Castles in the (thunder) Clouds

Today was the day to explore Gauja National Park and Sigulda. I had checked the weather. Rain all day. I was undaunted. I stuck to the plan. Wow. I got wet. Soaked through by 10:00 am. You know it's gonna be rough at that point.

Sigulda is "gateway" to the Gauja Park and only an hour train ride from Riga. It is a great place pick up some trails and see four of the most important sites of the river valley. I had a great plan. There was about a 10k walk to the different sites, including a cable car ride! So I went for it. I brought my LL Bean shell and my Colby baseball cap and walked. At first I was ok. As the rain came harder, I was further away from shelter. What do you do at that point? Keep walking. I went the panorama square to look at the clouds in the valley. I walked to the old and new Sigulda castles. I found my way to the cable car. Brief respite from the rain. Walked to the Krimulda estate and castle ruins. Walked down the cliff stairs. A brief break in the rain. Hallelujah! I rejoiced! I dripped. I smiled. I saw the Gutmanala Cave (the largest sandstone cave in the Baltics, all carved up with 200 year old graffitti). It sprinkled a little bit. I stayed the course. It rained again, but buoyed by the dry spell, I was walking and determined to see the best of the three the "fairy tale like" Turaida Castle and grounds. I hiked back up the cliff. I made it to the castle grounds. The sun came out. I smiled. And rejoiced again. I spent the next hour or so on the manor and castle grounds. Although mostly restored, this castle is 800 years old. Pretty amazing. I saw the museum, read all the plaques, and basically enjoyed the sunny weather, began to dry out and was content. The trip, the walk, the wetness, was all worth it to be at this place. I climbed the "Main Tower" the highest point to see the beautiful vistas! Then...what was that I heard? Thunder? What? No! NO! Shame. Yes. Thunder again. Then rain. And more rain. I wait. It lightens a bit, so I leave, get a couple of quick pictures and then wander the grounds to look at the sculpture gardens before heading back to Sigulda.

The highlight of my trip was going to be a wheeled luge down the Soviet (then Russian) bobsled training facility in Sigulda. It was going to be great. Fast, lots of adrenaline. Two things: 1. Only open on the weekends. 2. Not running in the rain. Shame, again. The rain stopped and I decided to have lunch at a place called Elvi! I was expecting to see several Elvis impersonators, you know plural. The sun came out for a while as i was jumping on the train back to Riga.

While it was a wet day, I saw some amazing 800 year old castles, took a cable car ride, and hiked. But you know what? I am in Latvia. So wet or dry, it is still pretty awesome! Today will certainly be memorable and isn't that what traveling is all about?