The Summer Solstice Festival was something extraordinary!!!!
It just so happened that I was in Riga for the Jani Festival (summer solstice) and it was an experience I will soon never forget….
I took a bus up from Vilnius (free wifi) to Riga where I settled into my hostel and waited for my friend Mark to join me. Upon him joining me, we took different excursions around the old city which was very medieval like. We heard many stories about what happened through the years and the myths passed down over the different generations. I am sad that the resistance museum was closed for the time I was there because I wanted to check this out. I ran into a police officer from Pamplona named Javier who quickly became a good friend of ours. We almost got caught in a tourist trap by beautiful ladies, but I caught it in time for us to get out.
The true beauty of this town is of course the summer solstice festival. Mind you that this country was one of the last in Europe to convert to Christianity and their pagan roots still shine in this festival. Memories of it are walking around and seeing families of people dancing around piles of sticks and people drinking beer and eating massive amounts of meat. There was plenty of live music with people getting rowdy and having a good time. I only stayed for a few hours, just enough to catch the ambience of what was going on. Latvia, you will always be etched in my heart……
