Mezotne and Bauska

One of the best things about the Latvian countryside is that it is home to dozens and dozens of old estates, the palaces of dukes and lords of a century or two ago. This past weekend, it took us less than an hour to drive south to a region with several estates, all within a short distance of one another. Our first stop was Mezotne, then Bauska and, finally, Rundale (which we will save for the next post). On the way, we picked up a German hitchhiker who was grateful because,as she told us, hitching in Latvia has been very difficult. With her, we visited Mezotne which, like many of these estates is now a hotel and restaurant. We were still able to wander into it's main hall which has beautiful art on it domes done in a way as to give a three dimensional effect to the art. Our next stop, Bauska was the location of an old, ruined castle that was built into many centuries later leaving a building that is a castle/palace hybrid. One of it's best features is its location on a small hill with a river on each side. We are excited to have almost endless opportunities to get away for the weekend to explore places like this, all within an hour or two of Riga!