This weekend we joined the Home Café Days here in the Gulbene region, and what a lovely tradition it is.
For one weekend only, farms, family homes, gardens, and small businesses open their gates and transform into cosy little cafés. Instead of visiting restaurants, you travel from place to place, meeting local people who have prepared homemade meals, cakes, desserts, and drinks with great care.
What makes these days so special isn’t just the food. Every stop has its own story. Some cafés are hidden in beautiful country gardens, others are set up in old farmyards or beside historic buildings. Many families decorate their yards, prepare handmade menus, and welcome complete strangers as guests. It’s a wonderful reminder of how much creativity, hospitality, and pride can be found in the countryside.
We spent whole weekend exploring several of these pop-up cafés, enjoying delicious homemade food and simply taking in the atmosphere. It was also a perfect excuse to discover places we had never visited before, even though they are not far from home.
Events like this make me appreciate our region even more. Gulbene is known for its beautiful countryside, historic manors, churches, lakes, parks, and, of course, the famous narrow-gauge railway, but weekends like this show another side of the region—the people who live here and happily share a little piece of their lives with visitors.
A big thank you to everyone who opened their homes, gardens, and hearts this weekend. Organising something like this takes a lot of work, and it truly makes for a memorable experience.
If you ever have the chance to visit the Home Café Days in Latvia, I highly recommend it. Come hungry, take your time, and enjoy the journey from one unique café to the next. You never know what hidden gem you’ll discover.
Ilze
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What a fun experience.
What a lovely idea! And a great way to spend time meeting new people.
That’s so cool!
*What a wonderful tradition, Ilze. Families opening their gardens and farmyards to complete strangers for one weekend, with handmade menus and everything decorated that takes real generosity. And I love that it gave you an excuse to finally visit places close to home you’d never seen. That happens so easily, doesn’t it? “Come hungry and take your time” is excellent advice.
How fun and delicious, Illze! I would love to attend this! ☺️
What a fantastic way to get a more intimate way of one’s environment – and you have taken some great photos to demonstrate the feeling-world generated. In some ways I am a little surprised at this custom . . . Estonians tend to be rather ‘private’ people, very friendly towards those they know, but somewhat ‘formal’ otherwise. Thought the Latvians were somewhat alike . . . nice to see you open up . . .
That sounds like a lot of fun. I bet the food delicious.
A delightful tradition
Home Café Days are a welcome tradition. I suspect that in the over-regulated country the United States has become, health authorities would insist on imposing so many regulations and inspections as to make temporary home cafés impractical.
Sounds amazing!
It was! Do you have something like “Home Cafe”?
All the food looks so wonderful! That is a lovely community tradition, too.
Yes it is!