From Riga Into 2015... in Magical Realism

Our last morning in Tallinn, we packed up and grabbed breakfast at a cute spot the girls had grabbed brunch at just before meeting up with me the first day. Of course the staff remembered my lovely friends and we had a delicious and comfortable meal before heading out. Picked up the rental car where the adorable attendant promptly fell in love with Miss K (Echoes to the evolution) and gave us a sweet deal. Then we started off on a long drive. Pit stops at Lahemaa National Park, where snow was falling and it was like walking into a painting:

Me:

K (Echoes to the evolution):

After the park we drove some more, ate cookies in the car, and then drove to the very edge of the country, to take a walk by the water’s edge. It was freezing but breathtaking. Got into Riga much later than we’d thought, checked into hostel, and walked into town for a quick noodle dinner at Wok to Walk. Slept hard, then got up for breakfast/coffee at the hostel before heading out for another epic day.

K had organized for us a BOBSLEDDING lesson!

Charlie’s Angels, with helmets:

Last thing you see before plummeting down the ice at a rate of 1k in 7 minutes!

Post run photos with our bobsled driver, and member of Latvian skeleton team:

It was a rush! After that we got lunch at the most delicious and adorable cafe, and headed out to Gutmanis Cave in Sigulda National Park. The cave was epic…so many thousands of years of history, even the graffiti was hundreds of years old. So peaceful and beautiful.

Here you can get a sense of the scale:

View from cave looking out:

There was a small stream inside the cave. I had read that legend said that these were healing waters. Between my cancer and my dad’s death, I was in need of some healing, so while the girls were exploring, I took a private moment to plunge my bare hands into the icy water, held them there as long as I could stand, then splashed the water over my face and neck. Just being in the cave gave me a feeling of calm I hadn’t felt in a while.

After the caves we headed a bit down the road to Sigulda Castle. This was a beautiful old castle with many games set up, viewing platforms, etc. We had it completely to ourselves with no entry fee since it was Christmas Eve. Here’s a snap of the girls swordfighting - they were fierce!

After our road trip we came back to the hostel, took a walk around town, and a nice solid dinner. Had a few drinks at a sketchy but dirt cheap bar (I think a round for 3 was something like 5 euro?) and called it a fairly early night just after midnight.

The next morning was Christmas! We had plans to meet my winterswimming friend Alex for a dip in the Baltic Sea. We met them at an awesome looking waterpark and they took us for a drive to the beach.

The beach was COLD and WINDY, even for seasoned coldwater swimmers. We took a jog on the beach to get warm and then K and I went into this tiny little changing shed to get ready for the plunge. It was wicked cold!

We all walked in, but only stayed in a few minutes, barely long enough to submerge. The waves were high and strong too!

After that it was a race to get dry and dressed, always the toughest part. K was a trooper though, and L helped us both out in the tiny cube, which thankfully blocked some of the wind. After we dressed, Alex set up a quick post-dip group shot:

After the swim Natasha and Alex gave us a tour around the Jurmala City waterfront, and we stopped in for soup and hot drinks at a lovely cafe. It was so nice. We walked around in the crisp evening air for a while, until it was time to head home. Another group shot on the boardwalk:

After that we went back to the hostel, got showered/dressed, and met up for a boozy/leisurely Christmas dinner. Our Russian buddy Viktor from Talinn happened to be in Riga, so we had him meet us at “Rock Cafe”.

The downstairs was a bar, but the upstairs was a full dance party/club. Lots of dancing and drinking ensued, and before we knew it, it was 6am again. Woo. Viktor walked us home, we said our goodbyes, and plummeted into dreamless sleep.

The next day was sadly time to say goodbye. The girls dropped me off at the airport, and continued on to Lithuania. I flew to Oslo airport, had a quick connection, and then home to JFK. A met me at the airport, and we spent the rest of the weekend in bed.

The Monday after Christmas I had an appointment with my oncologist. I was really afraid, as he was supposed to give me the verdict on whether I would need further treatment via phone when I was in Paris, but when I called in they said they needed to see me in person instead. I thought this meant it would be even worse news than my needing radiation, and as I walked into the treatment center, I held onto A’s hand, tears in my eyes, and wondered if this was the moment that my life would again change forever. But surprisingly, when I sat down the doctor told me that my results appeared to be clear and that he was NOT recommending radiation therapy after all, just monitoring. It was a best case scenario, I was so happy. A and I ran out of the building, my heart and mind a thousand times lighter. We grabbed a celebratory breakfast together and I called my mom to let her know the good news. I was, and still am, so thankful.

We had a low-key New Years Eve, celebrating the 10th anniversary of our 1st run together by running the first race we started with, the NY Road Runners’ Midnight Run. We bundled up, took the subway to Central Park, and kicked off our first four miles of 2015 at midnight with beautiful fireworks. What a special experience, and good way to start the new year. I finally felt free and healthy again.

Last updated February 27, 2015