3rd Mobility: Latvia 13th - 19th October

Summary LTTA 2 Cultural Heritage – mobility in Latvia

Monday 14 October 2019:

 

After a day with a lot of travelling and a good night sleep we arrived at school in Latvia. The pupils got together and started with “breaking the ice” activities. One of these was a bingo during which pupils had to find as many people possible with certain characterisics. It was fun to get to know eachother better. Next was a tour around the school. Children of all ages are present and create a nice atmosphere.

In the afternoon we visited the Laci bakery and we made our own bread using a very traditional recipe. The taste was really good.

 

 

Tuesday 15 October:

 

This morning the pupils attended some classes at school, followed by Kahoot quiz about Latvian culture. After a short break they attended a Latvian class. All five nationalities participated bravely during this class and learned some new Latvian vocabulary and pronounciation.

The school offered another nice lunch and the next visit was to the chocolate museum in Riga. The pupils got a guided tour and finally created their own chocolats. They all left the museum with a smile on their faces.

 

 

Wednesday 16 October:

 

Early in the morning we left by coach for the city called Venspils. After a 3 hour trip we arrived and went to the planatorium and observatorium and saw some nice movie there in a round and hollow cinema. During our walk back through Venspils we took some nice pictures of cows. Artists left many objects in Ventspils several years ago and the topic was cows.

After a quick lunch we visited the Ventspils Livonian order castle. A tour guide gave information about the history and purpose of the castle and more pictures were shot there.

The last location we visited was the seaside open air museum. It showed how life was in the old days in Latvia. The coach brought all pupils back to school where we arrived at 20.00 after a long and beautiful day in Latvia.

 

 

Thursday 17 October:

 

This morning we gatherered in the old town centre of Riga and we had a guided tour. Lots of information about the history of Riga was shared with the pupils. Many important locations and monuments were vistited like the ‘house of the blackheads’ and the “monument of Freedom’. Lots of buildings were nicely rebuilt and looked in very good condition. The guide was really funny and told us many anecdotes.

After lunch and some free time we went to one of the most modern buildigs in Riga: the library. This building was finishes just a few years ago and it was beautiful from the in and outside. We got a guided tour in the library which was done by our kind Latvian teachers. After this visit all pupils went home to their host families, although soem went for some ice skating.

 

Friday 18 October:

 

Today we left early to visit the Turaida Castle in Sigulda. It was a medieval castle in a very green

and natural environment. The pupils got a workshop in custom behaviour during the middle ages and they had to present themselves to a nobleman and pay taxes. During the workshop they also learnt how to properly write their names in a traditional way. Grammar errors were allowed!!! Since back in those days the message was more important then the spelling.

The pupils also got some free time and after the castle visit we went to see the Gutman’s cave. This natural cave has a legend about a young man and young woman. The legend doesn’t end well for the man and woman, but love and honour are above all is what this legens told us.

 

Saturday 19 October:

Time to say goodbye. We left the airport early in the morning and we would like to say thank you to all pupils, host parents and teachers who made this week a great week for all involved.

Presentation about Latvia mobility and origins of Latvian language are attached below.