Nice collection of road signs and other amusing signs encountered while traveling through the Latvia. For those of you that are confused, Latvia is South of Estonia and North Lithuania. Is your 9th grade geography coming back to you? Thought I would only do one post for the entire Baltic region but the signs vary by country, so you should see a Lithuanian sign post soon.

1. No friendly neighborhood around here. (Riga, Latvia)
2. No evil in your thoughts or decorous clothing allowed and we mean it! (Liepaja, Latvia- outside of Russian Orthodox Church)
3. Would be better if they showed a BMW falling (Liepaja, Latvia)
4. Why are the kids always running to school? (Jelgava, Latvia)

There are hundreds of benefits to traveling solo: paying more for accommodation, getting lost, eating alone, having to suffer soley through the gaps in language and communication. But my most favorite is of course, taking the ubiquitios picture of myself in some town.

Here is my Latvia/Lithuania travel photo essay of the modern single traveler.

A little off the beaten trail is a a little hill, that has more than a little amount of religious significance for Lithuanians. It started in 1831 when large wooden crosses began appearing, each year those crosses multiplied until the 1950′s there were over a couple hundred.

Well the Soviets idea of religion was kissing Stalin’s portrait and thusly disapproved of the JC tribute and bulldozed the hill of its crosses on 3 separate occassions, 1961, 1973, and 1975. But those pesky crosses kept coming back until tenacity won and the Ruskies just gave up.


Now, hundreds of thousands crossed stand erect on the hill and more appear everyday. For 5 litas (~$2), you too can plant your own piece of history in the form of a wooden cross.

Getting here:From the Siauliai (pr: shoe-lay) bus station you can get a photocopy printout from the information desk that shows times and station for the Hill of Crosses. The trip is 2.40 litas 1-way and Domantai is the needed bus stop. The ride is about 15 minutes from the station and not very well marked so sit close to the driver so he can tell you when you get close. If not, you run the risk of missing your stop (like me) and walking back the 1 mile (like me) and then the 2 km to the Hill of Crosses sight. Don’t worry Mom, I make back unscathed.

Photo below: Long walk to the Hill of Crosses after missing my stop

There are some cardinal rules in Latvia.

1. Beautiful people are everywhere. 6 foot giant Amazon women in skin tight jeans roam Riga.
2. High heels are obligatory wherever you go whatever you do.
3. Magenta is the hair color of choice for women over 50.
4. The new new hairstyle is a cross between a mullet and rat tail. It is sweeping the nation.

A collection of photos of strange old, crazy old, random Latvia.

Below: a couple clubbers who nerve made it home Saturday night. It was 9 am Sunday morning when I took this. (Riga, Latvia)

I guess in some strange way 2 + 2 does equal shit. (Riga, Latvia)

Are you kidding me? Do you really need to walk your kid in 4 inch heels? (Liepaja, Latvia)

Handicap accessible- Latvian style (Riga, Latvia)

It says in Russian: Who is This Jesus Christ? A lady in Latvia kindly gave me this literature on the street. I especially like the use of Who is ‘this’ Jesus Christ instead of Who is Jesus Christ (Jelgava, Latvia)

Another example of high heels on the tourist trail (Rundale Palace, Latvia)

Jelgava (pr: yel gava) sits in Southern Latvia about 50 kilometers from the Lithuaninan border. While spending more than 1 night here is unnecessary, the city itself is small and especially colorful, housing some very well maintained churches and palaces.

Day trips from Jelgave include Rundale Palace, the most magnificent palace in all of the Built around 1740 in the Baroque style as a summer residence. Wow! I wish my summer house could look so good!

Photos below:
1. Exterior Rundale Palace
2. Bedroom of the Duke of Courland

Karsota Prison sits in the North end of Liepaja, Latvia. When the Hammer & Sickle flag flew over Latvia, Karsota was a military compound housing over 40,000 military personnel. The prison it’s self was once a hospital.

Today it sits in the middle of the empty compound surrounded by overgrown brush and scores of abandoned buildings that Tsarist Russia built over 110 years ago. This really adds to loneliness of the compound.

A tour of the prison is sobering and costs 2.5 Lats ($5). A guard in an authentic soviet uniform will escort you around (in english) explain the history and scream at you if you would like.

Photo below: Written by Russian soldier, says: I want to go home

As an added bonus, the tourist can spend the night here in an actual cell and guards will yell at you. Cost is about $15 per bed or $30 for the cell. Unfortunatley, there are no creature comforts here like wifi or freedom, so you must suck it up for the evening if you want to stay.

Photos:
1. picture of actual Karsota ‘hostel’ cell
2. Latvian tour guide
3. Lenin and Russian type writer