The Freedom Monument in the centre of Riga

It was my birthday on Friday as well as Good Friday, and those of us lucky enough to live in Norway also get a public holiday for Maundy Thursday, whatever that is. So early Thursday morning Chris and I headed for the airport; off to Latvia for a four-day luxury spa weekend.

Thursday

We arrived several hours too early to check into the hotel in Jurmala (the beachside town near the capital, Riga) so we decided to head into Riga for a couple of hours and have a look around. We took the AirBaltic shuttle, since it was well signposted and we realised on the plane that we hadn’t really done much research about Riga, other than looking at what various spa treatments we were interested in. In any case it only cost us 3 Lats each (about the same value as British pounds) which is a hell of a lot cheaper than most airport to capital transport methods.

When we arrived in Riga we realised it had taken a lot longer than we expected and was already midday. So we stopped at a Lido (a canteen-style chain restaurant serving traditional Latvian food at very reasonable prices) and had a bite of lunch before making our way to the main train station to find a train to Jurmala. There’s not a whole lot of English information available in Riga, but we had picked up a tourist map at the airport which luckily had a map of Riga on one side and a map of Jurmala on the other.

We weren’t exactly sure we were getting on the right train, which direction we were meant to be travelling in or how many stops there were between Riga and Jurmala. I got a bit concerned when the stops we were going past didn’t seem to have signs on them; we were in the middle of nowhere and we couldn’t hear what the loudspeaker was saying. Then it started to snow, and we began to wonder how much fun it would really be to have to wait at some deserted train station in rural Latvia for a train in going back to Riga if we really had gotten on the wrong train.

Luckily our (or more accurately my) fears turned out to be groundless, and not only did we find our stop, but the conductor seemed to have worked out pretty early on that we were tourists and came back and told us when we had reached our destination. So much for all those rumours I’d heard that Latvians are unfriendly.

The Baltic Beach Hotel - Jurmala

After we checked into the hotel, we got settled in our room (which was a little small, but still very nice) and proceeded to the spa for our first treatments; a detox underwater massage. Neither of us knew what to expect, but I think Chris got a bigger shock than I did. We were sent into a change room where you select a locker and put on a clean robe and a pair of (shudder) crocks. Note: I should probably mention that it’s vital when undergoing spa treatments to leave your inhibitions in the locker room.

The detox underwater massage was basically a bath filled with warm water and some combination of mineral salts and seaweed powder and various other ingredients. Once you’re in the water, the specialist takes a hose that is plugged in to the bath somewhere and shoots out a jet of air to massage you with under the water. I found it a bit painful at first (and actually came away with some minor bruising on one arm!) but very invigorating. I could really feel my blood rushing about afterwards.

Chris started his treatment about half an hour after mine, and it was a 40 minute treatment, so we didn’t get to see each other before he went in. Not a big deal, except that I didn’t get a chance to tell him what was expected of him once he got into the treatment room. His specialist didn’t have much in the way of English skill, so he didn’t really know what to do when she mimed taking off his robe and hanging it up and then said, “String! STRING!” and then turned her back. After a few seconds she turned around to find Chris staring helplessly at a small, blue ball on the chair in front of him. She pointed again and, more forcefully this time, said, “STRING! STRING!!” and once again turned her back.

When he unfolded the small, blue ball he realised it was a paper G-string that he was supposed to wear for the treatment. Poor boy. I hadn’t thought to tell him about my previous day spa treatments and the infamous paper G-string.

The view from the Restaurant il Sole

That night we had dinner in the Restaurant il Sole (the more casual of the two hotel restaurants). It wasn’t bad, but we only had a limited menu because we were using the meal vouchers we got with our accommodation package. The food was okay, but nothing too special. We did have a very nice Italian red wine though.

Friday

Friday was my birthday, so I had three different treatments booked. I hadn’t slept all that well after the underwater massage; my skin was feeling a bit raw in places. I think the detox stuff had decided my skin was toxic and needed to come off. Not to worry though; my first treatment was a cinnamon cream body wrap and 30 minutes in a “spa capsule”, which soothed and repaired all the previous day’s work.

The spa capsule was basically a human-sized pressure cooker. I was basted with cinnamon cream, wrapped in a giant oven bag and laid in this capsule thing (it wouldn’t have seemed unfitting to have some stewed apricots or something in there with me) and then simmered gently for thirty minutes at 66 degrees Celsius. Seriously. There were times when I thought if I poked myself with a skewer, only clear juices would come out.

I could change the settings for music, lighting, vibration and even scent by popping my hands through little windows that opened onto the control panel. I chose a rosemary and lavender scented experience. By the end I had apparently burned 180 calories and according to the scales in the change rooms I had also lost 1.5kg. All sweat no doubt.

After this I had an hour or so to relax before going back for my full body mud wrap treatment. This was very relaxing, but the mud REEKED. Thank goodness they sealed me up in plastic before leaving me there to soak in the mud. I was wrapped in a thermal blanket as well, and basically laid back for 40 minutes or so of toasty reflection. But boy, oh boy, when they came back and peeled off the blankets and plastic… I thought the mud smelled bad before I had cooked in it. I almost retched. Luckily they led me straight to the shower where I rinsed and rinsed and rinsed… hours later I could swear I still smelled it. I treated Chris to a rendition of “It’s my birthday and I’ll smell like the Dead Sea if I want to” while I had another shower back in our room (my third for the day) and washed my hair.

Me on the snowy/sandy beach at Majori by the Baltic Sea

Lunch, once again in the Italian restaurant, was followed by an amazing stroll on the beach. It had been snowing most of the time we were there, so we had the added weirdness of walking on half sand/half snow. There were quite a lot of local people walking along the beach, but the strange part was that they were all dressed up in quite stylish coats and high heels/Sunday shoes etc and were so silent we started to wonder if it was some sort of funeral procession. They only seemed to be walking along a beaten track in the sand/snow, most had very serious expressions and hardly anyone was talking. I felt a bit silly jumping around in front of the camera surrounded by such seriousness.

In the evening Chris and I each had an hour-long massage before dinner. I had never had a proper massage before (not counting the beating I took at the chiropractor that time) and let me tell you, I have been missing out! My God. The knots in my shoulders haven’t been so loose since before the invention of the computer mouse. And not a knot was left unsquished, from the tips of my fingers to the tips of my toes and everything in between… if you’ve never had a massage like this, you need to book yourself one. Go on, I’ll be here when you get back.

Right, all booked in then? Good stuff. I’ll continue.

After the massage, despite us both being a bit jelly-brained, we went for dinner at the Caviar Club restaurant, the swankier of the two hotel restaurants. Chris ordered a bottle of Moët to toast my birthday and for entrée I had the most divine ruccola salad with smoked duck, sliced raspberries, physalis (cape gooseberries) and roasted pinenuts. It was just the most amazing combination of flavours. I finally understood the true meaning of “There’s a party in my mouth and everyone’s invited!”. We followed up with steak for mains and a cheese and fruit platter for dessert. Perfect.

Saturday

My first treatment on Saturday was a leg and bikini wax. Ouch. I was lucky that the specialist spoke pretty good English, so there was no repeat of either of my laser hair removal “incidents”. Some of you know what I’m talking about, but those of you who don’t will just have to use your best disaster-creating imaginations. She did a really good job in a very professional and reassuring manner, which was a great relief.

Chris relaxing in the bar between treatments

After that, Chris and I had our session in the Flamingo Relaxation Zone. It would have been really relaxing had there not been four screaming kids running and splashing around in there like little hellions. This area has a small, saltwater swimming pool, a couple of saunas, a hamam bath and a Jacuzzi. It’s lit by candles and tiny star-lights in the ceiling, has relaxing music playing and offers the option of different massage procedures in the adjacent private rooms. I’m sure it would have been lovely if we had shared it only with other adults, or at least adults who take responsibility for the behaviour of their children. Oh well, one piece of bad luck in four days is okay with me.

In the evening Chris went off for an hour and a half massage while I had a wonderful facial treatment. We both pretty much crashed straight after dinner. All that relaxation is tiring!

Sunday

Sunday morning we had one last treatment before we had to pack our bags and get ready to leave. Unfortunately we didn’t check the booking properly and I went first and got Chris’s boring old seawater bath while he got my delicious milk and honey bath. I was pretty miffed about that, especially since the salt water dried out my skin just when I’d gotten it nice and soft from all the previous treatments. Lovely boy that he is, he offered to buy me some moisturiser in the tax free shop on the way home. Mmm, Clarins.

We took the train back into Riga (we were much cooler this time… seasoned Latvian travellers that we were by then) and went for a wander around the city. The weather was a bit strange; snowing one minute, sunshine the next. So we found ourselves a cowboy-style steak house and proceeded to gorge ourselves on meat. When you’ve been living in Oslo for a while, you find it hard to pass up the opportunity for good steak that’s not going to bankrupt you.

Weird cow-print chairs and table made out of an old bed at the “Steiku Haoss” in Riga

The shuttle to the airport leaves from one of the major city hotels, so we popped inside to wait out of the cold and discovered their Easter display: a pen full of live baby chicks! So cute. Unfortunately for me (and probably thankfully for the chicks) we weren’t allowed to touch them, but I amused myself by watching them tumble around the pen, clucking, squeaking and falling over each other. Aww.

Pile of baby chickens

So there it is, my beautiful spa birthday/Easter weekend in Latvia. We loved it so much we’ve decided to go back in July so we can enjoy the beach as well as the spa.

Have a look at the rest of the pictures in the photo album.