Rubene

Latvia

“In the great cities we see so little of the world, we drift into our minority. In the little towns and villages there are no minorities; people are not numerous enough.”

W.B Yeats

We sleep in. There is only time for a walk. No calesthetics this morning.

Kuchmistrai is providing our breakfast. After lasts nights dinner, I have high expectations. I am not disappointed.

We are on the road by 9.30 am. A six hour drive to the tiny village of Rubene.

It is a pleasant drive, with only one near miss in the form of several trucks at great speed on our side of the road, resulting from road repairs.

We check into our apartment, which is above, by no coincidence, another restaurant famous for its local cuisine – Mazais Ansis.

We take a shower and read to let the crowds clear before heading for dinner by the lake.

The food is plentiful and tasty. I order the Turku zirņu pasta and Shell the borscht to start.

Shell goes for the chicken with potatoes and vegetables for the main. I take the pork chop with sweet potato.

We share a crème brûlée for dessert.

Many beers and a house made apple cider.

We take a walk before spending the evening in our apartment reading and chatting. Sunset is 10.30 pm this far north.

Estonia tomorrow.

Currently, and still, reading:

“He had a confused sense that she must have cost a great deal to make, that a great many dull and ugly people must, in some mysterious way, have been sacrificed to produce her.”

Edith Wharton