THE END BIT !!!

Just a little bit more and then I am almost up to date. After the craft market in Riga, we were asked if we could help transport some children to a 'children's festival' in Barbele which is the next village down the road, no problem, so Sunday morning up bright and early we set off to collect the kids only to find one lad was now going with his father and a young girl failed to appear when we arrived at her house,where she was no one seemed to know. Ho hum never mind let's just go with the flow.

Darvis singing about chip's

If you want to sing you can no matter what age

Now just about every village has an open air stage where village entertainment takes place through the summer months, be it a children's festival, dancing, singing  or a theatrical performance. Some like Stelpe's are new some in need of some attention and some like Barbele's are just an area with a few seats for the audience,  Arriving we found a few children and adults gathering and performers practising on stage doing what might be called sound checks but really it's a time when kids can play with the mic's,if one arrives early enough it's possible to see the acts several times over and hey they are only young besides this they have got out of bed on a Sunday morning and are doing something. You don't find many kid's hanging around on street corners, kicking there heels looking for some mischief to get into over here, what you do find however as we saw yesterday three small girls hoeing rows of vegetables,or maybe a young lad mowing the grass around his home.
Anyway back to the festival Darvis the young lad ''who went with his dad took the stage and sang with great gusto a song about chips that's right chips of the crisp variety. To say that the day was cold would be a bit of an understatement, having had days where the temperature had reached the high 20s  it had changed and we sat huddled together for warmth and just after Darvis had sung the heavens opened and down came the rain. Now in a situation like this what do you do? that's right like any good English couple we got in the car and headed straight for home and a cup of tea and a slice of cake.

          Now the next day {Monday} we were due to join an excursion with folk from the village and it went something like this.
Up with the lark just after 6am feed the chickens walk the dog and then breakfast {not necessarily in that order} and then be at the school to leave at 7.30 outings start early so you can get the best out of the day.
First stop {well not really as we stopped at a petrol station {8.30} for toilets crisps coffee sweets cold drinks and a general stocking up on all the essentials needed for a day out {8.45} Half an hour later we
arrived at out first venue on our itinerary

Where to go and what not to do

 Vienkocu  where the sign at the car park told us,not to drop litter, pick flowers, cycle, light fires never go off the path or to sing as if we would. I did however half way round the park feel like bursting into a chorus of  'I love to go a wandering along a mountain track' { for those readers who are to young it's a golden oldie' {1953} I resisted the urge much to Valerie's relief. The visit was however very interesting with exhibits staged around a pleasant walk through the woods some captured the imagination more than others,

A Latvian summer kitchen

A bath tub

An  Eco house

Brings a whole new meaning to togetherness

 I thought the Siberian toilet deserved a special mention. Consisting of three poles and a hole in the ground, what I here you cry!!!! why I would feel a little exposed using it you say!!! but it's not a place to hang around, let me explain.

A Siberian loo

 One pole is to hang your coat on the second pole is to support yourself whilst {not to put to delicate a point on it} doing the business and the third stick is to defend yourself against wolf attack. See it's simple when you know how things work.
A hour and a quarter later we are back in the bus heading for Cesis {pronounced ' sey sis'} an interesting town with a castle  which is popular with tourists. Assembling us all together we were told now would be a good time to get something to eat and then meet at the monument at 12 ish for a visit to a hands on science exhibition this in fact gave us about 30 minutes to find a cafe and get something  10 minutes later seated in a small cafe choosing something the question was asked how long will the food take to cook ?

A quick snack

 Oh only 15--20 minutes now my maths is a bit rusty but even I knew time would run out before our food arrived so it was a flaky pastry { the kind that is all flake with very little filling  you know one little cough and you cover everyone at the table in tiny flakes } and a cup of tea, still at only 55 pence not bad value, perhaps we can get something later.

Back at the monument {at 12 } we set off for the science exhibition, down one road, round this  corner along another road round by the bus station, across the rail tracks {trains in the station}!!

The train now standing at platform one

Across some waste ground along to the traffic lights cross the road double back on the opposite side of the road round one more corner and here we are. We found a small hand's on science exhibition which was great for the children who were with us {there's a bit of a child inside all of us} and soon we were trying out the different exhibits
While everyone was still absorbed in finding how things worked Valerie and I slipped away to see if we could find a snack to nibble,,,,

Table and chairs for a small apartment???

Sound waves

Not sure if they have a licence for that crane

Just a short drive outside Cesis was the  next place on our itinerary a  visit to see exotic animals!!
Turning off the road we followed a winding track and arrived  at a small car park complete with an information board  but no gate to enter the place. Fortunately someone saw us and waved us down the side of a fence where we were able to gain entry and here to the delight of many we found  camels, llamas, sheep {well one}and alpacas.

Hey I'm a Alpaca not a poodle

I might look silly but somebody loves me

This is my new baby

Yep just had to be called Dolly

PS, I made a donation to someones jumper.

which had just had their annual poodle cut,{a professional shearer had to be brought in. The owner told us there were very few people in Latvia with the right equipment and experience who are able to do this task} 
One of the llamas had given birth that day and everyone was intrigued to see the baby who was just a couple of hours old when we arrived. Some of the animals were free to roam amongst the visitors and so we were able to get close up and personal with them. Fortunately there was a a small stall selling ice creams and more importantly cups of tea so we left refreshed and better informed about {exotic} the animals.
Our final visit of the day was to the eagle cliff which is one of the highest cliff's in Latvia overlooking the Gouja river, after a scramble down the most challenging wooden steps { H&S would have a field day with them} we found ourselves on a small sandy beach, this is one of the most beautiful areas in Latvia and is part of the Gouja National Park.

From the top

From the bottom

 All to soon we had to retrace our steps back to the coach and head for home, Travelling through Segulda we passed the Latvian bob-sleigh track which for £66.50 you can ride down in the winter.{ if you have the nerve} and so headed back for home, after a good day out.









 As promised in my last offering,the pensioners meeting was held at one of the members nursery where she grows Iris breeding new varieties each year Both Valerie an myself now have varieties named after us. {Orders can be placed but you need to be quick to get the best.} The day was perfect clear blue sky, light breeze so lunch was had alfresco and Valerie contribution this time was coronation chicken and a trifle complete with hundreds and thousands both dishes went down a storm.
So as I final catch up with all that has gone on I will leave you with some pictures of our visit

Starting our tour

Valerie with her Iris

The trifle

Our host's Ilga and Visvaldis

My Iris  tall, strong and well formed {just like me}