We continue to be blessed with excellent weather. Boarded our bus at 0900 for an hour's drive east to Gauja National Park. Turaida Castle was our first stop. This partially restored fortification on a hill also boasts a very unique sculpture garden, exhibits on the local tribes that first inhabited the area and a medieval sauna. (Medieval not in the sense of torture, those those birch leaf branches did seem a bit hard after 800 years.). On next to Gutamis's Cave. Not a cavern in the vein of Carlsbad, just a grotto. We tasted the water, which did not appear to have the advertised effect of being a fountain of youth. Was nice and cool, though. On back to Riga for a brief rest before an optional tour with Dalija to the Riga Market. This is housed in a group of Zeppelin hangars which were never used for their intended purpose. One building devoted entirely to fish, from still breathing to dried and standing up in a basket. We sampled smoked mackerel, which was quite yummy. Many meat selections also, including the obligatory whole pig's head. Prices better than Costco! Bought a bottle of Black Balsam liquor on the way back to the hotel. This is a local "cures what ails you" tradition in Latvia. Our taste tests indicated that it is at least tolerable when flavored with currants, which is what we bought. We will be getting your opinion when we have you over for dinner after our return.

Being a warm afternoon, a beer in the bar was in order with a few of the group members at the hotel.

We took our bus over to the Old Town for dinner at Kalku Varti that evening. When we have these group meals, there are two entree choices that we sign up for in advance. We chose this meal two days ago, so it was a surprise to most of us senior travelers.

We leave at 0830 tomorrow for the drive to Tallinn, Estonia. The route parallels the Gulf of Riga for much of the way. We look forward to it, and to being in a country that accepts those leftover euros from last year's trip to Italy. I will check in from there.