Liepāja, "the city where the wind is born"

There was a city on the horizon as I opened the curtains this morning. It’s Liepāja, the third largest city in Latvia and somewhere new for us.

Once we’d docked, the view outside the window suggested that not many cruise ships come here! But the local tourist information was soon set up on board with maps, leaflets and plenty of encouragement for us to step out and take a look around the city, which is gearing up to be the European Capital of Culture in 2027.

Armed with such resources, we threw in our tickets for a guided walking tour, preferring to go it alone and take things in our own time. We hopped on the shuttle bus which took us downtown and deposited us in University Square, not far from the Holy Trinity Cathedral.

From here, we took the walking tour as suggested on the map we’d been given earlier.

There was no problem finding our way, for the instruction was to “follow the notes”.

Though we passed several interesting looking buildings, the question in our minds was, where is everyone?

The streets seemed so empty. This was mid Monday morning and it seemed strange to see hardly anyone about.

We recognised the Amber Concert Hall immediately. This landmark was the top sightseeing feature on our list and we looked forward to our visit. It wasn’t to be, however, for it was closed to visitors… Of course, had we been part of the guided tour, we’d have had access, but as it was…well, never mind.

We carried on, following the notes.

Past some street art.

And some rather attractive houses. But still, few signs of life here.

As we turned left, our eyes were drawn to the mural painted here. It’s of Imants Kalniņš musician, composer, politician and Latvian National Treasure. It’s he who composed the anthem for Liepāja, with the title “the city where the wind is born” (fingers crossed the link works!)

We continued, me feeling miffed that the DPD delivery van was parked right there in front of one of the buildings marked on our map as “significant”. In an empty city, however, how irritating is that?

We pottered down a street and my eyes lit up at the sight of a small supermarket, where I might find something?

Hmmm. I wasn’t sure that our Grandson Arthur’s parents would be too happy if Grandma gave him a tube of this… 😉

So we continued, turned left at the next stop and - there was the shuttle bus, waiting to take us back.

As we crossed the Trade Canal, I wondered if we’d really done Liepāja justice? Had we missed something special?

Driving back, I snapped a photo of the feature I’d spotted on the way in - I think these trees are wrapped in wooden planks to protect them whilst road works are being carried out.

Because one thing’s for certain, Liepāja is never short of a bit of wood, judging from the immense supplies here in the docks.

Once back on the ship, we did a little research into Ilmants Kalmins, whetting our appetite to hear more when we stumbled across a lovely movement in one of his symphonies. As we did, my Hero recognised the cover picture from the CD, and admitted “I think I have them all at home” !

Later, enjoying a chat with our friends, Dave pointed out the small feature in Liepāja’s logo…the dots on the i and the j have been “blown along“ a little. Of course, we knew exactly why, didn’t we?

We’re in “the city where the wind is born”.