Monday, August 29 ~ Day in the Life of Ligatne Village

It took us about 45 minutes by bus to arrive for our Day in the Life experience. We had been warned not to eat much breakfast at the hotel this morning because we would be well fed today. When we arrived at the first home, we were greeted by a woman in her twenties who spoke excellent English. Her mom and dad had prepared quite a spread for breakfast. We had omelets, sausage, and lots of homemade pickles, jam, honey, hot Russian mustard, garden tomatoes, and delicious oatmeal. 1 1/2 liters of milk were combined with 2 cups of oatmeal and cooked slowly for an hour. It was very creamy.

After breakfast, we toured their family business. The dad demonstrated making a wooden spoon. They have contracts with Costco and Walmart to sell these cutting boards. We then saw their facility for making berry wines. Due to their cold climate for many months, grapes don’t have time to ripen. Wines in this region are mainly berry wines for this reason. We tasted the Black Current Wine which wasn’t too sweet and the Raspberry Wine which was too sweet for me but Linda liked. Then we went into their showroom where we had the opportunity to buy cutting boards, wooden spoons, and wine. I think everyone in the group bought something. Linda and I each bought a bottle of the type of wine we liked. I didn’t buy any of the wooden products since I don’t use them.  

 

We then went to the grandmother’s house. She lives in an apartment that had been built by the Soviets. These buildings are very plain whereas building built previously had more interesting architecture. After visiting her apartment, we went to some nearby caves.

Then Miina split the group, and we went to two houses for the home hosted lunch. Our hosts served a lot of food from their garden. We had vegetable soup, several kinds of unusual salads, some 2-inch rounds of fried chicken breast, and small apple tart squares. Afterward we were given a tour of the garden and the second house on the property. The grandparents, their children, and grandchildren live in the two houses. The grandmother teaches lots of art classes to school children in one of the houses. I was asked to bring out Cha-Cha-Cha after she showed us one of her puppets. She was astounded when my puppet starting talking then singing. I don’t think I have ever had such an amazing reaction before this. She showed us some of her papermaking supplies. Then we walked to a craft center where they had some full-sized looms and products for sale. It reminded me of things I did in the ’60’s and 70’s and things we could buy at art fairs then.

We then walked to our bus and rode home. Linda and I stopped in at the grocery store to get some hot Russian mustard that had been served at breakfast. I bought two small jars since I know Paul likes hot mustard. Then it was time to pack and get ready for our drive to Estonia tomorrow.