All the narrow alleyways wind up and down the mountain like a serpentine. The city seems to consist of floors, of layers, but from the top a fantastic view opens over the city lying in the haze at the foot of the mountain. A day spent in San Marino left pleasant memories and the wish to return here again someday.
When visiting Venice for the second time, a small superstitious worry nags: that returning to a place you once loved greatly might spoil the impression. But it did not.
We decided to spend this day with a walk by the sea, which was just one block from the hotel where we were staying, a spot of shopping, and a visit to the porcelain museum. Heading to the museum we had picked out on the city map turned into a wonderful walk through an autumnal park.
What was once a major undertaking - travelling to another country's capital - is today no different from a trip to any moderately close city. So on Friday evening, after work, we got in the car and by midnight were already in Tallinn. About 310 km and 4.5 hours on the road. The next day: Lennusadam - the Estonian Maritime Museum, Olde Hansa, and the Medieval Torture Instruments Museum.
Just two Rieslings purchased, destined both to compete with each other and to complement one another. The first, also first in tasting order, was a white wine from Germany - J.L.Wolf Wachenheimer Riesling Kabinett Pfalz 2008 - a classic, a choice that never disappoints; the second - a New World wine from South Australia's well-known producer, Penfolds Rawson's Retreat Riesling 2008.
I would rather call it a walk through the Sarkandaugava district on a sunny-rainy Saturday afternoon. A special walk that brought together around a hundred people from the local and other Riga districts to listen, at eleven stopping points, to readings of works by up-and-coming and now well-known poets and prose writers.
Riga is this year celebrating its 811th birthday for three days running, from 17 to 18 August. The event programme is rich, and the weather is holding reasonably warm. This time we only managed to walk through the central celebration venues. Below is a photo glimpse of the festivities at the Esplanāde, Bastejkalns, Vērmaņdārzs, Dome Square, Līvu Square, and Town Hall Square.
Yesterday, 28 July, on Roja beach at the large screen right on the sea shore, starting from 22:00, two black-and-white art films could be watched. The evening - or more precisely, the night - was fantastic: in the fresh sea air, settled on blankets brought along or folding chairs, sipping beer or cider, the audience spent four hours. For us it was a wonderful rest and cinematic pleasure.
For the fourteenth year running, the Wine Festival took place in Sabile from 26 to 29 July. Despite air temperatures exceeding 30 degrees at midday, there was no shortage of vendors, musicians, entertainers, or visitors.
This time the destination of our trip through Estonia was a town on the western coast - Haapsalu. We chose it for its celebrated restorative atmosphere, beautiful old wooden architecture, and proximity to the sea.