Aluksne - Gulbene

Breakfast. 

The ruins... 

...are good for climbing.

Drying up.

Aluksne.

Lunch and charging phones.

Railway station.

The train.

Annika.

Our room. 

Obscure place.

Kitchen.

This morning the rain had stopped and I knew it was going to be a beautiful day. We had dinner in the castle ruins. Today cauliflower soup, coffee and bread. Yesterday I lost a screw to one of my bags which i fixed temporary so we needed to go to a store. It was no problem a man helped me and I didn't even have to pay! Then we went to a park to dry up some clothes in the sun, Annika fixing with her bike and me reading a book. Since we are taking the train to Gulbene we have some time to kill. We went for a really good lunch and then to the train which was really old and cozy. When we came to Gulbene we had some trouble finding the camping someone told us about. In the end some kids helped us and showed us to the Railway Museum (!?!) the guy who worked there spoke only russian but he called someone and said we could camp outside for 8 euro but then we could also get a room for the same cost. So we ended up taking the room. This is one of the most obscure places I've ever stayed at...

* Mary's Island. The Livonian order stone castle was built in 1342 on this island, the biggest island on Lake Aluksne. The castle was consecrated on the day of the Annunciation the Virgin Mary, and this is why the place acquired a new name - Marienburg. People from Aluksne still refer to Mary, a girl from Aluksne, who is said to be immured in one of the castle walls; therefore the island is called both - Mary's Island and Pils Island or Castle Island. During the subsequent centuries the castle was ruled by Russians, Swedes and Poles.