Today we're going on a day trip into Lithuania just so we can tick off another country - no, that's not strictly true; we found out about a place called the Hill of Crosses and decided to go on an organised tour to visit it.
Unfortunately we woke up to heavy rain once again, but we have our puffa jackets and umbrellas so we'll be fine. As you can see the square in front of the House of the Blackheads was empty this morning.
We were due to be picked up by the side door of the cathedral at 09:00 and our guide Erlens had even emailed me the vehicle description and number plate. Of course we were there early and there was a Chinese couple waiting too but shortly before the due time another minibus arrived and the driver got out and opened the doors for us to get in. I pointed out that it was the wrong colour vehicle and the wrong registration but he was adamant he was there to collect us and the info I'd been emailed yesterday must be wrong. However, just as we were about to climb in, a silver minibus turned up and out got Erlens so we told him the other guy had tried to kidnap us. I think they're all freelance guides working for the same company and the meeting point is a common one too. The last 2 passengers turned up dead on time, two Scottish ladies who had arrived by train from Tallinn yesterday.
There was nothing special to see on the way south to the "border"; the persistent rain kept the windows steamed up and the traffic was fairly heavy. Erlens however did a very good job of driving and talking constantly at the same time. We stopped at the border for a quick phone photo - obviously there is freedom of movement within the EU so no actual border, although we had to carry our passports just in case as sometimes there are spot checks presumably for illegal immigrants.
I've idea why I took this shot; something must have appealed to me.
The Hill of Crosses was so amazing I've done a separate post on it. And here's us crossing back into Latvia some 3 hours later.
We then stopped off in the city of Jelgava which was once the capital when Latvia and Lithuania were one country under the Soviets. This beautiful building is St Simeon and St Anne's Orthodox Cathedral.
Unusually for a Russian Orthodox Church we were allowed to take photos inside, but people were worshipping so I kept it to a minimum.
Holy Trinity Church Tower
We then stopped for lunch at a small cafe on the river bank and it was lovely despite the continuing rain. Erlens sat with us over lunch and gave us some useful tips for our trip into Estonia tomorrow.
We also drove around the outside of the beautiful 18th c. Jelgava Palace but it was raining hard so none of us wanted to get out of the minibus for brief look in the courtyard. Internet image.
As a consequence we were back in Riga quite early and although Erlens offered to detour to anyone's hotel we were all staying near the cathedral. I must mention a strange thing happened on the journey back though; the Chinese couple in front of us started hitting each other - at first we thought it was just a playful joke going on between them but it went on for about 10 mins and at one point the woman was practically battering the chap over the head. Naturally we kept quiet in case she turned on us!