Views I see every day

As the time draws close to me leaving Latvia, I am trying to get all the pictures taken and things done that I have put off.  Riga is actually a beautiful city when you can see it...i.e. the summer! LOL.

Riga is known for it's Art Nouveau.  This is the building right across the street from my apartment.

This is the view of the street that I walk down to go to the store or the central market.  Just like any other "large" city, there are cars, busses and pedestrians.

McDonald's is every where...the one major difference: no drive-up windows...there are walk-up windows instead!

Riga is a pretty "Westernized" city, there are malls all over the city.  Origo is the closest one to me and that is where I do a majority of my grocery shopping.  They have their grocery chains inside the malls.  This one is called Rimi.  The interesting thing is that you can't always find what you want or need.  Sometimes they run out of something and it is weeks or months before they get more!

A lot of people live outside the city and then take the train into work everyday because it is cheaper to live outside the city.  This is the Central Station.  It is by the mall that is just down the street from my house.  I haven't been adventurous enough to take a train yet, but I may have to come September...but we'll see.

Latvians love ice cream during summer.  Very few buildings have air conditioning because typically summers do not get above 75.  This summer is the hottest summer on record in something like 85 years!  I bet they wish they had it now!  But they try to keep cool with ice cream...although I don't think it works very well, but it tastes great!

These old zeplain hangers have been transformed into the central market.  Here you can find fish, meat, vegtables, fruits, tea...almost anything.  There is a lot more selection during the summer but hold your breath if you go into the fish section...it's really strong smelling!

This is where, during the summer, there are a lot of fruit and vegtable vendors.  There are some during the winter as well, but there are quite a few more during summer.  Walking ten feet you might find peaches for 10 centimi less...so I recommend looking around a bit before you actually purchase anything!

Inside the zeplain hangers there are more established vendors.  Here there is dried fruit and nuts, bread, cheese.  While the majority of vendors in a section are selling the same things, you'll find the various odd vendor...there was a vendor where you could buy underwear and socks right next to the fruit...a little funny, no? ;)

In the fish section, you can find fresh fish but you can also find a lot of dried fish.  Well, I'm not sure if they are dried or smoked...they could be smoked but I thought it was funny to see a "bucket o' fish"!

Ventspils, Latvia

Since I have less than four months left, I have decided to work more local trips into my remaining weeks.  So last weekend after getting up early and running, Wendy Smith, her daughter Shannon, and I drove to Ventspils, Latvia.  It is on the tip of the horn of Latvia on the Baltic Sea.  It is the largest port in Latvia.

This is a view from the Ventspils Castle to the port.  ("Pils" actually means castle in Latvian.  So any city that has it is the name means that there is a castle in the city.)  The cranes go all along the River Venta which is deep enough for ships to dock.

Ventspils has another interesting thing...they have stautes of cows all over the city.  This one just outside the Ventspils Castle had a multi-colored blanket that covered it.  The only time I'll literally get to take a bull by the horns! ;)

On the very tip of the horn of Latvia, is the beach and the "Ventspils Blue Cow"!  It is really interesting that Ventspils has these cow statues because there aren't that many cows in Latvia.  The blue cow is HUGE!  Wendy and Shannon were cooling down in the water, so I didn't get a picture standing next to the bull, but I could barely reach his nose, that's how tall he is!

Little did I know that the Baltic Sea had jelly fish, but it does!  I took a picture not knowing if they would show up, but they do! :)  Aren't they cool?!?!  They are slimy and yucky and it was hard to walk in some parts of the sea without stepping on them!  But I did my best! :)

See...I told you I got in the cold Baltic Sea!!! :)  This day I didn't get all wet because I forgot my swiming suit, but I have gotten all the way in, and here is proof that I did get in! :)

...and then running a half-marathon!

How many crazy people turn 31 and then run a half-marathon?!?!?!  Me!  LOL.  I'm not really crazy, just thought I'd train for something concrete instead of just working out.  So I signed up to run in the Kuldiga, Latvia pusmaraton (half-marathon) on August 8, 2010.  Well, Latvia has been experiencing it's hottest summer in something crazy like 85 years!  So it was really warm and the race didn't start until 1 pm!

(Pics to come soon)

It's amazing how running that far in that kind of weather can drain you.  I've been training for about a year now and I should have been able to finish the half-marathon in 2 hours, but because of the heat and the cobblestone (I haven't been running on cobblestone during my training so I had to slow down when the streets turned to cobblestone so I wouldn't break my ankle!) it took me 2 hours 25 minutes and 25 seconds. :(  Which means that my marathon will take me over 5 hours to run!  Well, I can't have that!  So I've started running faster on my training sessions.  I'm gonna finish the marathon in 4 hours 30 minutes!!

Turning 31...

Sometimes it is hard to believe how quickly time flies.  Last year, I turned 30 in Riga far away from family and friends.  It wasn't hard because my birthday isn't something I make a big deal out of.  This year, I had hoped that Ruth would be able to come for a visit, but Braydon got baptised the first weekend of August and so she went to Oregon for that.  I did get to talk to my family on Sunday (which I've always said is my real birthday anyway!) 
So, how did I celebrate my birthday this year?  Well, Monday I woke up with a headache and a fever, so I actually spent the day sleeping!  So once again, I spent my birthday all alone in a foreign country.  But hey, I chose this! :)  And I hope that being sick isn't a sign of my aging! ;)  Actually I definitely don't feel 31...but then again...how DOES 31 really feel?
Happy Birthday to me! :D

Hill of Crosses, Lithuania

Since we drove down to Lithuania to visit Trakai Castle, on the way back to Riga, we decided to go to the Hill of Crosses.  I'm not sure of the entire history of the place, but I do know that until 1989, Lithuania was occupied by the Soviet Union and as such, religious freedom wasn't something that they enjoyed.  For many Christians, the cross is the symbol of what Christ did.  As Latter-Day-Saints, the cross is not something that we tend to focus on.  We focus more on the agony that he suffered in Gethsemene and His resurrection.
I had known about the Hill of Crosses, but because of the way we believe, I wouldn't have been disappointed if I hadn't seen it.  However, Mindy really wanted to go, so I put it on the itinerary.  We had a bit of a difficult time actually finding it, the one time Google Map directions seemed to fail me.  However, we keep on searching for it, and as luck would have it, we found it!
As Mindy and I were walking towards the hill, we were talking.  I mentioned that I didn't know how long I would want to stay, but that she could stay as long as she wanted.  I said about how we don't focus on the cross, that it was a very minor thing in the whole process.  As I got thinking about what the Savior did, I could feel the Spirit testifying again to me of the truthfulness of this, and as always happens tears filled my eyes.  Especially when we had gotten close enough to see some of the crosses.  It hurts me to see depictions of the Savior on the cross.  Especially the ones that show him in agony.  I just have a really hard time looking at these depictions, and a lot of the crosses had them. 
As we got closer, there was one thing that stood out far more than the thousands of crosses that were there.

A carved wooden depiction of the Christus.  The resurrected Savior.  This is why what he did was so important.  He was able to overcome death, and since he paid the price for our sins, he is able to interceed for us.  It testifies of his divinity and his love for us.  While I am still not a fan of crosses, I am glad that I went to the Hill of Crosses because not everyone has the truth, but this place shows that even though they do not have the full truth, they are doing the best they can and that his message will transend all.

Trakai Castle, Lithuania

One thing about Europe is the ease of traveling.  Countries are so close here and with the European Union, traveling around Europe has never been easier.  In Arizona, it takes me almost three hours to get from my condo in Chandler to my parent's house in Lakeside.  Well, here I can drive an hour and a half in any direction and be in four different countries!

The last weekend that Mindy was here, we drove down to Trakai, Lithuania to visit a castle.  The castle had been in ruins until a Lithuanian artist started a campaign to get it restored and preserved.  Actual preservation didn't start until the late 1960's.  But it has been restored and is a treasure to visit.

Me trying to scale the castle walls...I just can't help but take fun pictures! ;)

Pretending that I'm part of a castle coo...hehe...

                                                     

Driving to Vilnius, which is the capital city of Lithuania.  I love how they have these big signs with the city's name...different than in the States where the city sign usually "welcome".  Here it is just a large sign with the city name...just in case you aren't sure where you are heading. ;)

Baltic Beach Fun

During the day, Mindy has been spending time on the streets of Riga while I work.  Then after work gets done, we head out to do something.  Whether it be walking the streets of Riga or going to the Occupation Museum or just going to dinner, we've been enjoying the long evenings of sun.

The same was true of Thursday night.  Lori, a friend from work, called and asked if we wanted to go to the beach and we said, "sure!"  So Thursday night after work, she picked us up from my apartment and we headed out to Jurmala.  As we were driving, I said, "Look at those clouds.  That looks like rain."  Sure enough it was raining in Jurmala, so we pulled over and had dinner and waited the storm out.  Then we drove to Jurmala and the beach.

We changed, Lori & Mindy into swimming suits, me into my workout clothes so I could go for a run.  I headed down the beach and turned around to try to meet back up with Mindy & Lori at the 5km mark.  However, I was running and still didn't meet up with them so I kept running.  I had turned around at the 3.5km mark and by the time I saw them again, I had gone 7 km!  So they didn't end up walking at all!  They saw a couple of people from work and chatted that whole time I ran.  I said that I'd walk a little way with them to cool down. 

The sun was setting and it was so beautiful.  Looking at this picture you'd think it was about 7 pm, right?  Well, you'd be wrong!  It was actually 10 PM!!!  Crazy, huh?  But still pretty.

Then Mindy got into the Baltic Ocean and I took a picture of her and then a couple with her (but I wasn't in the ocean...I'll get a picture of that yet!)