The Ultimate Sandbox

November 24, 2015

The weekend after Frederick and I came back from our European honeymoon, we decided to go CAMPING!! Of course, I choose something further away from home (Boulder, CO) and 4.5 hours later we were at the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve.

Colorado never fails to surprise me… like how do we get giant sand dunes near the mountains? Disappeared body of water that left huge piles of sand?? Different wind patterns? I’m not a geologist so I had to look it up! Pretty interesting explanation of their formation. Anyway I will stop my rambling…

We stopped at Piñon Flats Campground which has an amazing view of the dunes. The sites are pretty amazing too– large enough to put a couple of tens and each has a fire pit. NIGHTS are so cold! Brrrr

TIP: Get to the campground early (preferably before 10) as it gets full by lunch time.

Murï has his own breathtaking view… HAHA

The Home Stretch: Tallinn + Helsinki

October 21, 2015

The last three days of our trip were spent in Tallinn and Helsinki. Originally we have planned to spend two days in Tallinn and two days in Helsinki. However, that did not happen and I’m kind of glad (we decided to spend an extra day in Riga).

First of all, I must say – shopping in Tallinn is so cheap! A complete night and day price wise from Helsinki. Helsinki was extremely expensive..but why? My guesses people get paid more there? If you know the answer to this, please be kind and enlighten me and others who might be reading this. Another weird observation from Helsinki is that the stores are kind of boring? I don’t mean the mall, the mall was fun… I meant the grocery type stores. There was nothing unique… Like in Stockholm, Paris, Riga, and Tallinn we found all kind of candy and little knick knacks particular to that country/city. Also, the stores in Helsinki seemed modest– the magazine stand had nothing that a child could not see (no Cosmopolitan type magazines). Interesting! I liked that!

RIGA, MY HOMETOWN

October 19, 2015

Back in 2005, when I was 15, I moved from Riga to United States. I was able to go back to visit when I was 19 and last August, ten years after initially leaving Riga, I had an amazing opportunity to visit again… this time with a companion- my husband! I cannot express enough how meaningful it was for me to be able to show him where I grew up, where I went to school, my favorite yummies that I am unable to get here in United States… I was able to share with him my home…home, I miss everyday. Now every time I say,- “oh in Riga…” he knows exactly what I mean. So here is a little “recap” of our time in Riga, Latvia so you can get a glimpse of what home was for me.

We flew into Riga at 11 pm and were fortunate enough to be picked up from the airport by my friend’s aunt (Mila). When we arrived at my friend’s (Noeminj) house, we were sweetly welcomed by her family, and spent another hour catching up and drinking hot tea with cookies and such.

Venice of the North: Stockholm

September 19, 2015

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The day after our wedding, Frederick and I were on our way to start the best trip of our lives- the HONEYMOON! Through out two weeks, we visited Stockholm, Paris, Riga, Tallinn, and Helsinki! Did I mention that we only brought our backpacks? Not those huge backpacking ones, but the ones you could manage to take as a personal item (carry ons between European countries cost a fortune– in some instances more than the ticket itself).

After 16 hours, we were in a beautiful city of Stockholm.