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Four members from SI Cirencester and District enjoyed a great weekend in Latvia supporting
\nSI\/Europe Ogre-Kegums, Latvia as they held their first ever friendship weekend. Soroptimists from
\nLithuania and Finland also attended.<\/p>\n
On our first day, we visited Rundale Palace, now a museum, built in the Baroque style and given as a
\npresent by Catherine the Great to her young lover\u2019s nephew. After enjoying the wonderful displays of
\nchina and paintings and visiting the beautiful rose gardens we made our way to a farm where the owners
\nlive and work using old fashioned methods.
\nThe evening saw us in the garden of one of the Latvian Soroptimists where were entertained by children
\nsinging national Latvian songs. Latvia is known as the singing nation and they certainly live up to this
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\nname. We enjoyed eating and drinking national foods and dancing away the evening.
\nOn Saturday, we visited Cesis the second oldest town after Riga. Cesis castle is of early medieval origin,
\nfounded around 1206 by some German Vlivorians, a spectacularly interesting site. We had lunch at a
\ncommunist style restaurant, giving us a good indication of how life might have been under Soviet rule.
\nFor the final evening, we enjoyed a trip on a floating sauna on the River Daugava. Such a laugh with food,
\ndrink, and swimming in the river, which has so much iron in it, you looked tanned when swimming!
\nEarly on Sunday we were driven up to Old Riga where we met some of the Finnish contingent, took an
\nopen top bus city tour before enjoying a hearty lunch. We wended our way back to the airport after lunch.
\nThus ended a fabulous weekend with fun, laughter, renewing of old friendships and making new.<\/p>\n
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