Yodelling, Latvian style
According to the old joke, the best way to make a Swiss roll is to push him off one of the Alps.
However, Latvia has a notable lack of mountains, so the best way to get any Swiss friends twisting and shouting is probably to take them to Sigulda and chuck them out of a cable car – preferably attached to a bungee rope.
Sigulda and its surrounding area are routinely referred to as 'Latvia's Switzerland'. While it's undeniably picturesque, the description also proves that Latvians do have a nice line in selfdeprecating humour. Where Switzerland is on a grand scale, Sigulda is intimate. Alpine peaks are represented by fairly steep hillocks, and a couple of smallish caves (Gutmanis and Viktors) make do as gaping chasms. But Sigulda can more than match Switzerland for castles, with two large ones staring at each other across the Gauja river valley and the ruins of others hidden in the thick forests around.
Easily reached from Riga by road, rail or even bicycle for the physically inclined, Sigulda is one of the most popular day trips from the capital. As well as playing host to some major cultural events such as an annual Opera festival, it's a major base for active sports from the famous bobsled run (which still operates using a wheeled bob during the summer) to orienteering, canoeing and hot air ballooning.
The Meza Kakis ('Wildcat') recreation park is excellent fun for the whole family, challenging visitors to negotiate a series of high wires and rope ladders strung among the trees with different levels of difficulty, and just outside town is the extraordinary Aerodium, which simulates freefall parachuting by blowing you UP atop a blast of air fired from a jet engine!
For a more tranquil outing there are the castles at Sigulda itself and the redbrick tower of Turaida which is surrounded by an impressive open air museum and sculpture park. In short, there's too much for a day trip – so why not make a weekend of it?
