Postcard from Jurmala

Jurmala garden We took the day off on Monday to visit a town not too far from us. Four years ago when we visited Jurmala, we flew in from Prague, but now it's only a 45 minute bus ride from our house. Much smaller than Riga, Jurmala is to the west on the Baltic Sea. It's THE place to access a beach for tourists from central Latvia or even farther east. We purposely went on a gloomy Monday because we heard that the crowds were so large on the weekends. Vendors selling wares Since it's so touristy, in many ways Jurmala reminded us of Riga with all the restaurants and souvenir vendors on the main walking boulevard. I imagine that this year is much slower with the travel ban from Russia. I know this is a favorite spot of Russian tourists in summer because it is easily accessible by train from St. Petersburg. Picture from 4 years ago Since it's on the sea, we, of course, spent some time with our feet in the sand, strolling on the beach. It was inte