2017-08-10 Raiskums campsite Latvia visiting Cesu pilseta and castle
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Riga by train from Pabaži, motorhome left at Cietais Rieksts
Another night at Raiskums campsite, today we discuss the fact that we need to plan a route home at some point! We are in Latvia, but need to be back in the UK for something that we arranged before leaving, a reminder to us that agreeing to do something in the future may seem like a good idea at the time, but . . . later it can be very inconvenient.
We need to be home in about 7 to 8 days and there appear to be no cabins on the overnight Rotterdam-Hull ferry, which means about 2,200 miles in 7 days and through the tunnel to Folkestone. 300 miles a day to be travelled in the Hymer, that’s a lot more than we usually drive.
We decide on one more day here and then we need to make a move… south for Lithuania and west through Poland. We drive to Cēsis, park and walk round the old medieval town. It is interesting but a little disappointing. It is old and tired and dirty, everything is broken: the pavement, the roads, the kerb stones, the buildings.
Cēsis looks like the Soviets moved out yesterday and there is no money to spend on anything. It reminds us of Paraguay. There are few young people, the people left seem to be our age, weary and tired too. We look at the castle and the cathedral and go in neither. The castle is a castle and the cathedral is an old austere Roman Catholic basilica and both have entrance fees.
We move on to Valmiera, this is disappointing too as there is nothing there of interest. We have lunch, a quick look round and return to the campsite at Raiskums. It is very quiet; many people have left and only a few arrived. We sit in the quiet of the afternoon overlooking the lake and write. We look at routes back and campsites and decide we must drive about 400km a day! Notwithstanding, we open a bottle of Gewürztraminer and make stir-fry with the chanterelle mushrooms, courgettes and the smoked ham, finishing off with the last of the raspberries and some strawberries.
Raiskums campsite, Cēsis and Valmiera castle photos
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Motorhome return tour from Turku in Finland to the UK via the Baltic States
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