Latvia in the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games

The 2018 Winter Olympic Games have begun in PyeongChang, South Korea. There are 34 athletes from Latvia, including the Šics brothers (luge medalists in Sochi) and Mārtiņš Dukurs (skeleton medalist in Sochi and Vancouver). The number is considerably down from the previous Olympics, as the Latvian hockey team failed to qualify. However with 9 sports represented and numerous returning medalists, Latvia has a good chance to reach the podium.

Latvia has won eight winter Olympic medals: Mārtiņš Rubenis (luge bronze in Turin), Andris & Juris Šics (silver in doubles luge Vancouver, bronze in Sochi), Mārtiņš Dukurs (skeleton silver in Vancouver & gold in Sochi), Tomass Dukurs (bronze in skeleton, Sochi), Daumants Dreiškens, Oskars Melbārdis, Jānis Strenga & Arvis Vilkaste (gold in 4-man bobsled in Sochi) and Mārtiņš Rubenis, Elīza Tīruma, Andris Šics & Juris Šics (bronze in team relay luge in Sochi). The Sochi gold and bronze skeleton medals were an upgrade after Olympic champion Alexandr Tretiakov was found guilty of doping at the Sochi games in Russia, was banned for life from the Olympics, and stripped of his medals in the 2014 games. Similarly the Melbārdis four-man luge relay received gold after the Russian athletes were disqualified.

Team Latvia, with President Vējonis (source here)

The Team Latvia Olympic uniforms were unveiled last November, designed and produced by Polish sports clothing company 4F. Traditional Latvian elements such as the skujiņa were incorporated along with the three stars from the Brīvības piemineklis freedom monument and the Olympic rings.

source here

The Latvian Olympic Committee released this schedule of events according to athletes participating, although it is according to the Eastern European Time Zone. Having cross-checked with the CBS Olympics schedule, I’ve identified the key dates/times to watch in hopes of catching the Latvians in action (all listed in EST):

Veiksmi mūsējiem!🇱🇻 #Latvia #LatvijaKorejā #MēsTicamSavējiem #WinterOlympics #PyeongChang2018 pic.twitter.com/L0JHhQ12be

— 🇱🇻❄️Līga❄️🇱🇻 (@ligazl15) February 9, 2018

A short video of Latvia's entrance during the Parade of Nations during the PyeongChang Opening Ceremony

Friday, February 9^th 8-11pm - Opening Ceremony, NBC

Wednesday, February 14^th 9:30-11:30am - Luge (doubles gold medal final), NBCSN

   3-5pm - Luge (doubles gold medal final), NBC A.Šics/J.Šics, P.Kalniņš/O.Gudramovičs

   8-11:30pm - Men's Skeleton (qualifying), NBC (LIVE) M.Dukurs, T.Dukurs

Thursday, February 15^th 12:05-1:30am - Men's Skeleton (Run 2 of 4), NBC (LIVE) M.Dukurs, T.Dukurs

    9:30am-12pm - Luge (team relay gold medal final), NBCSN

    8pm-12:30am - Men's Skeleton (Gold medal final runs), NBC (LIVE) M.Dukurs, T.Dukurs

Friday, February 16^th 1:05-2am - Luge (team relay gold medal final), NBC

Sunday, February 18^th 9:30-10:15am - Two-Man Bobsled, NBCSN O.Melbārdis, O.Ķibermanis

Friday, February 23^rd - 8-11pm - Four-Man Bobsled (competition), NBC - O.Melbārdis, O.Ķibermanis

Saturday, February 24^th - 8-11pm - Four Man Bobsled (gold medal final Runs), NBC (LIVE)

Sunday, February 25^th 8-10:30pm - Closing Ceremony, NBC

Also, keep your eyes peeled during:

   Speed Skating, men’s short track 500m & 1000m - R.Puķītis, R.J.Zvejnieks

   Speed Skating, men's short track 1500m - R. Puķītis

   Speed Skating, men’s 1000m & 5000m – H. Silovs

   Luge, men’s singles - I.Kivlenieks, K.Aparjods, A.Dārznieks

   Luge, women’s singles - E.Cauce, U.Zirne, K.Aparjode

   Biathlon, women's 7.5km sprint, 15km, pursuit & 12.5km mass start - B. Bendika 

   Biathlon, men’s 10km sprint, pursuit, 15km & 20km mass start - A.Rastorgujevs, O.Muižnieks

   Alpine skiing, men’s downhill, combined, slalom, giant slalom & Super G - K.Zvejnieks

   Alpine skiing, women’s giant slalom & slalom - L.Gasūna

   Cross Country Skiing, men’s sprint, 15km freestlye - I.Bikše

   Cross Country Skiing, women’s sprint & 10km freestlye - P.Eiduka, I.Paškovska

   Figure Skating, men’s - D.Vasiļjevs

   Figure Skating, women’s - D.Ņikitina

   Skeleton, women’s - L.Priedulēna

Daumants Dreiskens with the Latvian 4-man bobsled team, source here

Three-time Olympian Daumants Dreiškens will be carrying the Latvian flag in the Opening Ceremony. Dreiškens was part of the gold-medal bobsled team in the Sochi Olympics.

See the above link for the official run times of the Latvian luge team (keep in mind that the first time is PyeongChang time and the one in parenthesis is Eastern European time). Along with skeleton and bobsled, we’ll also be keeping a close eye on women’s slopestyle, where Estonian Kelly Sildaru is considered a medal hopeful.

Two-time Olympics medalist Mārtiņš Dukurs, source here

Let the Games begin!

Important links: Latvian Olympic Committee on Facebook
   PyeongChang official Olympics website
(and if someone can find me an official twitter account, I would be grateful!)   
   

Chamonix-Mont-Blanc

On our way to Freiburg im Breisgau with the two boys, Roberts, my mother-in-law and myself in the car, we took a slight detour. We wanted to drive through Switzerland on the way there as our route home would take us on a straighter course through France, and so a logical stopping point was Chamonix (about 4 ½ hours from Clermont-Ferrand).

As the last hour or so of driving took place after sunset, we awoke to a surprise. Knife-edge peaks surrounded our little hotel, the valley rising away on both sides changing from green to white in a dizzying ascent. Chamonix-Mont-Blanc is in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France, separated from Courmayeur, Italy by the jagged peaks of the Aiguilles Rouges. The site of the 1924 Winter Olympics (the first Winter Olympics), it is well known within the world of skiing, snowboarding and mountain climbing. It wasn’t these extreme sports that had us stopping in Chamonix, it was the world-famous cable car that goes up the Aiguille du Midi (3,842m or 12,605 ft). Constructed in 1955, it was then the highest cable car in the world.

Something we hadn’t thought of in our planning was altitude and its effect on the boys. The car ride up to Chamonix was gradual and the altitude quite reasonable (1,037m), but the cable car would ascend a couple thousand meters in about 30 minutes: not good for little ears, and infants are not allowed. And toddlers, well we weren’t going to try it. So we were faced with a dilemma; were we still going to ascend Aiguille du Midi, and in what combination?

Roberts had taken the cable car up to the summit more than five years ago, while living in Geneva, Switzerland with his friend Fredrik. Having paid the fee and arrived at the top – nothing. They were fogged in! He would have liked to try again, but opted to stay with his mother who didn’t wish to make the trip. So off I went, alone, to the highest point I will have ever been in my life.

Although the tower wasn’t open, there were three separate viewing areas that were, and I spent almost an hour admiring the fantastic views over the valley and of the peaks. Only 8km from the summit of Mont Blanc, the cable car was full of adventure seekers with skis and climbing gear. I watched quite a few do last-minute checks on their gear before heading off the platforms, to a base camp down below with miles of seemingly in-traversable terrain separating us.



The picture on the right is a zoomed in shot of where the arrow is pointing on the left



I also was witness to an interesting ritual. A group of men from Mongolia took turns with an ornate teacup, saying a prayer and then tossing a cup of milk to the wind. Perhaps a prayer, maybe an offering, but beautiful in the simplicity atop this soaring mountaintop.

According to the locals, that day was the first in quite a while that the view was as clear without clouds, fog or snow. The experience was worth every penny of the 45,60 € ticket and I suggest it to anyone visiting on a clear day. It is possible in the summer to cross the Mont Blanc massif by cable car into Italy by passing through Pointe Helbronner (3,462m or 11,358 ft) to Entréves in the Aosta Valley. The first car goes up early, and my advice to avoid the queues (and to get the best views since the mornings tend to have better visibility) would be to get there early.

I did wish it was me setting out on this grand adventure...

Meanwhile, the rest of the family was looking into the option of visiting the Mer de Glace (Sea of Ice), the second largest glacier in the Alps. At 14km long, 1800m wide and 400m deep, it is possible to visit an ice cave that has been carved every spring since 1946. However our luck with the weather for my ascent up the Aiguille didn’t extend to the glacier; the mountain train that takes tourists to the cable car was running, but the cable car was not.

After meeting back up with the rest of the family, we drove northeast on small roads, winding up the valley. With breathtaking vistas around every bend it was hard to resist the urge to park and photograph each and every scene. Interlaken was our destination, and we knew that there would be endless photo-opportunities the whole way there, and so it was with tremendous restraint that we kept driving despite the numerous panoramas. Simply unbelievably gorgeous.

Andorra

Andorra has more than 2000 shops. That’s more than one for every 40 inhabitants. Does this have anything to do with the world’s highest life expectancy of 83.5 years? Or is it the skiing in resorts that have invested way more than €100 million in high-speed lifts, car parks, snow-making machines and groomers, hotels and restaurants?

This mini-country is only 468 square km but has some of the most dramatic scenery in the Pyrenees, and we were on our way to the capital of Andorra la Vella after a stop in Carcassonne, France

. Famous for skiing, shopping and smuggling, all three were immediately obvious upon crossing the north border. A long line of cars waited to pass through the French border control, and an even longer line of cars was parked on the sides of the road leading out of Pas de la Casa, the first shopping opportunity sans the high French taxes levied on goods by the neighbor to the north. The setting of all this drama was a single road leading up through the town, past perfectly white skiing runs to what seemed like the end of the world. We were surrounded on walls of white on all sides and the road continued on until the very cusp of this whiteness, with nothing visible beyond except blue sky.

Having reached the highest point on the largest road leading through the country the scenery changed, as we could see the road continuing on down into the valley, curving its way down along with the Valira d’Orient river. We passed a dozen little villages, and it was then I understood what our Lonely Planet guidebook had been hinting at when it warned that “greed and uncontrolled development risk spoiling the valleys.” The sparse villages were filled with giant cranes, brand new stores lined the sides of the roads and the few old farm buildings that remained were abandoned and probably slated for demolishment.

Having arrived at Andorra la Vella we checked into our hotel, discovered that the locals speak even more quickly than in France, and then went for a walk down the main shopping street. There were four main types of stores: clothing, jewelry, electronics and pharmacies. We made our first purchase, a car charger for my iPad (which was/will be used very often to help the almost-two year old survive these road trips) and discovered that the electronics stores sell a lot knock-offs. Most of the jewelry and clothing stores had their own security guards manning the door, and there was an obvious police presence enforcing parking regulations, directing traffic and helping tourists.

The prices are lower than in France (and Spain, I’m told), mostly due to the lack of all sales tax. However, when compared to the US, the prices still seemed on the expensive side. Roberts quickly started converting liters to gallons and euros to dollars to calculate a universal index – the price of expensive scotch and medium-range vodka. His conclusion was similar to mine, the prices were lower than in France, but not low enough to justify gas money to make a run. (Speaking of gas money, gas was significantly cheap for Europe, but the gas station we stopped at was bizarre. There were about twenty lanes curving in and out of a giant warehouse with pumps. Although there were attendants, Roberts had to get out of the car while the tank was getting filled, and they accepted only cash.)

The next morning we saw the Barri Antic (historic quarter) which was all there was of Andorra la Vella until after World War II. The architecture was beautiful, wood and stone interwoven for a dramatic final effect. This theme often carried over into the modern construction, and combined with large windows the housing looked airy, light and comfortable.

We spent quite some time at the rooftop Plaça del Poble, a gathering place with cafes, basketball courts, children’s playgrounds and plenty of views of the valley. Shortly before leaving we finally found Parc Central, which would probably have been our primary destination if we had known about it earlier. Tourist money at work, the beautiful park had dozens of jungle gyms, swing sets, slides and other playground equipment, along with little ponds, ducks, and everything else a two-year old could wish for (except the “choo-choo” we have in our Clermont-Ferrand park).

Although we did take a look in several stores, most of our shopping was done at the grocery store. We found food to also be priced lower than in France, especially fruit, chocolate and sweets, my three favorite food groups. We must have eaten a few kilos of the strawberries from Spain over the course of our trip; I believe the most fragrant and full of taste berries never make it to the shelves in our supermarket. In Clermont-Ferrand the French strawberries are known for their flavor, but the luscious giants we had on our trip could provide decent competition to the home-grown variety. Before heading on south to Barcelona, we stocked up on chocolate as I found coffee flavored bars and regular M&Ms which are scarce at home.

Verdict? Although I am happy to cross Andorra off my world travel list, I didn’t care much for the shopping opportunities. We decided that our next visit would be for Roberts to go skiing while I enjoy the lagoons, hot tubs and thermal spring saunas at Europe’s largest spa complex, La Caldea.

The brochure - "forget about everything!"

A few more facts about Andorra... The population in 2010 was 84,864. Citizens do not pay any direct taxes or engage in military service. Postal services are free, and most land is communally owned. The traditional livelihood was from stock rearing and crop cultivation until the first roads linking Andorra with the outside world were opened, in 1913 on the Spanish side and in 1931 on the French side.

Nuts in Norway part deux

After a hearty breakfast at the hotel on Friday morning we packed sandwiches for the road. Three complimentary meals is a deal that can’t be beat. Another bonus of staying at this hotel was the tower. The front desk encourages people to get a key to a mini-museum and spiral staircase that leads to the top of the main tower of the old building, from which we had a full view of Bergen and vicinity since the hotel was right on the fjord in the Bryggen area.

Should have taken the boat back to France

The Norwegian name for wharf, Bryggen is a series of Hanseatic commercial buildings lining the eastern side of the fjord. The wooden buildings are the only remaining group of their kind; they are of the famous kontorer architecture built all over Europe by the Hanseatic League. The city of Bergen was founded in 1070, and the area of the present Bryggen constitutes the oldest part of the city.

The wooden kontorer buildings

We crossed the street to the waterfront fish market at Torget to sample their fares, and in the end were convinced to buy some river salmon to take back home. There was salmon marinated with garlic, smoked salmon, ocean salmon and river salmon, and the choice which to purchase was hard, as all the samples were delicious. But our wanderings had to end, as a glance at the clock showed we were cutting it close to catching our train back to Oslo.

Free samples pay off for the fishmongers

The train ride back was as fascinating as the trip west; although we were seeing the scenery for the second time, it gave us the opportunity to notice details we had missed, and catch up on some sleep. This train also had a different set-up, there was a family car with a playground for children, as well as a bigger café car which provided more room for exploration by Lauris. We were happy to be back in Oslo, and even happier to see our waiting hosts. They had prepared a delicious dinner and we enjoyed their company late into the night.

Saturday morning brought another wonderful meal; Brigita had prepared pancakes. This may have been the reason we got a little bit of a late start up to Frognerseteren, a 19^th-century eatery perched on a mountain-side overlooking the city. The building is in Viking style architecture with the “dragon-style ornamentation.” We sampled the famous apple cake, and took a table out on the patio with a view over Oslo. The sun was warm on our shoulders, and it was reluctantly that we left for our hike down the mountain to Holmenkollen.

A sunny 29 degrees C in Oslo

There has been a ski jump on the hill overlooking Oslofjord since 1892, but this particular one is famous from the Olympics. Modernised several times, it continues to be used for international competitions and from the top there is a 360 degree view of Oslo and the surrounding countryside. Although beautiful, there was a long wait for the elevator up and back down, and in retrospect we might have been satisfied with watching a skier practice on another jump on our hike down; when there is no snow, the jump is covered in turf, and with sprinklers they are able to simulate winter conditions. Snow or no snow, after seeing the size of the jump as well as how steep it is, even in the landing area, I believe ski jumpers have to have to at least be a little nuts.

France has rugby, Norway has ski-jumping

Returning to the city, we stocked up on supplies for our evening’s barbecue in Vigelandsparken. One of the most visited sights in Oslo, the park was designed by Gustav Vigeland, a sculptor who worked on it for almost forty years but died one year before its completion. It contains 227 granite and bronze sculptures… of life-sized naked human forms. From the famous screaming pot-bellied baby to entwined lovers to the giant monolith of writhing bodies, it was really… something. The sunny grassy areas were filled with families barbecuing, playing soccer and rugby and enjoying the wonderful summer weather. We had a delicious dinner, sitting outside on blankets in the evening light. Back at home it was the Norway-Portugal soccer match and another evening of great conversation and company. 

Lauris admiring the Vigeland sculptures

Sunday morning we were fed another wonderful meal before being escorted to the train station to catch the train that would take us out to the airport. Although the trip home was difficult (see the post on CDG and ORLY airports), I look back at our trip with satisfaction:  happy with what we were able to accomplish, and with a better idea of what I would like to visit and see in the future.