Limbazi

This wonderful card is another from Maija on her trip to Latvia and shows her hometown of Limbazi. From the top left you can see: the folk and art museum, the ‘Monument to the Glorious Dead in liberty fights’, the Baptist church, Juras Street, the Lutheran church and Torna Street. Although now the town has a small population of only 8000, during the Middle Ages, it was second in importance only to Riga in the whole country.

Gauja National Park

From my wonderful friend Maija who was visiting her family back in Latvia comes this awesome card showing Gauja National Park – the largest national park in the country, earning its name from the Gauja river which flows through it. Maija visited the town of Sigulda, from where all the park administration is dealt with. Here you can see Sigulda Medieval Castle – which dates to 1207 – and the Turaida Castle – translating to ‘Thor’s Garden’, a recent reconstruction of a medieval castle which burned down in the 1700s. The area is renowned for having the greatest concentration of castles in the whole of eastern Europe, due to the importance of the Gauja river during the Crusades. Wonderful card! Thanks Maija!

The Valentine’s Fairy!

This cute little card comes from Svetlana in Latvia who says she chose it since when she sent it (Feb 9th) it was almost Valentine’s Day. Well, as if by magic, this little fairy made it to my doorstep right on time. What a cutie she is! Happy Valentine’s everyone! And for those of you out there who are wishing you had a boyfriend/girlfriend right now, just remember how awful having to put up with someone else’s snoring is! Yes, that’s right, you’re sleeping far better alone!

Rural Latvia

This beautiful card comes from Velga in Latvia and shows a typical rural view from there. Velga tells me she lives in the countryside with her husband. In the holidays their grandchildren come to stay with them and she’s kind enough to tell me all of their names – something which I think is lovely since I have a genuine interest in names. Wonderful card!