Programa dedicado a las repúblicas bálticas, Lituania, Letonia y Estonia. Son tres pequeños países que turísticamente tienen un enorme potencial. Sus tres capitales, Vilnius, Riga y Tallin, poseen cascos históricos declarados patrimonio de la humanidad por la Unesco. A lo largo del recorrido se observa como la historia ha dejado huella en la fisionomía de sus ciudades. En estos países la naturaleza ocupa un espacio importante, la acción del hombre apenas la ha modificado. Su reciente entrada en la Unión Europea es un testimonio de su voluntad de modernidad.
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00:00Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are known as the Baltic Republics.
00:13Although they are independent and sovereign countries,
00:16this denomination suggests that they have shared a good part of their future.
00:21However, beyond the obvious similarities,
00:24there are notable differences,
00:26whose discovery constitutes one of the incentives to travel to this area of North-Eastern Europe.
00:35The three republics have inaugurated together a new and promising chapter in their history
00:40by joining the European Union,
00:42something that the visitor will perceive in the environment
00:45when meeting with entrepreneurial and receptive people.
00:50As little-known countries, they have a lot to offer and unveil,
00:54and given the enormous potential of their tourist attractions,
00:57they are undoubtedly becoming the destination of fashion.
01:19Vilnius, Lithuania
01:31The old town of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania,
01:34has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
01:38Walking through its streets, almost always with a slight slope,
01:42we come across a lush and elegant town that has been able to preserve the best of its heritage.
01:52Among the endless greenery of the forests that surround it,
01:55the Neres and Vilnius rivers flow,
01:58and from the latter the name of the city arises.
02:04Its topography, characterized by soft hills,
02:07adds to the pleasure that arises from the contemplation of its buildings
02:10and the great diversity of unusual angles.
02:14Vilnius was founded in 1323,
02:17the year in which the Grand Duke Gediminas
02:19pioneered the project of creating a city that attracted merchants and artisans.
02:23The legend, however, echoes the prosaic.
02:26According to her, the Grand Duke dreamed while resting from a day of hunting
02:30with a huge iron wolf howling as if it were a hundred.
02:33An ancient diviner interpreted the dream.
02:36There Gediminas would found a city
02:38that would be invincible like the wolf and famous all over the world.
02:42Gediminas already had his legend.
02:44He would also enter history by rejecting the Teutonic invasions.
02:48Of that prowess, Rafael Castillo, one of the symbols of the city.
02:55The history of Vilnius is the history of Lithuania,
02:58a history that shares many destinations with the other two republics.
03:02Vilnius has been occupied repeatedly by neighboring countries.
03:06It was razed by Napoleon's armies
03:08and has suffered enormous suffering such as the extermination
03:11of almost all of the Jewish population during the Nazi occupation
03:15or the massive deportations under the Soviet regime.
03:18However, the Vilnius of the 21st century
03:21rescues the best of a secular tradition.
03:24It has often been said that the capital of Lithuania
03:27resembles a palimpsest, an ancient manuscript
03:30under whose text traces of one or more previous writings are noticeable.
03:34The crystal of cultures and creeds
03:36makes it necessarily a tolerant, open and multilingual city.
03:48When walking through Vilnius,
03:50it is striking to come across innumerable churches
03:53of different confessions and architectural styles.
03:56In the words of a bishop of Vilnius,
03:58his churches speak to us of eternity, far from intimidating,
04:02but, at the same time, they stimulate faith.
04:13By hierarchical order,
04:15it is convenient to stop in the cathedral that dominates the imposing square,
04:19an authentic historical center and a place very frequented by the locals.
04:23On the same ground, a temple dedicated to Perkunas,
04:27the god of thunder of the ancient pagan mythology,
04:30Catholicism is, in Lithuania, the majority religious cult,
04:34the main difference between Lithuania and Estonia.
04:44In the other two republics,
04:46we would not find a church like the one of St. Peter and St. Paul,
04:50one of the most spectacular examples of the Lithuanian Baroque,
04:53a late Baroque and, therefore, more perfected.
04:58More than 2,000 sculptures live inside one of the best preserved churches.
05:05The white of the stucco reflects the length and breadth of its three ships.
05:13The most genuine and popular manifestation of Catholic faith
05:16can be observed in broad daylight under the arch
05:19that forms one of the most charismatic places in Vilnius,
05:22the Door of Aurora,
05:24a door that is still preserved from the old wall.
05:28Above the arch is the Virgin of the Aurora,
05:31another of the symbols of Vilnius.
05:33Through some adjacent stairs you can access the small chapel.
05:37There, a painting from the early 17th century
05:40represents the Merciful Mother of the Door of Aurora,
05:44to which miraculous powers are attributed.
05:50The image is usually visited by pilgrims,
05:53who, in many cases, come from remote origins.
06:00Going down the slope that is in front of the Door of Aurora,
06:03we go through Pilies Street,
06:05which means the Street of the Castle,
06:07the oldest and best-equipped street in the city.
06:10It is crowded with terraces, shops and markets.
06:14The Renaissance concept of joy and splendor
06:17that the city had in the past
06:19is reflected in this section.
06:23One of its facades belongs to the House of the Signatories,
06:26where, on February 16, 1918,
06:29the Act of Independence of Lithuania was signed.
06:32The sovereignty achieved then
06:34was dramatically interrupted
06:36by the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.
06:44The traditional architecture of Lithuanian houses,
06:47present on Pilies Street,
06:49reserves for its generous residents interior courtyards.
06:52Some have been rehabilitated and turned into pleasant hotels.
06:55Others give us some kind of surprise.
07:00In the middle of the old town
07:02the University of Vilnius appears,
07:04one of the oldest in Europe,
07:06founded by the Jesuits in 1579.
07:11The main courtyard is the most appreciated
07:14for its conjunction of styles and its historical importance.
07:17In it are the Magna Aula and the Church of St. John.
07:22The Observatory Courtyard pays homage to astronomy,
07:25one of the teaching specialties
07:27that gave the University its reputation.
07:34The Smuglewicz Hall,
07:35named after the Polish painter
07:37who founded the School of Fine Arts of the University
07:40and the author of its decoration,
07:42is now the imposing Public Library.
07:45Among the treasures it preserves
07:47is the first book in Lithuanian,
07:49the Catechism,
07:50compiled by Martynas Matvidas,
07:52who saw the light in 1547.
07:56We thought that precisely the University
07:58would be the ideal place for an expert,
08:00the professor of Philology,
08:02Bonifacius Stuntzia,
08:03to tell us about the vernacular language,
08:05a language that has preserved,
08:07with hardly any changes,
08:08its old sound system.
08:11Lithuanian belongs to the Baltic group
08:13of the Indo-European languages
08:14and is related to Sanskrit.
08:16It is the most archaic language in Europe
08:18of those that are still alive.
08:20It was at risk of disappearing
08:22in the times of the occupation
08:24of the Russian Empire first
08:25and of the Soviet Union later,
08:27as it was forbidden to speak it
08:29and use it in public.
08:39Pilies Street gives a lot of itself.
08:41Just look at another of its courtyards
08:43and listen to a well-known ballad
08:45that invokes the sun as a source of life.
09:03The father of the young bucolic
09:05runs a craft workshop
09:07where wood is worked,
09:09a tradition closely linked to these lands.
09:11One of his most interesting creations
09:13consists of reproducing
09:15ancient musical instruments.
09:41Jonas Bugailiskis also wants to preserve
09:43another tradition that is very present
09:45in Lithuania,
09:47the sculptures of the Worried Christ.
10:07I have been doing this work for 35 years.
10:09My ancestors also worked in wood.
10:11I make ancient musical instruments
10:13faithfully reproduced
10:15from those found in museums.
10:17I also dedicate myself
10:19to the Worried Christ,
10:21a very old tradition.
10:23They have the shape of a totem,
10:25so they constitute a synthesis
10:27of paganism and later Christianity.
10:31The figures of the Worried Christ
10:33guard the memorial of the deceased
10:35in defense of the desired independence.
10:37The parliament declared it
10:39on March 11, 1990.
10:41The Soviet Union did not accept it
10:43and a few months later
10:45its troops took the television tower.
10:47They killed 13 people
10:49who resisted peacefully,
10:51which accelerated the end
10:53of Soviet domination
10:55and international recognition.
10:59Since 1992,
11:01the constitution approved by referendum
11:03governs the destinies of Lithuania.
11:07If you ask a Lithuanian
11:09who is the most relevant character
11:11in the country,
11:13it is very likely
11:15that he does not mention
11:17a politician, writer or military.
11:19And if he mentions Arvidas Savonis,
11:21the famous pivot of Zalgiris Kaunas.
11:25And it is that basketball
11:27is the number one sport in Lithuania,
11:29as we checked at the school
11:31that bears the name of another great player,
11:33Sarunas Marciulionis.
11:37In Vilnius
11:39there are still some memories
11:41of the Soviet past,
11:43such as the statues of the Green Bridge.
11:45Pure socialist realism.
11:49But not all that legacy
11:51has been negative.
11:53The city has enjoyed for decades
11:55an effective trolleybus transportation system
11:57which, conveniently updated,
11:59is largely responsible
12:01for the quality of the air that is breathed.
12:07Utsupis, one of the oldest districts
12:09located on the right bank of the Vilnius River,
12:11went from the most absolute abandonment
12:13of the previous stage
12:15to being at the heart
12:17of bohemian life.
12:19The young artists
12:21who frequent it
12:23came to symbolically proclaim it
12:25as a republic,
12:27with its president,
12:29the filmmaker Romas Lileikis,
12:31and its statutes,
12:33humanism and freedom of spirit.
12:35The statue of the angel
12:37of Utsupis
12:39was erected in 2002
12:41as a landmark
12:43of the small Montmartre
12:45of Lithuania.
12:47Entering through the soft hill
12:49that forms the neighborhood,
12:51you reach a viewpoint
12:53from where you can contemplate
12:55the eastern profile of Vilnius.
12:57From the western profile
12:59the voluminous building
13:01of the Reval Hotel stands out,
13:03present in the three Baltic capitals.
13:05It represents an example
13:07of how the typical mole
13:09of communist architecture
13:11has been reconverted
13:13into a modern and functional building.
13:15Undoubtedly, the enhancement
13:17of tourist resources,
13:19such as the conversion
13:21of old buildings
13:23into elegant hotels,
13:25is an unmistakable sign
13:27of the new times.
13:29The contrast between modernity
13:31and modernity
13:33is that in July
13:35the Lithuanian National Festival
13:37is celebrated.
13:39Music and folk dances
13:41flood the esplanade
13:43of the cathedral.
13:45The transnochador traveler
13:47may need a change of air
13:49and decides to mix
13:51with the modern hordes.
13:53And although he knows
13:55that all the discotheques
13:57in the world are the same,
13:59he immerses himself
14:01in the night of Vilnius
14:03in search of native notes.
14:15Twenty-eight kilometres
14:17to the west of the capital
14:19we arrive at a place
14:21of great beauty,
14:23ideal for recovering
14:25from possible excesses.
14:27Trarkai was the old capital
14:29of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
14:31during the Middle Ages.
14:33The castle was built
14:35in the 14th century
14:37on a tiny island
14:39in the middle of Lake Galve.
14:41But the most interesting
14:43The wooden houses
14:45and vivid colours of the Karaites
14:47have a peculiarity.
14:49The entrance door
14:51is located at the back.
14:53On the wall of the street
14:55there are three windows,
14:57one for God,
14:59another for the Grand Duke
15:01and the third for the relatives.
15:03In 1397,
15:05380 families of Karaites
15:07came to Trarkai
15:09from Crimea to protect
15:1114 families descended
15:13from those warriors
15:15ethnically related
15:17to Turkish tribes.
15:19The Kenesa is their place of worship.
15:23Karaism literally interprets
15:25the Old Testament,
15:27being a heretical trend
15:29for Judaism.
15:31However, the Karaites of Trarkai,
15:33due to their Turkish origin,
15:35also received influences
15:37from Islam.
15:42A few kilometres
15:44from Siauliai,
15:46and on a modest elevation
15:48of the terrain,
15:50more than 50,000 crosses
15:52make up an overwhelming landscape.
15:54They bear witness
15:56to the past of the Catholic faith
15:58as a means of agglutination
16:00and manifestation of repudiation
16:02against the invader.
16:04The famous hill of the crosses
16:06arose in honour of those killed
16:08in the 1831 rebellion
16:10Later, during the Soviet occupation,
16:12the crosses were removed several times,
16:14but every night
16:16the Lithuanians came to put them back.
16:20Today, there are crosses
16:22of all sizes
16:24and the most unusual materials.
16:40A botanical park
16:42with up to 200 species
16:44of trees
16:46is the home
16:48of Palanga,
16:50the most popular
16:52summer village in Lithuania.
16:54The neo-Baroque palace
16:56of Count Tieszkiewicz
16:58and its adjoining gardens
17:00offer the best funds
17:02to immortalise
17:04the beginning of a new life.
17:06The palace,
17:08which houses up to 5,000 pieces
17:10of fossilised remains,
17:12was already famous
17:14in the ancient world
17:16for its ornamental use.
17:30The holiday centres
17:32on the Baltic coast
17:34offer relaxation and contact
17:36with nature.
17:38In fact, the swamps,
17:40the sea breeze
17:42and the fresh air
17:44of the coniferous forests
17:46appear as the main appeal.
17:54We move to the peninsula
17:56of Neringa,
17:58taking a ferry
18:00to Klaipeda.
18:02The long arm of land
18:04is one of the most peaceful
18:06in the country.
18:08The first stop
18:10offers us the opportunity
18:12to contemplate a reserve
18:14of cormorants.
18:16They inhabit bare trees
18:18because the acidity
18:20of their excrements
18:22kills the bark.
18:24Nida, the final destination
18:26of the excursion,
18:28appears before our eyes
18:30as one of those
18:32beautiful and sober colours.
18:40One of the definitive proofs
18:42that stress leaves
18:44the doors of Nida
18:46is found on a hill
18:48on the outskirts,
18:50the summer residence
18:52of Thomas Mann,
18:54now a small museum
18:56in memory of his former owner.
18:58The author of The Magic Mountain
19:00has begun to write
19:02in these beautiful places.
19:06It is striking to see
19:08imposing dunes around Nida,
19:10extensive areas of sand
19:12pushed by the wind
19:14that appeared three centuries ago.
19:16From the air
19:18we can see the peninsula of Neringa,
19:20a sword of land
19:22from Kaliningrad,
19:24the territory of Russia
19:26that has been enclosed
19:28There are very few places
19:30in Europe, as in the Baltic Republics,
19:32with hundreds of kilometres
19:34of intact beaches
19:36and free of masses and buildings.
19:40We also observe
19:42that there are no mountains
19:44in this part of Europe.
19:46The highest surfaces
19:48barely reach 300 metres
19:50above sea level.
19:58From the bell tower
20:00of the Trinity Church,
20:02built by a German congregation
20:04in the 18th century,
20:06we can see the city of Liepaja,
20:08which houses the second
20:10most important port in Latvia.
20:14Inside the church
20:16we can see
20:18the remains
20:20of a church
20:22that was built
20:24in the 17th century
20:26Inside the church
20:28it is evident that we have left
20:30Catholicism behind.
20:32The stage to the right of the altar
20:34is a feature of Lutheranism.
20:36There the nobles listened to mass
20:38that did not mix with the vulgar.
20:40They believed they were
20:42a little closer to God.
20:44In this endearing
20:46and not ostentatious church
20:48there is one of the country's
20:50greatest pride,
20:52the largest unreconstructed organ
20:54in Latvia.
21:24The organist who takes care of it
21:26and manages it,
21:28Lothar Gjerings,
21:30explains the characteristics
21:32of the organ.
21:34Since 1885
21:36this is the largest organ
21:38in the world
21:40that has not been reconstructed.
21:42It took 130 years
21:44to do it
21:46and it has about 7,000 pieces.
21:48It is the largest organ
21:50in the world
21:52that has not been reconstructed.
21:54It took 130 years
21:56to do it
21:58and it has about 7,000 pieces.
22:00It is the largest organ
22:02in the world
22:04that has not been reconstructed.
22:06It is the largest organ
22:08in the world
22:10that has not been reconstructed.
22:12It is the largest organ
22:14in the world
22:16that has not been reconstructed.
22:22Johann Sebastian Bach himself
22:24recommended that the organs
22:26had this type of performance.
22:28had this type of performance.
22:30had this type of performance.
22:32The organ does not have
22:34the specific sound
22:36of the Spanish trumpet,
22:38but the sound
22:40of the trumpet in general.
22:52One of the great historical attractions
22:54One of the great historical attractions
22:56of Liepaja is embodied
22:58by the Carahosta Naval Base,
23:00a city within another city
23:02that was the chosen base
23:04of the Russian Navy
23:06in the times of Tsar
23:08and the Warsaw Pact.
23:10The bunkers still remember
23:12the Cold War
23:14and the natives,
23:16a dark period,
23:18a prohibited area
23:20of the Soviet Union.
23:34A part of the Russian population
23:36who lived at the base
23:38left after the collapse
23:40of the Soviet Union.
23:42Others stayed.
23:46In Latvia, about 30%
23:48of the population is of Russian origin.
23:58The Carahosta prison
24:00has been in operation for about 100 years
24:02and has a long and sinister
24:04history of troubles
24:06committed by the Nazis and the KGB.
24:08An unusual idea
24:10has made the prison
24:12into a real stage
24:14of a theatrical montage
24:16for the prisoners.
24:22The play is called
24:24Behind the Bars
24:26and the actors alternate
24:28their performance
24:30with explanations
24:32of the repressive
24:34and depurative methods
24:36used in that same place.
24:38Our hosts told us
24:40two curious facts.
24:42Liepaja is the cradle
24:44of the Soviet Union.
24:46In a more relaxed environment,
24:48in a well-known cafe
24:50of the night of Liepaja,
24:52we hear the bandada of the city,
24:54a local anthem
24:56dedicated to the city of the wind.
25:14On the way to Riga,
25:16we stop in Kuldiga,
25:18a town in the interior
25:20that illustrates
25:22the great resources
25:24provided by the Soviet Union
25:26to the people of Kuldiga.
25:38On the way to Riga,
25:40we stop in Kuldiga,
25:42a town in the interior
25:44that illustrates the great resources
25:46that Latvia and the rest of the Baltics
25:48have in the tourism of nature.
25:50The pride of Kuldiga
25:52are the Ventas Rumba waterfalls,
25:54the widest in Europe
25:56with 110 meters.
26:00Latvia is one of the few
26:02countries in the world
26:04where natural ecosystems,
26:06mostly not affected
26:08by man's action,
26:10have their territory.
26:16Kuldiga has barely undergone
26:18transformations in the last 150 years.
26:24We arrive in Riga,
26:26the most populated city
26:28of the Baltic Republics
26:30on the banks of the Daugava River.
26:32The capital of Latvia
26:34has always been a traditional bridge
26:36between Western Europe and Russia.
26:38The city of Kuldiga,
26:40mentioned in the chronicles of antiquity,
26:42crossed Latvia from Scandinavia
26:44and, following the course of the river,
26:46reached Russia and the Byzantine Empire.
26:50The sculpture of the city's
26:52800th anniversary reminds us
26:54that it was founded in 1201
26:56by German gentlemen
26:58and 81 years later
27:00entered the Hanseatic League,
27:02the commercial association
27:04of the cities of northern Germany.
27:06The Monument to Liberty
27:08is the symbol of national independence
27:10and a well-known place,
27:12even to be mentioned.
27:14It was built in 1931
27:16with popular donations
27:18to honor those who founded the nation
27:20and fought for it.
27:22It was precisely from the First Independence
27:24and the Treaty of Paz
27:26during the 1920s and 1930s
27:28when Riga experienced
27:30unprecedented prosperity.
27:32Then it was known as
27:34the city of Paris.
27:40Richard Warner
27:42is one of the illustrious characters
27:44linked to Riga.
27:46He directed the German theater
27:48between 1837 and 1839.
27:50At that time he composed
27:52the opera Rienzi,
27:54the last of the tribunes.
27:56Years later he returned to the Baltic capital
27:58and in the auditorium
28:00that bears his name
28:02he was the first
28:04to be watched by an orchestra director
28:06and not by the public.
28:26Today
28:28Richard Warner's auditorium
28:30is still one of the highlights
28:32of the musical life of Riga.
28:38The pleasant route
28:40through the old town of Riga,
28:42also declared a World Heritage Site,
28:44allows you to admire
28:46a splendid model of German medieval architecture
28:48in the Gothic Cathedral.
28:52The Church of San Pedro
28:54ends in one of the needles
28:56that make up the characteristic horizon of Riga.
28:58In the tower
29:00there is a winding viewpoint
29:02from which you can see buildings
29:04such as the popularly known
29:06Stalin's cake,
29:08a gift from the dictator to the city.
29:10In the old square
29:12and behind the statue
29:14of the mythical hero Rolando
29:16is the emblematic building
29:18of the Black Heads.
29:20The Brotherhood acquired the building
29:22in the 17th century to shelter
29:24the single merchants
29:26of the city.
29:30San Mauricio, one of its patrons,
29:32was represented by the head
29:34of a colored man,
29:36hence the name of the Brotherhood.
29:42The intense musical route
29:44offered by the Baltic Republic
29:46is enriched with an indigenous sound
29:48that comes from the Swedish Gate,
29:50built at the end of the 18th century
29:52to commemorate the entry
29:54of the Black Heads.
30:10From one of the oldest houses
30:12in Riga,
30:14the one of the Three Sisters,
30:16a magnificent example of medieval architecture,
30:18you can hear the street songs
30:20that come from the neighboring
30:22Gremio Menor,
30:24place of residence of the folk groups
30:26that every summer gather in Riga.
30:44The ethnographer Christians Barons
30:46collected at the beginning of the 20th century
30:48more than 200,000 dainas.
30:50The dainas are short popular songs
30:52of simple themes,
30:54nature, family,
30:56everyday life.
30:58Also our documentation said
31:00that all Latins know
31:02some dainas by heart,
31:04because they have been transmitted
31:06orally from generation to generation,
31:08so we decided to check
31:10if this was true.
31:20...
31:22...
31:24...
31:26...
31:28...
31:30...
31:32...
31:34...
31:36...
31:38...
31:40...
32:00...
32:02...
32:04...
32:06...
32:08The tradition can also be traced to Latvian painting, which, as can be seen in the Riga Art Museum,
32:32primes naturalism, landscapes and figures.
32:36While Vilgens Purvitis worked on the landscape, Janis Rosenthals stood out in the customary painting and in portraits interpreted with profound emotion.
32:46Curiously, Rosenthals lived in the nearby street of Alberta. There, the Art Nouveau, called Jugendstil in Latvian, shines in all its splendor.
32:57Around 40% of the center of Riga is built in what, at the beginning of the 20th century, was called the New Style.
33:06About half of the facades of Alberta Street were designed by architect Mikhail Eisenstein, father of the historian-filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein.
33:17The symphony of caryatides, cenefas and figures are flashes of a happy era in which Riga shone with an intensity that, little by little, regains.
33:30In the golden ages of Riga, as it is now, beer ran. In many places, beer is made as it used to be, right there, which guarantees its freshness and quality, and this is corroborated by the master brewer.
33:44Like wine in Spain, beer is a tradition and an art in Latvia. There are about 25 plants that make it, and several of them are, as here, in the same restaurants.
33:55The manufacture of beer has its secrets. Right now, we just got a beer from a specific honey that we have in Latvia.
34:04Travelling 17 kilometres from Riga towards the sea, we arrive at Jurmala, the most attractive and romantic holiday centre in Latvia. In Latvian, it means coast of the sea.
34:17In its intact and inimitable wooden houses, the aristocracy of the First Republic and, later, the members of the nomenclature in times of the URSS.
34:27Its thermal station conditions associate holidays with health and regeneration.
34:39In Jurmala, we again perceive a feeling that accompanies us throughout the journey. The two and a half million Latvians represent a small density of population.
34:50The feeling of vastness, of space, of absence of crowds, even in the cities, together with the constant presence of nature, guarantee a state of relaxed mood.
35:05The creepiness, even the politics, is very rare in these latitudes.
35:20On the way back from Jurmala, we come across a sports centre. Taking a look and also feeling the cold, we find out that here, in Latvia, national sport is not football or basketball, it is hockey on ice.
35:35Vitaly Samonov, a coach of Russian origin and member of the team of the URSS that won the gold in Kalgary in 1988, confirms us that hockey is the sport that has given the most glory to Latvia.
35:55We are the founders of the hockey tradition in Europe since before the Second World War, and we have several generations of players internationally recognized. Football, however, also has a high level of acceptance in Latvia.
36:26It is worth moving 50 km from Riga to get to know a historic recreational area that has become fashionable due to the Russian aristocracy.
36:36Zigulda stands in the middle of the National Park of Gauja, surrounded by the river of the same name. It is known as the Switzerland of Latvia for the exuberance and beauty of its landscape and for the possibility of skiing in winter.
36:52The river has created outcrops of sandstone and caverns that are part of routes on foot or by bicycle.
37:01The cable car takes us to the esplanades of the park from which the medieval castle of Turaida stands out, then property of the archbishop of Riga.
37:11There would be no need to leave Latvia without having visited the palace of Rundale, the most prominent Baroque and Rococo monument in the country.
37:26Unbeatable scenery to listen to chamber music during the summer festivals.
37:41The castle of Turaida is located on the banks of the river Turaida.
37:48The castle is located on the banks of the river Turaida.
37:55The castle is located on the banks of the river Turaida.
38:01The castle is located on the banks of the river Turaida.
38:08The castle is located on the banks of the river Turaida.
38:15The castle is located on the banks of the river Turaida.
38:22The palace of Rundale was built from 1736 under the direction of the renowned architect of the Russian court, Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli, author of the Winter Palace of St. Petersburg, the main building of the Hermitage.
38:43In some of its 48 rooms, the beautiful and ancient ceramic stoves stand out.
38:52Rundale served as a summer residence for the Duke of Courland, Ernst Johann Biron.
39:12The Orthodox Church dedicated to the empress Catalina II in gratitude to her patronage is one of the buildings of Paernu that attracts the most.
39:24Paernu is the city of Valneario par excellence of Estonia, famous for its clay treatments.
39:31As a vacation destination, its streets exude a summer atmosphere.
39:35A description dating from 1936 of a citizen who spent a few days there described Paernu as the season of joviality.
39:44He said that the brightness of its sun, its beaches, its refreshing westerly winds, its charming paths, its thermal baths, its music and the sympathy of its people, will unleash any fear for the tomorrow of the faces of our perplexed generation, whatever their needs.
40:03The good weather makes us witnesses of a numerous pilgrimage to its beaches.
40:13If Lithuania had more affinity with neighboring Poland and Latvia with Germany, Estonia is ethnically and culturally linked to the limitless Finland.
40:24In fact, the Estonian language shares roots with Finnish and more remotely with Hungarian.
40:33Paernu port
40:45The port of Paernu offers a typical print. The timber industry is one of the most important in Estonia. 40% of the national territory is covered by forests.
41:02The Baltic Way, a highway that connects the Baltic capitals, leads us to the capital of Estonia.
41:12Tallinn can boast of having one of the most attractive and best preserved medieval complexes in Europe. The Danish king, Valdemar II, captured the city in 1219.
41:25During the more than 100 years that he was under Danish domination, Tallinn took its current name and was built on a promontory that led to an extensive bay, the high city of Tompea.
41:39Inside the walls of Tompea lived nobles, officials and clerics, the symbol of power.
41:46The exciting walk through the old city begins with the Russian cathedral of Alexander Nevsky.
41:52It is said that the place chosen for its location was out of tune with the environment and that what was really sought was to reaffirm the Russian power and counteract the strong pro-Germanic current that dominated the government of the time.
42:07Be that as it may, today it is a very visited temple, which makes the Orthodox cult known and which illustrates the religious freedom that Estonian democracy enshrines.
42:1928% of the population is of Russian origin, which, after entering the European Union, has forced the authorities to speed up their integration process, as is also the case in Latvia and Lithuania.
42:49A plaque commemorates the visit of the last Tsar Nicholas II and his family to the cathedral in 1912.
43:14On the other side of the lively square of Losi, the castle of Tompea houses the headquarters of the parliament and other government dependencies.
43:26From the square, a stimulating walk begins, which immediately leads to the Lutheran cathedral.
43:33Dedicated to the Blessed Virgin before the Reformation, a collection of more than 100 shields of noble families of German origin draws attention.
43:48Among the funerary works stands the tomb of Ferdinand von Thiessenhausen, a gentleman to whom some sources cite as a possible inspirer of Prince Andrei Volskonsky, one of the central characters of Tolstoy's novel War and Peace.
44:06The viewpoint, which crowns the highest part of Tompea, allows the observation of one of the icons of the city, the tower of the Church of San Olaf.
44:15Also at the foot of the old fortification, the labyrinthine system of ancestral streets, many of them still with their stonework.
44:23At the foot of the walled hill, merchants and artisans settled, in what is known as Ciudad Baja.
44:34For a long time, there were only two ways of access between the upper and lower cities. In this way, the entrance to Tompea was controlled.
44:53One of the accesses was known as the short leg, and it was made on foot through a steep staircase. The other, the long leg, was passed on horseback.
45:11On Calle Pic, or Calle Mayor, we find the old headquarters of the artisanal guilds. In Tallinn, the black-headed façade was also represented.
45:22Its Renaissance facade is unique in the city. The neighboring San Canuto guild grouped the artisans of nobler professions.
45:30Just in front, an Art Nouveau building, with a head that, as they say, looked eagerly at the girls who went to the dances of the San Canuto guild.
45:46The popular Latin neighborhood is made up of the passage of Catalina, where today's artisans work, ceramics, leather, silk and glass.
45:55There we met Andrei Lobano, who, along with other artisans, runs a workshop whose initiatives are to recover and update the millenary technique of stained glass.
46:05In our workshop, we make stained glass for both churches and homes. We try to recover a tradition that was very rich in Tallinn because it had many churches.
46:33But as a result of the Lutheran reform, this art was lost. Now we are returning to it and incorporating new techniques that also allow new styles to be created.
46:43All the streets of the Lower City lead to the town hall square, Tallinn's authentic neuralgic center.
46:51Today, its always lively terraces and its relaxed walkers make it one of those places where you can stop as long as necessary.
47:00The main building of the square is the town hall, which has hardly changed in the last 600 years, retaining that gothic, anseatic air.
47:11At the top, the old Tomás makes the times of Veleta, a endearing character who has acquired the rank of symbol of the city.
47:30Descending down the Viru street, the animation and the atmosphere of golden Baltic tones are distributed on its summer terraces.
47:44Foreigners and Estonians mix in this crowded city, which, like its travel companions, woke up from a long lethargy.
47:52The Viru street has a good number of shops and shops.
47:58Descending down the slope that takes us away from the old town, we find the permanent flea market and the wool market, a millenary tradition that invites you to take a useful souvenir.
48:10Like the other Baltic capitals, Tallinn, lending the best scenery of the medieval city, becomes in summer a hotbed of activities where music occupies a prominent place.
49:11Out of the historical center, Tallinn spread from urbanistic designs of the early 20th century, wide avenues and many green areas, a very Baltic concept of the use of space.
49:25The National Theater and the Russian Dramatic Theater have capitalized on Tallinn's cultural life from the past, offering representations in Estonian and Russian.
49:37On the outskirts of Tallinn, an impressive enclosure, the Estadio del Canto, is a witness to massive folkloric concentrations every four years.
49:48In one of them, in the summer of 1988, the congregants sang spontaneously asking for independence.
49:57The Cadriog Park, located in the Catalin Valley, is a beautiful place where the capitalins usually go to spend the day.
50:06Next to the swan pond is erected the statue of Friedrich Reinhold Grusswald, the first Estonian writer who defined in his epic poem, The Son of Kaled, the national conscience that would lead to the first independence.
50:23The Cadriog Park, as well as the palace it houses, was built by order of Tsar Peter I.
50:29Inside the palace, there is an interesting collection of foreign art, among which stands out a sample of Flemish painting with paintings by Bregel the Younger and an anonymous painting by an imitator of Bosch.
50:42In the upper rooms, there are samples of the Russian academic realism of the second half of the 19th century and a beautiful view of Tallinn, a World Heritage Site.
51:02The long maritime promenade on the outskirts of Tallinn is full of skaters, cyclists and walkers at the slow sunset.
51:21The hours of light that occupy reserved spaces at night allow time to stretch. At this point in the journey, a recurring observation begins to take shape, to become a conclusion.
51:34We have barely seen obese people in the Baltic Republics. The love for sport, the exercise that has always prevailed in these countries, perhaps could explain those tall and stylized figures that seem to be inspiring of the current beauty canons.
51:51The Malecón offers us a sunset over the Baltic Sea, while we see the ferry that connects Tallinn with Helsinki in less than two hours.
52:06Crossing the Lajema National Park, a protected area of great environmental value and extreme beauty, we reach the coastal and fishing village of Kaesmu, also known as the village of the captains.
52:25The reason for the nickname is explained by the number of captains of the ship that has given the place. Kaesmu was also known in ports around the world for the sailboats that were built here.
52:38The tranquility and beauty of the coastal village invite absolute rest. This appreciation seems to be endorsed by the initiative of the Union of Writers of Estonia, which facilitates houses in Kaesmu to writers or translators who need idyllic environments to work.
53:01The Lajema National Park is a refuge for travelers who seek to experience a land where nature and tradition have coexisted in harmony since immemorial times. In its domains, houses from the 17th and 18th centuries are preserved, whose owners, mostly nobles of German origin, enjoyed them in summer.
53:31The estates of Sagadi and Valnse have been preserved from corrosion and oblivion. The first lends its facilities to a summer school and the second is a museum house where we find something unexpected, a music box built in St. Petersburg in the 19th century.
54:01The improvised musical immersion that we experience when crossing Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia comes to an end. The Baltic melodies will remain in the traveler's memory to suggest him to return as soon as possible.
54:31www.ukuleleroadtrips.com