Let’s start with a geography lesson: Riga is the capital of Latvia, which is located on the coast of the Baltic Sea. It shares borders with Estonia and Russia to the north, and Belarus and Lithuania to the south. Latvia has a very colourful history: it changed hands from one dictator to another, only to become independant once again in 1991.
The Freedom Monument is the central landmark in Riga. It was inveiled in 1935 and symbolizes the many religions of Russia and the Latvian fight for freedom. Flowers are often placed at the base to comemorate those deported to Siberia during Soviet times.
Riga Cathedral, the central place of worship.
I fell in love with Riga as it is a mix between old and modern. There were many winding, cobble-stoned streets and there was also a very modern, vibrant feel to the city.
As per our usual travel habits, our first days involved lots of exploration - just roaming around the small streets to see what treasures we could find around the corner of the street.
Riga was simply beautiful. It is very clear that the Latvians take pride in their city - the buildings were beautiful and the details were increadible. This one sits at the corner of the town square.
The minute spring arrives and the weather warms up, the scramble is on to get your hands on any stick of furniture available and make your way outside to enjoy life from a terrace. It was like coming back to life, to sit under the sun and enjoy life as it passed us by, especially since it was still cold and frozen in Russia (We made this little trip in May after all!).
There was an open-air pub in the middle of the town square. How do you know there is a Russian influence? They served fried bread as free bar food to have with your beer!
This was the view from our bar stools...
There was a photo exhibit in the centre of town, with the occupation of Riga during soviet times as the the theme. Lenin, a strong symbol of Soviet ideology, was a controvertial figure, being guarded by tanks until he was eventually toppled.
The museum of Latvian Soviet Occupation is housed in a reconstructed gulag barracks? Touché! I feel for the Latvians: they were under the Soviet regime, then fell to the Nazis and once WWII was over, USSR and Commuism took over again. This people have certainly had a tough time!
The weather on our first day switched between warm sunshine and rain. So we'd spend our time walking around the city taking in the sites, until the rain would start and we'd take shelter under one of the terraces and savour some of the local brew.
What do we miss in St-Petersburg? Spciy, Asian food (that doesn't cost a fortune). We came across this little Korean restaurant, a warm beakon during one of the bouts of rain. Matvei - what is that delicious dish you are enjoying?
And here is where we introduce an inside joke that STILL hasn't gotten old. How do they label "spicy" in a Latvian menu? You guessed it: "ASS". So if you hear one of us ask "how is that bowl of ass?" or say "that looks like some yummy ass!", you'll know why we think it's funny!
This is what is referred to as the Cat House. Naturally, I loved it instantly. For the SPCA supporters: those are only statues, no real cats were harmed in the taking of these photos!
What charmed me the most about Riga was the architectural details on the buildings. It was amazing to find these faces and ornate carvings in some of the strangest of places.
What charmed me the most about Riga was the architectural details on the buildings. It was amazing to find these faces and ornate carvings in some of the strangest of places.
I liked this one because it's rare to find a female sculture holding up a building.
Albert Street is know for its over the top gargoils. It was a wonderful place to take and afternoon stroll and look around.
St-Peter's Church was first built in the 13th century. Its wooden tower fell to ruins (for a variety of reasons) and was rebuilt several times. There is an observatory at the top, offering a spectacular view of the city.
This is what the inside of the cathedral by the lift looks like today...
...this is what it looked like after one of the many bombings it fell victim to.
This is the view from the top - quite spectacular! The 4 airplane hangers seen in the picture below (there are 5 in total) make up Riga's Central Market. More to follow on this later!
Do the peaks look familiar?
The tall building houses the Skyline Bar - another great place that allows you to see the city from a bird's eye view.
This is the Orthodox Cathedral, which was renovated to bring out its architectural details.
Continuing on the theme of Soviet architecture, this gothic building lurks in the background of the Central Market. Does it look familiar? I'll give you a hint: it has 7 similar buildings in Moscow and one in Poland. That's one way to get your money's worth on an architectural design!
Now we're inside the Central Market. These former airplane hangers were given a new life after wartimes. The hangers are all assigned to different functions: one houses only meat, one fish, one dairy, one grains and cereals and the last has everything else you would be looking for.
Outside, like a good old fashioned Rinok (farmer's market) they also have vendors on the ouside areas selling fresh fruits and vegetables.
Some shops had a fantastic sense of humour!
The specialty drink of the area is Baltic Balsam, a liqueur made from berries. This little desert served in a shot glass was a scrumptious introduction to Baltic Balsam!
Our colleague Tatyana, who spent a few weeks in St-Petersburg, is originally from Riga. She gaves us some wonderful suggestions for things to see and do in her former hometown. Thank you, Tatyana!
One of these suggestions was to visit Jumala as a day trip excursion. We met a very kind and helpful lady at the train station who, despite our terrible Russian and her minimal English, managed to understand what we wanted and sent us on our way!
Jumala is a quaint little beach town. For the most part, there was white sand beach surrounded by trees and greenery.
You are here!
Matvei had just put his hand in the Baltic Sea - the water was cold!!!
Our "WTR" moment in Latvia: tracks of someone walking along the beach in stiletto high heels!
This tortous seems to watch over the beach.
He's much bigger in real life than he looks in the picture!
We then made our way back into town to stumble across Super-Find #1: Aspara. This little tree house tea house is located in the park near the opera.
You place your order on the ground floor, chosing from one of the many varieties of exotic teas. Next, you make your way up the central winding staircase onto the second floor. Here is a ring of carpets and cushions, the perfect environment to lounge around, sip some tea and enjoy hiding out in the trees as you watch the world pass you by.
This is the view from the second floor.
More humour randomly popping up - this pizza place had an interesting slogan.
Super-Find #2: The Star Lounge atop the Albert Hotel. This Einstein inspired hotel was quite quirky and fun. There were sayings for every floor of the hotel. My favourite? "Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe."
View from the hotel terrace.
They had 2-for-1 on sundowners. The kiwi caiperinas were great!
On our last night, Latvia was playing Canada in the World Jr. Hockey. We decided to watch the game with the rest of the fans, under the stars in the town square. The fans were in full form: sporting their team jerseys and banging on tamtams! It was great! Clearly we were the only Canadians in the place, though we made sure not to advertise this too much: despite losing later, the Canadian team played really well that night! As the crowd fell quiet whenever Canada score (I think the match was 5 - 2 Canada in the end) we made sure to support our team silently only!
One of the other advantages of these little side trips from St-Petersburg is the "contraband". Did you say spicy food? We didn't bring back any alcohol, but we did stock up on all sorts of things that we can't find at our local supermarket.
