. Full enthusiasm we walked out, where based on the smells each morning we expected piles of pancakes like in the childhood. On the display there were zucchini patties, boiled eggs, salami, cucumber and tomato and a few more things. We decided that the choice wasn't worth 2x8EUR and bee lined to De Gusto. I ordered curd pancakes and Scott omelet with bacon and cheese. Muy good!

For the night we had planned to reach Neringa and Nida and since we wanted to have a walk in Klaipeda, which was on the way to Neringa, we chose to have lunch there as well. I started to google, because the judgment of where to eat, should not be made lightheartedly. Especially in a harbor town. I figured we can choose between some tad bit fancier burger joint and pizza place. It appeared that among Top 5 there is one delux bbq restaurant and one that "can't make up its mind what it is". So, we went for the indecisive one. Parked the car at 3pm, put our masks on and stepped in. At first it seemed that they might have a shortage of available tables, but then it became evident that the best table of household is free and we took our seats. Right next to the glass wall between the dining area and kitchen. Scott was so fascinated with the kitchen that he forgot to check the menu at all. Finally we had made up our minds and the best of fine dine started to appear on our table: tuna and salmon tartar with sesame dressing and crispy shrimps and mango for starters and veal with potato-celery gratin and chantarelles and fried white fish with thick sauce and peas and bacon for mains. For the dessert they had three choices, we selected berry tart and chocolate mousse cake with kalamansi filling and pistachio biscuit. Already observing the kitchen was half the experience, not to mention the exceptional servings of the food and how delicious it was. And one of the best service experiences in the eastern part of Europe.

We walked some in old town like planned and drove then to the harbor. Crossing the strait took five minutes and as always, in about 10km there was the peninsula fee kiosk, where in the peak season we had to pay 30 EUR to drive through with a car (at the same time, a bus with 20 passengers would have paid 20 EUR). Had we postponed our trip by 3 days, it would have only cost us 5 EUR, as it wasn't the peak anymore. 45 minutes later and we parked in front of our hotel. We had booked a room with patio and had stopped in Lidl on the way to get some food and drinks that we can enjoy on our patio later, but after arrival we found out that should we want to have a meal outside, they can organise us a table and some chairs next to the parking lot. We didn't consider it a suitable option and ate in the room.

Baltics and the white sands. How we went to the art gallery in Riga.

 

First thing I did after waking up in the morning was to check, if we actually had a mattress on the bed. It seemed there was, although it felt like sleeping on a thin yoga mat.

Later we sat in our hotel yard and ate everything delicious that parents had packed us for the road - fresh tomatoes, smoked salmon and grilled cheese. Since in Jurmala there are Lavazza coffee machines on every street corner and also between those corners, I went and grabbed myself a hot cappuccino. After the breakfast we walked to the main street to get some cakes from the highly praised Madame Brioš. Scott was happy with his chocolate eclair and berry tart and I was anything but with the lousy Napoleon cake. So right after walking out of the Madam's place I walked straight across the street to De Gusto that looked like Cafe Narva in Tallinn, which means the last upgrade was given 1987. We chose Moscow pastry wannabe (I didn't know then that it only pretends to be the Moscow pastry), slice of lemon pie and another of cherry chocolate. All delicious. We finished most of it before reaching the beach.

In the afternoon we had planned a trip to the capital. From the last visit Scott remembered a mosquito painting, that he still regretted of not buying. Add few nice views from the church tower and dinner in already known seafood restaurant. So we drove to Riga and made our way to the gallery. The mosquito was still there, but after finding out the price we decided to leave it in the gallery for the time being. Next thing on the agenda was the church to enjoy the green summer views over Riga. By the church door it turned out that on Mondays you should look for the views elsewhere.

Dinner was booked in Zivju Lete, still remembering the great food and service from last time. We had salmon-tuna-shrimp tartar, lobster roll, tuna in herbs and grilled octopus. The tuna had already lived its better part of the life and the herbs were only present in the description. Everything else was very tasty.

Baltics and the white sands. "It's really difficult to f*ck up the eggs"

 

 

... said Scott after we found the same Cafe 53 as the only open eatery in the morning. I wasn't such an optimist and chose the custard pancakes with jam and sour cream, which tasted absolutely great. Scott opted for the farmers breakfast - fried eggs, sausage and hash browns. But as we know, he doesn't eat egg yolks and whites, if they are not mixed, he asked his eggs either scrambled or as omelette. He got a plate with a mixture of potatoes, eggs and slices of hot dogs, all floating in soggy water and garnished like the fanciest foods in the 80ies with canned peas and few tasteless slices of tomato. He also withdraw his statement that it's difficult to f*ck up eggs.

We went to the beach and walked later to the observation tower. I already imagined all the breathtaking views over the Baltic Sea and the 32-kilometer white sand beach of Jurmala. I didn't however imagine the going up the lattice stairs and floors to then finally see the tiny piece of beach and that endless forest.

For dinner we booked a table in Majorenhoff to avoid having the Latvian idea of pizza again. We had prawns in brandy, beef tartar, creamy cheese soup with shrimps and salmon and absolutely unforgettable hash brown (which was just the most crispy one ever!) with salted salmon and quail egg. As always, the raw egg wasn't anything to impress Scott. He has chocolate lava cake for dessert and I had walnut cake with sweet milk served as a piece of art. 

Baltics and the white sands. What you will be served when you order pizza in Jurmala

For Saturday we had invited us to Tartu for lunch and filled ourselves with smoked salmon, tomatoes, baked cheese breads, fried potatoes and yellow beans offered by my parents.

Around 4pm we left Tartu towards Latvia and arrived in Jurmala at 8pm. At first we had the idea of bringing our stuff to the room and hurry to the beach to enjoy the best sunsets in Baltics, but our hostess did her very best to obstruct this plan. While I was checking us in, Scott was checking out the restroom and the lady, wanting very enthusiastically introduce Jurmala to us, refused to do it only for me: We wait until husband here too. Once the husband returned to the reception, the hostess spread out the map and started to point out how Jurmala is placed nicely between the sea and the river and where exactly our walks should take us. We finally managed to get the room key, however the lady insisted on walking us to the room, to make sure that we are able to find the door, merely 8 feet away from the reception desk.

We arrived at the beach exactly 15 minutes before the sun hit the horizon, walked along the beach, took some pictures and walked to the main boulevard to grab a light snack before hitting the bed. We chose Cafe 53. I got grilled chicken breast and carrot juice and Scott, ever the optimist, took pizza in addition to his salad. My chicken and the warm carrot juice were good, Scott's salad seemed fine too. Instead of pizza he got a loaf of bread with a pile of cut ham in the middle of it and covered with a lot of cheese. We didn't plan to return to that cafe.

Live the Rhythm of Riga. How we didn't go to Lidl.

I was excited about my breakfast since yesterday morning, because all I could think of was how good the oatmeal was. And the breakfast buffes rarely have something that I like and what wouldn't be croissant, pancake or something else good, but unhealthy. So I grabbed my coffee, a bowl and beelined straight to the hot meal area. The cehfs had decided to greet us on this lovely Monday morning with runny semolina porridge. I put the bowl back and very dispiritedly took some pancakes, a bit of potato salad and something that looked like savory carrot cake.

I googled some more and we went out once again to give another shot o finding the House of the Blackheads. And the Town Musicians of Bremen. And then the gallery, where Scott bought me the earrings yesterday, because he had decided that he might want the painting of a mosquito they had there. Didn't find the musicians. Once again when the Google Maps told me that here they are, all I could see was the church wall and a cat house. It didn't seem likely that the musicians would be hiding out there. But what we found was the House of the Blackheads. And the main square. We also found the gallery, which huge wooden doors were securely closed and locked. Scott called their number and apparently got someone out of the bed at 10am. But he did find out that the gallery will be opened 1pm today. I googled some more and found out that the town musicians are placed near the other wall of the church we were walking by earlier. We took some pictures of them, went back to the hote, packed out bags to stop by in Lidl and start our way to Sigulda after that.

I had previously looked at the map and found that Riga is nicely covered with Lidls and several of them on our way home. I had planned to stock up on grocieries big time. Where the first Lidl was supposed to be, there was a construction site. We kept on driving. Also next one turned out to be still work in progress. And once again I googled. Turned out that currently they are working on building 10 Lidls and in 2020 they are planned to be opened. At the moment we can go and shop in Rimi should we wish so. We drove to Sigulda. For two euros we could walk around in the ruins and enjoy the views of bare trees. The cable car doesn't run in the winter.

We decided to live on edge and be adventurous with the food. Instead of driving back to the town of Sigulda, we will see, what are the options on the road. For a while it seemed that there will only be a Circle K and a kebab joint. So... I googled. Turned out that if we would be ready to starve for 10 more minutes, in Ainaži there will be one of the noblest restaurants of the country outside of Riga. We parked and stepped in. There were two more tables occupied. And one of those, 6 Estonians just leaving. The waiter tried, very unsuccessfully to direct us to the darkest and furthest corner in the dining area and didn't seem pleased at all when we asked, if we could take the table at the window. We ordered oven baked baguettes with cheese and prosciutto, prawns with mango salsa, tomato soup (for me) and gulash soup (for Scott). Totally unplanned we got a great lunch instead of the hot dogs.