August 10th to 12th: Last days in Riga

After I returned to Riga, there were two Latvia O-Week competitions remaining. On August 10, I went to Mazie Kangari to participate in the middle distance race. On August 12, I went to Turaida near Sigulda to participate in the long distance race.

On August 10th, I returned to Riga after the competition and took the Ollex Express to the Hill of Crosses. The crosses originated from the Tsarist period. In order to commemorate the dead whose body couldn’t be found, the Lithuanians inserted crosses on the hill. It became a symbol of resistance to the bandit puppet government during the occupation period after the Second World War. The communist bandit considered the hill as forbidden land and tried to eradicate it. It has repeatedly set fire to the hill, but the Lithuanian people have been constantly re-inserting new ones. At one time, it even wanted to build a dam nearby, so that the Hill of Crosses would be buried, but in the end it did not happen. After Lithuania regained its freedom, the hill became a symbol of peace, and the people were free to put crosses. It is estimated that more than 100,000 crosses are on the mountain.

On August 11th, I didn’t have a competition, so I went to the Occupation Museum and the KGB Museum.

Article 58 of the Criminal Law of the Russian Soviet Socialist Republic “Counter-revolutionary crimes” was used as a legal basis for arbitrary suppression and massacres of the people for the purpose of population cleansing. For example, a political joke could be seen as “Anti-Soviet and counter-revolutionary propaganda and agitation”. Once reported, it will be imprisoned for years.

The museum also displays a large number of celebrities who was jailed, including the leader of the Latvian Scouts. A considerable number of them were eventually executed, and some of those who were not executed were released after the death of Stalin.

I went to the beach of Vecāḳi. The heat wave had already passed. It was raining earlier that day. The air temperature was only 16 °C, but the water temperature was still 21 °C.

After the competition on August 12th, I went to the beach of Jūrmala. The wind was very strong on the day, the current was very fast, and a red flag was hung on the beach.

I took a commuter train from Riga to Jūrmala. This route uses electrified trains. Majori Railway Station is the central station of the town. It has only two platforms, and the bus station is directly next to the platform without any obstruction. The train station is built on the edge of the lake, and crossing the rail is needed to reach the platform to the direction of Riga. Its ticket office does not open continuously for a long time.