We just woke up IN A CASTLE!
Oh, oh the noises.
We’re Jana and Brett. Since our honeymoon 9 years ago,
we’ve spent more than 24 months living and traveling in Europe.
So far we’ve ventured to 25 countries, but our goal is to visit every country in Europe
And to explore every nook and cranny of the Alps.
Today we’re exploring Latvia, where we’re going to visit a 700 year old castle, hike
through mud, and walk through a new kind of landscape that we’ve never seen before.
But for real! I cannot believe that we just slept in a castle!
Let me give you a quick room tour. We are staying in Eliza’s Room at Jaunpils Pils
hotel castle in Latvia. It is said to be the sunniest and brightest
room in the castle, which I totally agree with.
It has a very particular oval shape and a really cool vintage ceramic stove.
Now I know you want to see the rest of this amazing medieval castle, but you’ll have
to wait just a little bit because we have some other adventures planned first.
You know that we like to hike, but we’ve never done a hike like this before.
And that’s because it’s a barefoot trail, as in no shoes allowed.
I never walk around barefoot. Feet actually kinda gross me out, especially
when they’re dirty feet, so I’m not quite sure what to make of this, but it just sounded
too intriguing to pass up.
Here we go! Cue overly dramatic B-roll montage.
Okay so I saw a picture of these on the website and I was most intrigued to try them.
But I’m a little worried they’re gonna hurt.
Oh it’s a little pokey, I can’t do it!
Weenie! Oh-ho-ho-ho!
Ooo this one feels like the beach. It’s sand!
So I don’t know exactly what this is
but it looks like mud from one of the bogs that we’re gonna visit later and it’s so squishy!
This one kinda feels like walking in a big ol’ pile of gumballs!
We’re gonna do some exercises for healthy feet.
Honestly so far it is really cool how this switches back and forth from hard surfaces
to soft surfaces, from big rocks to small rocks, to sand, to mud.
I have to admit, I’m kind of enjoying myself.
Oh. That looks so disgusting.
Oh my gosh. Okay, I can do this. Oh man, that is so deep. [laughter]
Oh, it’s disgusting! Oh, that is gross!
Oh, oh the noises!
Okay, that was really fun! I mean, we would have come here just to do the hike,
but walking on all of the different materials and the way they have it set up,
turns a hike into something that just adds all these elements
of fun and laughter and intrigue. And I just really enjoyed it!
You know, I thought I was gonna really like the mud, but I think the like ground up tires
were just so soothing. That was my favorite!
Our feet worked so hard on that barefoot trail but we’re not quite done yet
because now our feet get to be pampered with a little foot spa.
In addition to the Barefoot Trail which we just completed,
there’s also an art trail that features landscape photography from like the top photographer in the world,
there are photos of some wildlife, of some local costumes and customs,
and there’s also a cafe that’s unfortunately closed on Mondays, but it really
does seem like you could enjoy either a morning or an entire afternoon here.
Now that our feet are refreshed and our shoes are back on after the Barefoot Trail at Valguma Pasaule,
we’re ready to go hit a couple more trails!
Our next stop is here at Lake Kaneris. I have no idea if that’s how you pronounce it but
I’m going with it because I don’t speak Latvian.
This entire lake is 3 kilometers long, 1 kilometer wide, and it’s only a meter deep the entire time,
which works in our favor because we get to take a really cool walk on a boardwalk through the reeds.
Okay, reality check.
I was super excited to go on the Reed Trail, but I didn’t really like being there.
Mosquitoes love me, and apparently bees do too.
There were so many mosquitoes and bees. They were absolutely driving me bonkers.
Okay that was super cool but we’re getting eaten by mosquitoes so we’re getting out of here.
And the trail was like overgrown so I was kinda just uncomfortable walking on the trail.
I’m disappointed because I thought it would be super cool.
And I’m not gonna lie, our pictures are probably gonna be awesome.
But I don’t think I would go back and actually do the whole walk because it was a little uncomfortable.
But we’re on our way to another trail right now so hopefully this one's a little bit better.
Yeah, sure hope it doesn’t bug us quite as much. [laughter]
We have arrived at the Great Kemeri Bog. Hey Jana, what’s a bog?
A bog is basically a wetland of soft, spongy ground covered in peat moss.
Huh. Let’s go see a bog!
This is really cool!
I know it might not be as big of a deal to those of you who live near a bog,
but that’s one of the things we love so much about traveling.
We get to see landscapes that we would never see back where we live in Tennessee.
So, big thumbs up to the Great Kemeri Bog.
All this walking has made me hungry. Let’s go eat!
So what’s a better snack than ice cream from the Jaunpils Dairy.
Hmmm, oh my gosh it’s so creamy!
You’ve waited long enough. So before we go to dinner,
let’s take you on a castle tour.
But you can’t spend a night in a castle without eating in the medieval tavern.
According to the Jaunpils website, their pub is “probably the best medieval pub in the world."
Now, I don’t know how you go about proving that,
but I would be completely willing to tour and eat the food of every medieval pub
in order to crown a champion. And based on this food, I’d probably say it's gonna be a tough race.
Jaunpils was built in the 1300s, and the kitchen has been in the same location since the 1400s,
but I’m not willing to wait another century before digging into this food.
The Krogs tavern has a special way of blending typical medieval meals with Latvian cuisine that is out of this world!
Truthfully everything that we’ve had here over the past 2 days has been phenomenal and we would order it again.
Except for that one like berry spread that attracted an entire hoard of bees, but that’s another story.
Thank you so much to Jaunpils Pils and Valguma Pasaule for making our time here in Latvia so much fun!
But now our feet are tired and our bellies are full, so it’s time to go to bed...IN A CASTLE!