Day 5, Saturday

Elinaš parents, Janeks, and Elina took us first to a windmill maintained in remarkable condition! It was used to grind wheat into flour. There were also several other machines from a cabbage slicer, to a butter churn, and a buggy.

Next we visited Zvaŗtes'Rock. A huge sandstone outcropping where we hiked across a hanging bridge and up through the woods. Even though the sign prohibited bouncing and swaying it seemed to happen anyway. Hmmmm. There were many padlocks on the bridge with names and dates of those married there who had thrown away the keys to the locks as a sign of their undying love for one another. This may make for a good object lesson for Ericš future wedding ceremonies.

We then met up with Victor at the Sigulda Park and rode the ski lift to the top of the hill and rode a car down the side of the hill attached to a rail. It was a lot of fun! And as though we hadn't had enough we went to Ramkalns another fun spot. They were having a contest where men had to carry their wives up the hill against the clock. This was a televised event on Latvian TV. Mark and Eric committed to training to carry Bev and Jaime up the hill next year! We had fun riding the Luge down the hill several times. We also got to have lunch at the restaurant there. We all had a great time together. We said our goodbyes to Elina, her family and Janeks, hoping to see them all at church services in the morning.

Victor took us by to visit some old friends Peter and Zaiga Kupla. They were a very interesting elderly couple. Peter (83) was working on house repairs. He said he wanted to see New York city before he dies, so we invited them to come on over and we would show them around. Zaiga had an amazing garden from which we had several samples of thorn berries, currents, blueberries, and apples. Her flowers were beautiful!

We then went out to Lidoš for dinner. This is a buffet type restaurant housed in the largest log cabin structure in Europe. The front of the restaurant is a windmill. We discussed plans for church services and how Eric would preach and Janeks would assist with the class.

Stay tuned!