Necessity is the mother of efficiency. Or is that desperation is...? Trying to encompass more than should be possible is a Latvian trait—the Latvian expression, literally translated, is trying to swallow too much soup at once!

Only once did we actually manage to combine two outings into one. On the way to Kuldiga (visiting the local authorities about property stuff), our hardy crew: Peters, Silvija, Silvija's sister Inara, and family friend Janis dropped in to visit Dagni—Silvija's mom's Anda's girlhood friend, from their grammar school days in Liepaja. As usual, food and drink awaited. Dagni was so happy to see us she forgot to give us jars of her (really really wonderful we must confess) jam! Nothing is as sacred to a Latvian as jam—well maybe the white birch, but you can't eat that!—and so, Dagni later made the trek all the way in to Riga to deliver two jars to Silvija's dad (who stayed along with Inara for another week after Peters and Silvija returned home).

By the time Peters and Janis made their rounds in Kuldiga, it was getting late. We all stopped off for dinner at an excellent (and cheap!) upstairs restaurant on the main street in town, then drove around to the other side of the river where Peters' dad's family used to live. The Rumbas, the falls, really are picturesque. Hmm.. perhaps a little retirement bungalow some day... (heavily insulated, of course!).