Jurmala is the Baltic beach area about 40mins by train from Riga central station. It cost only 1E40c, so off we went.
The area is famous for its wooden buildings, many of which date from C19. (There are many in old parts of Riga that are C18.)
When we arrived at Dubulti, we didn't see a tourist office, so wandered off to the beach,
and walked along the beach, past soccer players, joggers, paddlers, dribble-castle makers, sunbathers etc to the previous town Majori, which appeared to be more popular, and has a boat hotel.
We went back inland and down to their shopping area. We located the temporarily moved Tourist Office, then bought some very fresh and very hot cebureki (= pasties) for lunch, and thought about what to do next.
There are forest areas at each end of the peninsula, and we didn't have time for them, but after walking the length of the tourist street, we got to where the church is being rebuilt after it was demolished in 1962. Its notice read "when under the cover of the night, on the orders of the theomachist state, this shrine of the Orthodox Church was mercilessly demolished and wiped off the face of the earth with the help of tractors and bulldozers." It will be finished next year.
Behind the church is a forest park, which has amazing ropeways and fun areas for kids, and all for free (except electric cars and scooters).
We walked back to the station along a different road looking at the houses, and went to find the boat ride back to the capital, but at E20 each we said no thanks, and got the train instead.
I caught sight of this old train truck as we were coming into the pen-ultimate station on the way home, and saw the rock beside it, engraved with numbers.
The internet says that in March 1941 and again in June 1949, a total of maybe 60,000 Latvians were deported to Siberia and other Soviet camps. Some died, some stayed, some returned. These things are only being discovered since independence in 1991, and since Latvia is still 30% Russian, it is a slow process.
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