Lettland - in the Gauja National Park

Latvia remains in our memory despite a short stay with many experiences. First, I celebrated a small premiere that I didn't think was possible: at our first stop after the Estonian border, I was actually asked for my ID to validate the purchase of two beers. Our first destination in Latvia was the Gauja National Park, where we planned a canoeing trip on the Gauja River the next day. So we spent the night not far from the city of Cesis - a good starting point for this adventure - at a remote lake that wakeboarders use for their purposes and which was also a welcome bathing place for us to cool off from the really hot Latvian summer. During dinner, we heard music from a celebration beyond the fields, which we didn't decide to attend, but we involuntarily witnessed the aftermath. Because at 4 a.m. suddenly a car filled with young people arrived at our remote parking spot, parked right in front of us, and consumed various substances to the loudest techno music. Completely unimpressed by our presence, or no longer able to perceive it, the four young people spent half an hour before they left us awake and me sleepless. After we eventually started our day more self-determined, we first took a short city tour in Cesis, which we had to keep as short as possible because escaping the midday heat was unavoidable. So we drove to the nearby Erglu Rocks on the Gauja River, where we already got a taste of what water tourism means here: not only were kayaks and paddle boats on the river, but also rafts, which accommodated several family travelers as well as picnic tables and grills. Our own canoe trip then had two inconveniences in addition to the beautiful landscape. Firstly, we longed for the mosquito plague in Finland, because here horseflies ruled; and with such force that 36 counted horsefly bites spread over my entire body (even through clothing!) made the trip a true torment, in which no normal paddling flow could be established. Secondly, the cloudless heat of the day deceived us about the fact that the evening brought an incredibly violent thunderstorm, which we, chased by horseflies, were driving directly towards. As soon as we reached our docking station, we were taken back to Cesis with the rental organization and when we arrived at the car, the storm broke loose, so we quickly took shelter under the shower at the campsite. Standing in the sulfur-smelling wastewater of the shower, with the wooden walls trembling around us, hearing the hail hit the corrugated roof and only occasionally getting light from the lightning, it all had an apocalyptic charm. After the worst was over, we left the partially flooded national park, littered with fallen trees, to reach hopefully friendlier Riga the next day.