Visit to Cēsis

During the Staro Rīga '12 festival I met a Latvian girl. After having told her that I didn't went to Cēsis (a place in Latvia), she said I should definitely go there, having lived there for most of her life. As things turned out, she would be my guide when I went to Cēsis last Saturday. Besides that I consider her to be one of my great friends I got to know during the weekly Couchsurfing Latvia meetings.

When I woke up early on that Saturday I was already happy, because my laptop screen showed below -16 Celsius for Riga. Simply not breaking my old cold record (-16 Celsius) when having moved from the Netherlands to Latvia would be quite disappointing. A small sense of accomplishment right there as this was one of my actual goals and reasons for having chosen Latvia.

As I was getting ready I found out that I would miss the trolleybus to still be on time at the 'autoosta' (not hard to find - close to the central market), from where we agreed to travel together by bus to Cēsis. Luckily I could take a mini-bus (also first time - so another new experience) from Reznas street and being faster than the (trolley)bus, making up for the lost time. After we got our tickets for the bus I learned that they were listed by passenger number. It is by the order of these numbers that you enter into the bus. I suppose it is a good system as it allows the bus driver to count how many people are in the bus straight from the beginning, not having to spend time on doing an headcount later on. Once in the bus it is about a 2 hour ride, the costs being under 3 Ls. This ride was quite a drag for my right knee, it having been diagnosed with Prepatellar bursitis (after effect of my incident). I should have listened to my companion who told me I could walk in the bus, yet I decided that I didn't want to look like a fool. In retrospect it would be the better alternative, if they would care at all.

Upon arrival she mentioned that there was not much to see in Cēsis during that winterday because it was cold (it being somewhere between -18 and -20 Celsius) and many tourist sites being closed. In addition, that Cēsis is particularly popular during the summer. As much as I would like to still be here in the summer, I told her that I am only here for the autumn semester. Furthermore, I believe Cēsis looks better than Rīga under similar weather conditions. One more thing I would like to mention here is that if you go to study abroad you should not stay in one city for the entire time. I have read student reports of people who have been abroad who did that, and I don't find this to be a particularly good decision. Even if it means that one city being totally awesome and offering all you looking for, it is unlikely to give you a full view of that country and/or all its merits. The same holds true for the Netherlands, as the surroundings and attitude of people of let's say Amsterdam is quite different from that of the countryside in the three northern provinces Friesland, Groningen and Drenthe. Drugs, whores, a multi-cultural society and smoking is what my country (or Holland, I should rather say) seems to be famous for. However, these elements are not so much present in my regular day-to-day life. Still, it is all these stereotypes that create the main image of one country. Therefore it seems wise to travel around a bit. It is not only expected to widen your perspective but also allows you to see to what extent stereotypes are really true. So when my friend said I should come to Cēsis, even offering to be my guide, I could and would not refuse.

We first went to see Cēsis Castle (Cēsu pils), entering via the Cēsis History & Art Museum.
There we had a small walk-around at the premises whilst holding a candle light lantern, offering us some more visibility. That in itself was already a nice touch. Moreover, from the castle's western tower there is a viewing point overlooking Castle Park. Whilst I didn't take a picture of that, I made another picture to allow you to see how the scenery was that day.

After having seen the castle we had a look inside in the Cēsis History & Art Museum. Here you can also go up and outside, providing some more lovely sights. Then, we continued to see the Cēsis Exhibition House. It is located on the same square and free of charge for castle visitors (or at least, for us). Here we had a short peek to see the temperory art exhibition. Subsequently we went to grab a bite in a local cafe/ restaurant to then head towards the sport hall, where I would witness my first (full) live basketball match ever. The contestants were women's basketball team SK Cēsis versus LU. I was in doubt whether I should cheer for students of my university or that of the home team, so I decided to just remain silent instead. Just watching the game as it was enough to take up all my attention. In the end, SK Cēsis won. Statistics on their website also show that they were unbeaten in 13 matches in a row and are ranked 1st in their league. Photo's of the match can be viewed here:
http://www.skcesis.lv/page_id=134&album=17&gallery=98.
In my opinion, not the most beautiful photo's, and surely not the most graceful.
But then again, it is not a beauty competition either. Hardball, hard on. For me the match was fun to see, the ballgame being on a higher level than I am used to.

Ultimately, I have seen some good things that Cēsis had to offer for the period of the year and enjoyed my time there. On the way back we were (thanks  to the network of my friend) able to travel back to Riga by mini-bus with the LU women's basketball team. All remains to say is that If I decide to return to Latvia during the summer, I will surely consider going to Cēsis again.