Boys

Baltics IV – Riga, Latvia to Pärnu, Estonia

28 October, 2024
Posted in: Boys, Daniel, Michael, Mr. Waffle, Princess, Travel

Saturday August 10

Michael has a Latvian friend in college in Dublin and he gave us a breakfast recommendation which we took. Pretty good.

Mr. Waffle, Daniel and I went for a wander around town. To our relief the weather was a bit cooler. Michael took himself off to the station to meet his Latvian friend who was coming into Riga for the day to hang out. I am keen for Michael to go interrailing but yet I was unsure that he would make it from the flat to the station unsupervised. A number of people pointed out the inconsistency in my behaviour.

Mr. Waffle found a truly delightful art deco cafe. I loved, loved, loved it.

Herself arrived. We could have collected her in our hire car but mentally it would have been exhausting so she came into us by taxi at about 4.30. She made her plane by inches having stopped off to pick up some foundation for me at Boots as I had forgotten my tube in some previous location. Honestly, not really necessary but she made the flight so all was well.

Michael returned safely from his day out with his friend from college. A Russian speaker it transpired. It was interesting to hear about the status of the Russian language in Latvia; they seem to be reducing pretty drastically the opportunities for students to attend Russian language schools which at one level I can understand but it’s pretty rough on the Russian speakers.

We had dinner in a lovely restaurant which was recommended by Michael’s friend. It was quite difficult to find and swathed in scaffolding – certainly, I can’t imagine that they got any passing trade – but after our longish walk to get there, I was quite pleased it was open. It was pretty swish upstairs.

But downstairs in the basement there was a ball pen. Truly a mysterious choice.

I must say I was pretty pleased to have everyone together.

Sunday August 11

Mr. Waffle, Daniel and I went to mass at 9.30. Honestly a punishingly early hour but, having learnt our lesson from Vilnius we found an English language service so there was that.

We had a cup of tea nearby after and then Daniel pushed on home while Mr. Waffle and I went to explore the market.

It’s located in a zeppelin hangar – which you don’t get much – and very authentic. There were lots of stalls run by older people who spoke no English and yet again my (I cannot emphasise enough) basic Russian was pressed into service.

After Mr. Waffle and I got home, herself and myself went into town by tram. Mr. Waffle had been pushing public transport for some time as our Airbnb was a bit of a trot from the centre but I was dubious. However, I am bound to say that it was pretty easy to use and in terms of comfort and reliability compares very favourably to Irish public transport.

I regret to say that the art gallery which we had gone into town to inspect was underwhelming. There were a lot of less good works by less famous international artists. I think we might have been better off going to the museum of Latvian art. And, my goodness, I am as fond of porcelain as the next person but you can have too much of a good thing. Herself had done some short course at the Ashmolean while she was in college and was able to tell me some things about porcelain which I had not previously known and I remember being interested at the time but I have now completely forgotten so maybe overall not a total win.

Afterwards we had a cup of tea in the lovely 30s cafe which I was keen to show herself. Reasonable levels of enthusiasm. We had the squeezed orange juice which is available in every cafe in the Baltics, why oh why can’t we have this at home? They also have brilliant cycle lanes and many cyclists, again why oh why can’t we have this at home? I digress.

I had bought salmon in the market and cooked it for dinner. Definite overestimate on my part of how much salmon is needed to feed a family of five. Salmon for every meal until we leave, I suggested, to low levels of enthusiasm from the troops.

Monday August 12

Despite the huge quantities of salmon available at home, Mr. Waffle, herself and I went out for breakfast to the “No Name” cafe, a place recommended by Michael’s ever helpful local contact. Satisfactory.

After lunch Michael, Mr. Waffle and I took the tram into town. I really regretted resisting for so long. The joy of the tram was truly wonderful. We went to the national library which is really well worth a visit.

It’s pretty cool from the outside. It’s the yoke with a crown on the top which if memory serves me is a reference to some popular Latvian children’s book.

Inside there are beautiful views out to the city.

And the inside was pretty cool too.

The architect was a Latvian whose family had left Latvia for Canada, I think, when he was a little boy and they had pictures of him in his house in Riga when he was a child and the piano from the house. I am not a huge fan of modern architecture but this was a delight. There was an exhibition on – surprise – books and it had a copy of James Joyce’s “Ulysses” in Latvian. A group of Latvian enthusiasts paid for its translation by subscription. I hope they were pleased is all I can say.

We then needed a restorative cup of tea and I was keen to go to a place I had found earlier in the week. Could I find it? I could not. Michael said dolefully after considerable tramping around, “I hear deep in my bones the honking of a wild waterfowl.” We compromised and went somewhere else where I had chips with sour cream. Honestly, the innovation I have been waiting for all my life.

Michael and Mr. Waffle went home but I went up a church tower. I love a view from above. It was a great view but it was alarmingly windy. I did not linger.

In the church itself there was a statue of a Teutonic knight. The Teutonic knights (previously unknown to me) are very big in this part of the world.

I walked across the bridge to the library which I thought would be delightful but it was actually a bit grim and windy. There are no amazing photographs, I regret to inform you. I took the tram back and met herself in town. We had a look around the shops and, then, yet again, I began to feel that I needed a sustaining cup of tea. “Let me take you to a cafe that I think you will like,” said herself. Mirabile dictu, it was the very one for which I had searched in vain earlier in the day. Herself has an amazing ability to find restaurants and cafes I will like. What a gift. Delighted.

When we got home, Daniel showed off his charity shop haul and Michael made dinner. Not me. Not salmon either.

Tuesday, 13 August 2024

I volunteered to get croissants from the bakery. They only had three and there was, I felt, a slightly Soviet style indifference to my wish to source more. There were three, that was how it was, give up now on your quixotic quest for more.

This was our last full day in Riga and although the city is full of beautiful art nouveau architecture, we had not yet been to the art nouveau quarter. I suffered real regret that we had left it so late as this is, in my view, by far the nicest part of the city (full of embassies, of course).

We had lunch in a bar which was only moderately successful. I ordered a salad and I basically got sandwich spread. I was not delighted.

After lunch we went to the art nouveau museum which I found charming.

Daniel found an unexpected symmetry between Bohemians football club in Dublin and the sofa favoured by the art nouveau architect whose home this once was.

The museum was staffed by people in period costume which is something I enjoy. The lady in the kitchen spoke German (and presumably Latvian) but no English however we were able to chat with her with our school German. An English woman who overheard asked how we all spoke such good German and I said that we learnt it in school. She seemed very impressed and my cup full of smugness ran over. Herself hissed to me, “You’re unbearable”. Honesty forces me to confess that I cannot imagine that the English woman spoke very good German herself or she would have been considerably less impressed.

I mean, did we all find the house tour fascinating and charming, perhaps not.

After we had finished our tour of the house we did a tour of the area ably assisted by our excellent guidebook – will I ever just rely on my phone, I think not.

As a reward after our touristing we went to the nice French cafe which we had spotted earlier. It had closed at 3. I mean why would they do that? Everyone was a bit tired, hot and cranky and we went to the nearest cafe which was basically like going to the Spar cafe at home. But look, it had air conditioning and everyone was considerably less grumpy afterwards.

Michael and Mr. Waffle decided to call it a day but the rest of us went to a lovely tourist shop where I bought a nice tile (currently on the table behind me under the teapot) and two little bowls (I confess, still unused). We were all cheered up by spending money and went off to another nice cafe we had seen – still chasing the cafe high we had been cheated of – but, sadly, it was out of buns. It was not our day for cafes.

After we got home and had dinner that evening, four of us went out for a last drink in Riga and, Michael, delighted with himself stayed home alone.

Wednesday 14 August, 2024

In the morning we packed up the car (a bit tight) and left Riga. On the way out we saw an enormous sports park complex. I was very impressed, Daniel said it was like Vilnius only smaller. It is amazing the communal facilities they have compared to what we have at home. Everything in Ireland seems more private – owned by a club rather than a public facility.

We stopped for lunch on the road; our last meal in Latvia. We put herself in charge of finding somewhere and, obedient to her directions pulled off the road into what honestly looked like an industrial estate.

As we wandered in, no one was more surprised than me to find a lovely pizza place, overlooking the sea with an enormous wood-fired oven. That child is a genius. There was no way on God’s earth her parents would ever have found this place.

And then it was across the border into Estonia. It was instantly clear that Estonia is much richer than Latvia. The roads were better and everything looked a lot more prosperous. We passed a replica Viking boat on the road, “Look at that,” I said to the children. “I wonder where it’s going?” “Doubtless to bore a group of children somewhere, ” said herself laconically. I have a lot to put up with.

We went on to Pärnu which is known as the summer capital of Estonia. Our airbnb was out in the suburbs. Although it said there were four bedrooms on the description, there were not and great was the disapproval of our children at the prospect of having to share. Herself very cleverly pointed out that we could move one of the beds to the study and solve the problem so all was well. When the time came to review she really wanted me to complain but I was too craven. “Then they will do it again and someone else will suffer,” she said reproachfully. I pointed out that when we inspected the previous reviews other, less craven guests, had complained of this problem and they were still doing it. She was not appeased.

Aside from the bedroom debacle, the house was truly lovely. Compared to our rather cramped living quarters in Riga, the rooms downstairs were huge. The garden, however was the star of the show. It was enormous with fruit trees and a stream running along the end. We had a lovely dinner in the garden.

Mr. Waffle and I went for a stroll around the area after dinner. I found it slightly reminiscent of Denmark. Mr. Waffle pointed out a large alarm on the roof of a school we passed. They have more challenging neighbours than the Danes.

You’ll be pleased to hear that there are only three Baltic countries and Estonia is the last one we visited but yet, there is so much more to come. I have definitely been writing this for far longer than we were on holidays. Thanks you for sticking with it.

I have not blogged much of late but this year I think I will do Nablopo, so there’s that to look forward to and perhaps I will finally finish my summer holiday descriptions?

Baltics III – Latvia – Kuldiga to Riga

29 September, 2024
Posted in: Boys, Daniel, Michael, Mr. Waffle, Travel

Thursday August 8, 2024

Mr. Waffle and I took ourselves off for breakfast in the square leaving the guys in bed. It was not bad at all and I warmed towards Kuldiga over my freshly squeezed orange juice (is available everywhere in the Baltics, a really welcome trait, if you ask me).

The man at the table beside us was accompanied by two young children and seemed keen to chat. He was home on his holidays. He is working in the Middle East in “security”. Not the safest gig at the moment I would say. I am always interested in what languages people speak. This is contested around here as Latvia has the largest cohort of Russian speakers of all the Baltic states and the Latvian relationship with these (mostly not citizens as citizenship is complicated) is complex. None of the Baltic states really love the Russians for obvious reasons and that spills over into attitudes towards Russian speakers many of whom (or their parents/grandparents) were implanted there by the Soviets. But anyway I rushed in where angels fear to tread and he didn’t seem offended but said that he had learnt Russian in school but Latvian was his mother tongue.

We went to the tourist office after breakfast. There was, what seemed to me, an entirely Soviet style indifference to people who were, possibly, the only tourists in town. Could we rent bicycles to see the waterfall? Why would you bother? To be fair, the waterfall wasn’t as far as we had thought and actually, you wouldn’t need a bicycle to get there at all. But the combination of you stupid foreigner and also, we have no particular interest in getting a buck out of you, spoke to me of times past.

We had a quiet lunch at home and then we all went off in search of Europe’s widest waterfall. It was close to the centre and not hard to find. It looked like a weir to me. I would say it compared pretty unfavourably to Iguazu waterfall where we were last year. But quite a pleasant walk.

We went up the tower of a Lutheran church to have a look. Note German text on the pulpit; Baltic Germans are everywhere.

We had a wander around. It was eerily empty; like a small French town when you are hoping to get lunch after 2.

I was keen to invest in a souvenir; honestly if ever a local economy needing boosting, it was this one. There wasn’t a great deal but I ended up buying a tablecloth for “casual summer dining outside” as I pitched it to Mr. Waffle who pointed out that we already have a lot of tablecloths.

I had booked us dinner in a restaurant in the square. There was no need to book. The restuarant was nice though. Afterwards we strolled home to our very central Airbnb and Michael took his life in his hands at the fountain.

We watched Netflix again. It remains weird watching our own TV choices in foreign places.

Friday August 9, 2024

Mr. Waffle and I graced the Marmalade Cafe for breakfast. It was recommended both by ChatGPT and the guide book. Mr. Waffle remains extremely suspicious of ChatGPT but I found it not bad for travelling advice. The Marmalade Cafe was charming so a win for the guide book and AI.

I always feel so inadequate expecting everyone to be able to speak English (I think it would be better if I were not a native speaker and I was trying my best in a second language also). I generally compensate for this guilt by telling people how well they speak English. Our young waitress chatted to us about how she had learnt English. “I don’t remember learning it,” she said, “I knew it before I went to school from the internet”. Kind of incredible.

We then said farewell to Kuldiga (or Goldingen as it was known by the Baltic Germans and from which time it remains pretty unchanged). One night was probably enough to appreciate its charms but on the other hand, it’s nice not to unpack every day, particularly if you’re carrying a 20kg bag full of stuff including a tablecloth.

We drove to Riga without incident (a small miracle when you consider the roadworks and the exciting driving). There is a lot of Russian in Riga. When we got to our flat, the car park attendant said that she spoke no English, so it was an opportunity to bring out my almost non-existent Russian again. She was delighted, I was delighted. Thrills.

The apartment in Riga was a bit soulless but it had large bedroons (one per child). The communal area was tiny and grim though. There was no air conditioning and it was pretty toasty but, seriously, who would have thought we’d need air conditioning in the Baltics?

We had lunch downstairs in a place called Lido. It was a self-service student-type establishment. Not our best meal perhaps but cheap, plentiful and near.

After lunch, noble Mr. Waffle went to the supermarket to lay in supplies; Michael decided to enjoy the charms of his large bedroom; and Daniel and I walked in to the town centre. It was a lot livelier than rather sedate Vilnius and, as Daniel put it, quite cool.

Mr. Waffle made dinner and then we played Poetry for Neanderthals which he had cunningly packed.

Michael discovered that Tesco mobile had charged him a monthly fee and that he had moved from pay as you go. Michael only ever uses his phone on wifi, never spends any money and never checks his bank accounts. Great was his anguish. Then he discovered that when you pay a monthly bill it’s not like the data builds up for you to use later. His fury was incredible. A couple of days and several engagements with customer service later, he discovered it was all a misunderstanding but it really made for a memorable evening.

19

27 September, 2024
Posted in: Boys, Daniel, Michael

Daniel and Michael are 19 today. There was no birthday post for 18 – somehow, I got behind – but I’m thinking I’ll roll something together for 18 and 19. I’m sure you’re excited.

At breakfast I was talking to Michael about when he was a baby and, honestly, I struggled to remember anything from those sleep deprived years but as I pointed out to him, that’s what my blog is for. I did haul a 2 kilo bag of flour out of the press and say, “Look, that’s what you weighed plus 200grms.” He was about that size too. My goodness one forgets how tiny babies are when surrounded by tall grown ups.

Daniel had headed out earlier. In good form and delighted with his birthday presents. He has now reached the age where money is really welcome. Let us hope that he does not spend it all in the pub with his friends tonight.

Baltics II – Klaipeda, Lithuania to Kuldiga, Latvia

22 September, 2024
Posted in: Boys, Daniel, Michael, Mr. Waffle, Siblings, Travel

Tuesday, August 6, 2024

The purpose of our trip to Klalipeda was to give us a chance to visit the Cuoronian spit. This was a geographic feature of which I had previously been ignorant. But it’s a 100km long narrow sandy spit. 50kms are owned by the Lithuanians and 50kms by the Russians (Kaliningrad). It’s one of the few places where you can look south to Russia.

We took the very regular car ferry across to the Spit. The Spit itself is a national park and you have to pay to get in (unclear what happens at night when the booths are deserted – and people do live and stay on the Spit – presumably some guest tax covers it). There is one main road through the middle of the Spit (not very main, just one lane each way) and the rest is pretty much all cycle and walking paths. As is often the way when we go on an outing, it takes us so long to get out of the house that almost the first thing we have to do when we arrive is find somewhere for lunch.

We had lunch in Juodkranté and very nice it was too – both the lunch and Juodkranté which is a smallish holiday resort.

I was very taken by the weather vanes which are a feature of the Spit (each town has its own design) but they were a bit large to buy. If you ask me, they are missing a trick by not turning them into miniature Christmas tree ornaments for the discerning tourist. Do I have a photograph? I do not.

We then went on down the Spit to Nida. What an absolutely charming little town it is. We hired bikes to avail of the fantastic infrastructure and went to the beach. Sadly, not all of us love a beach but those who do really liked it.

We then cycled along the cycle path towards Russia. There is a “nature reserve” along the border so we were stopped from seeing it. Possibly for the best.

We then cycled up to the big dune. The Spit is just basically one big sand dune. When they cut down the trees for shipbuilding in the 18th century, the sands began to shift and whole villages were engulfed. It’s quite woody now for obvious reasons.

The big dune gives a great view into Russia.

Great views all round in fact.

Sartre was here on his holidays, I think, and there is a sculpture to celebrate. I can’t say it looks like he had a fantastic time.

We went back into Nida.

Such a pretty little place. There were lots of older German tourists but otherwise not so many visitors.

We gave the bicycles back and had dinner outside.

On the way home, we stopped again at Juodkranté to go to the cemetery at Mr. Waffle’s request (I am normally the cemetery enthusiast but it has clearly rubbed off on him over the years). It’s full of graves with German inscriptions. What a complicated part of the world this is.

We drove to the (very regular) ferry at a sedate pace within the speed limit and were passed by a number of speeding Lithuanians. Lithuanian driving is adventurous. When we arrived at the port, we were literally the last people on the ferry, we made it with one minute to spare. No wonder they were speeding past me. But, you know, there was another one along in 20 minutes.

I must say the Spit was a highlight of our trip and I would love to go back and cycle the length of it (maybe even into Russia after the war?). Apparently you can fly direct to Palanga (nearby, more anon) from London. It is definitely on my list for a return visit.

Wednesday August 7, 2024

In the morning we left Michael in the flat and Mr. Waffle, Daniel and I went for breakfast. We found a trendy cafe a bit like the trendy cafes everywhere else. Grand but not exactly local. We explored the small market in the square. Klaipeda was known as Memel back when it was East Prussia and there’s a balcony in the square where apparently Hitler addressed the locals; it seems a surprisingly small and intimate venue. Following World War I, the French were briefly in charge in Memel which is why there is a building that used to be a French prefecture in the main square, honestly, weird man.

In the market there were two women speaking to each other in what sounded like French with American accents so I asked whether they were French Canadians. Mr. Waffle explained to me that this was a rather 70s expression and I certainly felt a chill when they replied, “Nous sommes Québécoises”. We live and learn. However, a black woman beside me also looking at goods turned around to them and started speaking to them in French explaining that she was from Haiti. They all seemed delighted with themselves; I did feel under the eye of the all-powerful Francophonie with this all happening within view of the former prefecture and everyone, one way or another, a long way from France. The tourists had come from a Baltic cruise boat. Mr. Waffle muttered that if he were going on a cruise, he would certainly not come to the Baltics on his holidays. A certain amount of cognitive dissonance there.

The town was a bit run down and not as nice as the places on the Spit. But grand. There was a nice area by the river.

There was the obligatory Irish pub. Named after Rory Gallagher – a bit of a deep cut as herself would say but nice to see a Cork reference. It had closed down though.

If I were to come back and I think I might, I would definitely base myself on the Spit and I would book good and early.

Anyhow, clutching our touristic purchases from the market – including a shawl for me, it’s time – we said goodbye to Klaipeda and went on our way. We stopped in Palanga for lunch. It’s a huge tourist resort and I thought it was loathsome. Not recommended. Good lunch though once we avoided the pizza restaurant by day discotheque by night venue.

And then it was on to Latvia.

In my experience Latvia has the most exciting driving in the Baltics (and that is saying something) and the worst roads. We began our trip on a dirt road, the kind of thing you might get at home for 500 metres, if there were roadworks. It went on for 17 kms. I could have done with a warning from Google maps. Saintly Mr. Waffle was driving but it was like Mad Max Fury Road. The photos really don’t convey the white knuckled horror of it all.

Anyway as we are going through this definitely inhospitable territory, my phone rings. “I have to take this,” I say to Mr. Waffle. “It’s the man about the engraving on my parents’ gravestone.” In retrospect, did I, did I have to take this call? Relaxed Cork voice rolls into the car saying, “I’m in the cemetery now, in front of the grave, I’ll just facetime you.” It is odd to be driving down a dirt road in Latvia with your parents’ grave in the car with you and your husband’s eyebrows up around his hairline. Anyway we agreed on what was needed, eventually, he was in no rush. And then he called me back again because he’d forgotten some detail, very relaxed indeed on his part. God in heaven, it was stressful. I still haven’t seen the gravestone in the flesh, as it were, I’ll keep you posted. It cost us a fortune and probably shortened my own life.

Anyhow, miraculously enough, we arrived in Kuldiga uninjured. We stopped at a supermarket on the outskirts of town and it had an extremely soviet feel. It reminded me a bit of the supermarkets in Bosnia in the 90s.

The Airbnb was nice and bigger than Klaipeda – which would not be hard – but it still only had 2 bedrooms so the guys had to share a room which they were very good about to be fair. I finally cracked and cooked dinner. A regret.

Daniel went for a run and said that people looked at him like he was crazy. Were they wrong? Surely this whole running enthusiasm must be close to, forgive the pun, running its course. Maybe it wasn’t the running but the fact that there was a tourist in town that turned heads. Kuldiga may be on the UNESCO world heritage site list but tourists are few and far between.

The rest of us went for a wander around Kuldiga after dinner while Michael dealt with the disturbing news that two friends of his are engaged. There’ll be more of that in his future.

Kuldiga was very, very quiet and a bit run down but clean with lots of interesting wooden buildings. It felt a bit like a town in a Western.

The town has depopulated slowly since the 1990s. It felt like somewhere that had once been prosperous but now was on its uppers. But still immaculate. I was very struck by how clean everywhere is in the Baltics compared to extremely grimy Ireland, Dublin in particular looks filthy compared to the Baltic capitals.

My brother rang to say that he had missed his train to Dublin, where our cat was anxiously awaiting his arrival. The neighbours fed the cat and my brother told us about his trip to the Olympics. He saw the pole vaulting world record and he met some Canadian Olympic rowers in a bar (that’s my brother). One of the rowers let him hold her medal though in the pictures he sent, he is holding one side and she is holding the other very firmly. Wise.

We spent the evening wondering why we thought it was a good idea to spend two nights in Kuldiga. More thrilling content soon. Something to look forward to.

Baltics I – Lithuania – Vilnius to Klaipeda

14 September, 2024
Posted in: Boys, Daniel, Michael, Mr. Waffle, Travel

Friday, August 2, 2024

Our flight was at 7.40 in the morning. Flights from Dublin to Vilnius are not frequent and you take what you can get. It’s quite far east I was surprised to discover (geography is so often a shock for me) and a three hour flight. It’s also two hours ahead of Dublin. A world of wonders. We did not travel light. For some reason I regarded the 20kg baggage allowance as a target rather than a ceiling. Herself was doing an internship in London so not with us for the beginning of our adventure. She would later have stern words to share about our poor packing skills.

The arrivals part of the airport in Vilnius is lovely though currently being extended. For their own reasons, the Soviets built it like a train station. I found it rather charming.

We got a taxi into town to our Airbnb. At the time I booked it, I thought herself would be with us but due to work obligations she was not. I wanted all the children to have separate bedrooms so we needed four bedrooms and if you have four bedrooms that’s usually enough for 8 people and so basically, we found ourselves staying in a flat that could have doubled as an oligarch’s lair.

Pricey but vast.

By this point the troops were getting hungry so we went to a revolting pizza place up the road for lunch. Then we had a stroll into town. Well, what a nice spot. I am here to tell you that Vilnius is delightful. Here is the last tower of the city walls left.

Here is a poor shot of the most touristy street in the city. I mean there were tourists – mostly Germans and Americans – but certainly not an overwhelming number.

The weather was absolutely perfect. Mid 20s and sunny. After our stroll around the old town, we hit the supermarket – always the glamour – and Daniel made dinner thereby adding several years to his exhausted parents’ life span.

Mr. Waffle, Daniel and I went out for a post dinner stroll and drink but Michael preferred to stay behind. We found the city hall square and had a drink.

We came home through what had been the Jewish ghetto. Vilnius had a huge Jewish population before World War II and it was a centre of Jewish learning. I think you know the depressing next steps.

More generally, we began to learn the extremely complicated history of this small part of the world (so much more to come). Lithuania was only christianised in the 14th century (the Teutonic knights are big here). The Germans are kind of the mercantile/upper classes in the Baltics and there are lots of German names, schools etc. Lithuania was previously part of the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth and also East Prussia. Also, the Lithuanian language? It’s an orphan only related to Latvian, and not very closely related at that. Are you all following at the back of the classroom?

When we came home we settled ourselves in front of the ludicrously large television and experienced the weirdness of watching our own Netflix account on TV abroad. Also, when you turn off the lights in an oligarch’s lair, small star-like lights twinkle in the ceiling. They do themselves well these oligarchs.

Saturday August 3

I love my husband and this is the only reason we remained married when he revealed to me that he had hired a car for pick up from the airport – early enough – on the morning after we arrived. I believe his thinking was that we could get ourselves settled and then take day trips out of the city. But, if so, why not the day we arrived? A mystery. Anyhow, in the interests of marital happiness, he agreed to get a taxi to the airport rather than explore Vilnius’s tram/trolleybus network as he had originally planned. We had some difficultly finding the car hire place when we got to the airport but we found it eventually and took possession of our car from a very young man.

Mercifully the airport is near the city and the traffic was very light so we drove back without difficulty while I pointed out to Mr. Waffle how bike friendly the city was. Naturally, our oligarch’s flat had come with underground parking. You had to drive into a lift. It took us an embarrassingly long time to work out how to do this and involved several calls to the patient Airbnb host and I would rather not list the ways in which we failed to get it to work. Suffice it to say that we were exhausted by the time we got back to the flat.

For lunch, we went to a Georgian Restaurant which Daniel picked. They are big eaters the Georgians but we all quite enjoyed the food offerings and I got to use my (almost non-existent) Russian with the waiter who spoke no English so thrills all round.

After lunch we went to the university which is central and lovely. These photos do not at all convey its attractiveness.

It has a viewing tower. I love a viewing tower.

The symbol of Lithuania is the Gediminas tower. It’s at the top of a hill and a caterpillar type yoke was parked half way up. Oddly impressive.

I honestly thought I was too exhausted to climb up this hill but, ladies and gentlemen, there is a funicular!

There was, inter alia, information in the tower about the human chain in the Baltics and lots of pictures from the time. This was when the people from the Baltics all held hands – which I remember from TV at the time (1989, children) – the chain started from the Gediminas tower and went to Tallinn and it was the beginning of the end for the Soviets in the Baltic countries although that wasn’t entirely clear at the time. It was funny looking at the pictures because I remember seeing them on the TV holding hands – it really grabbed everyone’s imagination. I also remember thinking, “Where are these strange countries I’ve never heard of before?” And also, “Why are their clothes so weird?” I would not have anticipated that in the future I would be there on a family holiday or that looking at the photos in 2024, I would find it impossible to distinguish their appalling 1980s clothes from those I wore myself at the time. It’s really hard to explain to the children how deeply unlikely the collapse of the Soviet Union seemed to those of us who grew up in the 1980s and how alien and distant these countries were to us.

After a day of entirely worthy tourist activities we went back to the flat and saintly Mr. Waffle made dinner.

Sunday August 4, 2024

We went to mass in Lithuanian. Vilnius is a city of many many churches but we went to the cathedral for mass. Just as well we had the architecture to look at. An almost pointless duty to be honest. Not the faintest idea what it was about. My father always lamented the post-Vatican II disappearance of the Latin mass because he said that you could always understand mass wherever you were. “How true,” I thought.

Daniel came to mass with us. When he was in Sardinia with his friends, he suggested that they go to mass on Sunday because, “Isn’t that what you do on holiday?” The ongoing secularisation of Ireland appears to be coming as a surprise to him.

In what is clearly a local habit, people put money into the collection basket and then took out change. How peculiar.

The four of us went for a forgettable lunch in a Belgian restaurant but it was our first taste of local borscht. The beetroot is big locally. Fine but not amazing. Maybe you need to be brought up on it.

After lunch we went to the KGB museum which was on our street. Honestly, I found it traumatic and would not recommend. I did learn a lot about Soviet deportations and Lithuanian history under the Soviets more generally but the building is offices above and cells – almost dungeons – below. It leaked misery and grimness. No wonder the Baltics are so worried about the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It’s only 40kms from Vilnius to Russia-friendly Belarus and Vilnius is as far from Minsk as Dublin is from Cork. They feel a chill.

Daniel took himself off to a basketball court. He was extremely impressed by the facilities. You access lockers via an app for kit (basketballs, table tennis bats etc.) and there were loads of different sports available. There were people from everywhere. He ended up chatting to a Ghanaian- Lithuanian basketball player based in England. He knew all about Gaelic games as his PE teacher in school was from Ireland. Honestly, the world is a lot smaller than when I was a child.

Saintly Mr. Waffle made dinner again and no one had, as yet, guessed my dastardly plan to avoid cooking at all while on holidays.

After dinner we walked to the “Gates of Dawn” – an entrance to the city. I knew it was an important tourist landmark as it featured on fridge magnets but I could take or leave it. The walk there and back was really lovely though.

We passed a kiosk and they had the weekend FT for €6.70 and no magazine. I dithered but I purchased. How great was my ire on getting home to discover that it was the previous weekend’s edition which I had already read? Pretty great.

Monday August 5, 2024

After breakfast out, myself and Daniel went to visit the chapel of St Casimir which the guide books had kind things to say about. In fairness, it was nice.

Out again for lunch which was fine but we made a key discovery (one which I had to make several times in the Baltics before being convinced) which is that focaccia in the Baltics is pizza base with nothing on it except maybe some oil. Learn from my tragedy.

We then packed up and left Vilnius to go to the coast. We stopped at Trakai castle just outside Vilnius. This is an island castle in a beautiful village with a fascinating history.

Tourism levels were pretty low and the locals have turned their fields into car parks. We ended up dealing with a Lithuanian granny in a field. She spoke no English, we spoke no Lithuanian and, yet again, my wholly inadequate Russian came in useful. I meant to tell her we were visiting the castle (literally the only thing to see in town). For reasons I will not bore you with (see editorial discretion is alive and well) I have learnt the phrase zamok vraga (written in Roman letters here, cut me some slack I don’t think this site supports cyrillic, it means the enemy’s castle – zamok is the castle and vraga is the enemy). In my excitement I mixed up the two words and told her we were visiting the enemy. Crazy foreigners huh?

The village is beautiful. The castle is beautiful – though largely reconstructed by the soviets – but it is, and I cannot emphasise this enough, very dull inside. It boasts collections of ivory, porcelain, pocket watches and glass. Be still my beating heart. For the others the highlight was waiting outside and seeing me go into the gents instead of the ladies. I mean it does remind me a bit of the Game of Thrones castle and I wasn’t the only tourist wandering around humming the theme tune but, overall, not worth it. But yet, if you came to Trakai what on earth else would you do? A mystery.

It took us a long 3 hours to get to Klaipeda on the coast. August is the time for roadworks in Lithuania, in case you were wondering. We got in quite late and after trying several establishments managed to persuade a slightly reluctant waitress to let us have dinner in a restaurant in the square which was a real mercy because it was 9.30 and tempers were a bit frayed.

We found it really difficult to book accommodation in Klaipeda and the little flat we found was central and despite an unlovely hallway, very appealing. But small was the word; it was two-roomed and tiny. And pretty warm despite the air conditioning (though some saboteur may have turned it off in the middle of the night and opened a window, so the fault may not entirely lie with the air conditioning).

More soon. Hold on to your hats etc.

Summer – At Last

7 September, 2024
Posted in: Boys, Daniel, Dublin, Ireland, Michael, Mr. Waffle, Princess

Today was a beautiful day and instead of doing lots of domestic admin (which I’m not doing now either, you will note), I seized the day, hopped on my bike and took the commuter train out to the seaside.

I stopped in town to have a look at the Liffey swim. At least they had nice weather but, mmm, is that water clean?

I must say, the seaside was looking lovely.

As we frequently (rather inaccurately) say on a fine day here, “You could be in the South of France”.

I had a lovely swim. Poor Michael was in a college clubs and socs meeting all day (he is on the committee of a society) where they told them how not to embezzle money. Herself had gone back to London for a party where it was raining. Daniel opted to stay at home and play on the x-box. I can tell you, I was winning here. Though Mr. Waffle, who was in the hammock in the back garden, may have been giving me a run for my money.

It would be too much to hope that I could also take a flattering picture; doubtless some kind of karma as I took it to post smugly in the family group chat and now I am posting it smugly here. As I took the picture, I did reflect that all my life I have been leaving bags full of valuable possessions on beaches and they have never been stolen. A happy thought. The cover the bag with a towel trick really works, I guess.

Mmm, is that water clean? Probably not very, I fear. Never mind, I am testing my immune system.

I then joined the very long queue for an ice cream.

Worth it.

In fact, all was well until I got back to the station nearest home. Alas. Three flights.

And, after a day filled with excitement, I’m going to the cinema tonight. Thrills. It’s the new “Beetlejuice”. I re-watched the 1988 one last night in preparation. I will report back. I know you’re on the edges of your seats out there.

I feel I have got excellent value for this year’s summer.