We are transferring to Riga and looking forward to seeing some sites along the way. This is a great way to travel between cities and also get a “tour” while you do it. It cost around €80 per person and was well worth it. When I left you in the previous section of the blog we had lunch in Valga, a border town. Well we crossed into Latvia and there was no hint of a border other than it said Latvia on the side of a building!!
We drive to Gauja National Park which is the largest and oldest of the national parks in Latvia, characterized by its limestone cliffs, picturesque views and home of the bob sleigh!
It was established in 1973 and stretches over more than 90,000 hectares, protecting the most beautiful section of the Gauja Valley along the Gauja River.
We do a loop walk and it’s quiet and beautiful among the trees. There’s a spot where an amazing echo comes from across the river. Very impressive…
Our next stop is a little town called Cēsis. We pass the castle as we start a loop walk around the town.
We call into a lovely Orthodox Church where a couple are about to lock it up but they wait (without saying a word) until til we’ve had a good look around.
We pass through the centre of town which has lots of old wooden houses and a beautiful church.
At various locations around the city, on the footpath outside buildings that were owned or occupied by Cēsis’ members of the Jewish population, pairs of concrete shoes have been installed.
When we circle back to the castle there’s a wedding party dancing which is great fun to watch.
The castle is impressive and on the way back to the car having explored this small cute town I have an avocado and pineapple ice lolly – really quenches the thirst!!
Our last stop of the day is at Sigulda Bobsleigh and Luge Track. The track is suitable for organizing bobsleigh, luge sport, and skeleton. (I know I’ve seen these in the winter olympics but don’t really know what they are. Now that I’ve walked the track I’ll keep an eye out).
It’s quite an effort just getting in and out of this thing!!
We arrive to Riga and are staying at another beautiful, spacious apartment beside the freedom monument. We have a great view of the Cathedral of the Nativity which has partially covered golden domes. It looks like a Nevsky but it’s not.
In fact the Nevsky church which we drove past on our way into town is a bit of a disappointment compared to what we saw in Tallinn!
Once we’re settled in, we take a walk into town to get some dinner. We eat at a Russian restaurant called “Senās Tradīcijas” which means Old Traditions and we are seated in a private room upstairs. Surprise surprise we are given a small shot of vodka to start our meal!! The food is excellent.
On the way home we admire the freedom monument which honours soldiers killed during the Latvian War of Independence.
Next morning Caroline and Tom arrive and with Janes and Ravs daughter joining us from the UK, that makes a gang of nine for our Riga sightseeing. Looking forward to catching up with these pair and hearing about all the travel they’ve been doing.
We are on our way to the market for some breakfast and en route pass the famous House of the Blackheads. This is an amazing looking building, originally erected in 1334 as a warehouse, meeting and celebration place for merchants.
Riga Central Market is situated a few hundred meters from the Old Town on the banks of the River Daugava. It is not only one of the largest marketplaces in Eastern Europe in area, but also one of the most visited. It spans approximately 4 zeppelin hangers, built in the 1920s for the military and is even UNESCO listed! There couldn’t be anywhere better for these two to catch up than at a massive food hall… they live for this stuff!
When we finish noshing on some delicious pastries (mostly savoury), we walk through the other side of the market to see the Academy of Sciences building, known as Stalin’s birthday cake! It is a very distinct looking high rise built in the Social Classicist style, that was commonly used for representative buildings in the Soviet Union, during Stalin’s time.
We buy some meats, cheese, salads (pickles and beetroot of course!) etc… for dinner and then Caroline takes the lead to bring us on a tour of the city. We see the building known as The Cat House, which is famous for the black cats sitting on top. It’s styled as medieval architecture with some elements of Art Nouveau.
We see the “3 brothers” which together form the oldest complex of dwelling houses in Riga. Well here’s 2 of the 3….
The 3rd was a very different looking building.
We’ve seen quite a lot of the city and ticked off most of what was on my list (you know I always have a list!!) so it’s time for lunch at the famous Lido. Lido is a self service, canteen style restaurant serving local home cooked dishes. It’s fantastic – busy and bustling, you can pour your own glass of wine or pint from a beer tap and point to the many dishes they have on offer. We also get to try the popular garlic bread which is made with dark rye and is so good. We loved it!
We continue our sightseeing and see the impressive St. Peters gothic church. It’s unclear exactly when it was built but was first mentioned in writings in 1209. Surprisingly it’s one of the few buildings we’ve come across that wasn’t damaged by fire and rebuilt as it was built with bricks and stone!
I really do think the tower looks like what Charlie and Willie Wonka flew off in at the end of Willy Wonka‘s Chocolate Factory. I bet the director of the film found himself in Riga at some point and this spire was inspiration!
Right outside of St Peters is a statue for the Musicians of Bremen (a Brothers Grimm fairytale). The legend is that you will get an amount of luck depending on which animal you can reach! Not looking so good for me!!
We all agree it’s that time of day for a little respite and Caroline has found a gin distillery that also does a range of local beers and cocktails. We are at the door 5 minutes before they open!!! It’s a very nice place and lots of space for our gang. Considering what should we drink in this place…..
Most of us go to for a flight of gins and they are all really good. This is a gang of purists so I get lots of extra tonic!
Back home after a bit of a rest we lay out the food from the market and enjoy some delicious local grub.
Next morning we start with a delicious pastry at MAIZE & RAFIJA, a very popular bakery in an area we haven’t yet explored.
This sets us up for this mornings activity which is a walking tour of the art noveau neighbourhood. Led by Shane, we follow a walking tour from the Lonely Planet and learn so much about art noveau architecture (not!)). We do see some beautiful buildings that aren’t even mentioned in this tour!
Towards the end of our walk we pass the KGB museum. There’s a similar museum in each of the Baltic countries we’re visiting but we won’t visit this one as we’re been told the best is in Vilnius.
CORNER HOUSE
DURING THE SOVIET OCCUPATION THE STATE SECURITY AGENCY/K3/ IMPRISONED, TORTURED, KILLED AND MORALLY HUMILIATED ITS VICTIMS IN THIS BUILDING
We walk through the lovely park and past the Opera house to get to our next destination.
The museum of the Occupation of Latvia is housed in this large dark building.
It tells the story of the Latvian nation and the many fights it battled, in particular against German and Russian overlords!
There is so much information to absorb including heart breaking stories that in equal measure make me horribly sad and very angry. I spend far too much time reading details on the ground floor exhibits that I have to rush through the exhibits upstairs or I’ll be here all day!
There is an amazing thing that happened back in 1989 (I was 16 about to turn 17 and I don’t remember it in the news). We’ve heard it mentioned a number of times since arriving in these Baltic states and it certainly inspires hope after reading about so much horror.
On 23 August 1989 – exactly 50 years after the signing of the Hitler-Stalin Pact – Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian independence movements organised the largest demonstration to regain freedom. 1.5 million people formed a 660 km long chain that stretched from Tallinn to Riga, to Vilnius. By holding hands in unity the Baltic nations demanded the Soviet rulers restore the independence of the Baltic States. Although it would take a little longer (until 1991), this was a key demonstration ahead of the dissolution of the USSR.
The pictures of people holding hands across cities and rural areas is fantastic and definitely has cheered me up. There are also some nice views from the museum.
Shane and I leave the museum and head to the market to meet Caroline and Tom for lunch. There are far too many delicious options but this time I go for a cheburek which is a deep-fried turnover with a filling of ground or minced meat and onions. It’s just been cooked fresh in front of me and it is piping hot. It’s the type of thing I love and it is really good!
After walking through a carpark and narrowly avoiding a smack of a barrier, we happen upon a Sidērija – a pub with just all ciders – I’m in!! So much choice.
Luckily this gang are always happy to try out something different… ciders all round!
We take a walk back to the square and take a moment to consider the Memorial to the Victims of the Soviet Occupation. It has special audio-visual equipment that creates emotional sound and vibration effects daily, fitting into the environment of the city of Riga.
Further along the river front we find the Big Christopher statue. When I originally added this to the list I thought it was a statue depicting St. Christopher, the patron saint of travelers but it’s not. Apparently it’s about a giant who resided in a cave on the banks of the Daugara River and would carry travelers across its raging waters. He’s a bit scary looking but we take an obligatory selfie none the less!
We meet up with the gang and have an amazing feast at Ala Pagrabs which is a cool medieval cavern. There’s a massive amount of food across two platters and the beer is served in jugs!
An amazing meal all round with more great Latvian garlic bread.
On the walk home we pass through the car park where we were nearly killed earlier today so we stop for a photo opp and a giggle…. what we don’t realise is that the guy from earlier is still sitting in the hut and sees us…. holy crap, we leggit outa there like bats outa hell!!!
Next day is our last day in Riga and it’s gonna be a sunny one, getting up to 26 degrees, so we head to Jūrmala.
We are very brave and all go in… we have to walk out quite a bit to get full coverage!
It’s a beautiful stretch of beach and we enjoy a walk for a bit…
We take the train back into the central station and have lunch at Lido. I go for fish and veg – they’re hiding under all the sauce!
Next we walk the bridge toward the library and see this cool giant piece of art!
The national library is housed in quite an iconic building known as The Castle of Light.
Inside there’s an interesting exhibit on the ground floor and the book display across multiple floors is very impressive. I could hang around here all day as I love a good library and love just looking at books!
You can also go to the 12th floor and see an all round view of the city…. which of course we do!
Outside the library we decide to take a tram back across the bridge into the centre of town. We let at least four of them pass us as they’re new trams and not the old soviet ones that we want to travel on! I notice there’s a sticker of the Ukrainian flag on the window which is nice to see how they stand in solidarity with their old USSR neighbours.
Traveling on the soviet tram….
Shane has dropped Caroline for her bus to the airport so I meet him at the church of the Nativity so we can take a look inside. True to form and my navigational skills, I take the scenic route which unfortunately for Shane, means he’s waiting at the church a lot longer than he should have, but for me, I do pass a couple of very nice looking buildings.
The Church of the Nativity is the church that we can see from our bedroom window. It is stunning and the inside is much bigger and more ornate than even Nevsky in Talinn.
From here we head to Skybar which is in the Radisson hotel on the 28th floor. We enjoy a cocktail and the amazing 360° views.
Tonight we all agree and easy dinner is on the cards and so we try the local Hess burger which is the McDonald’s of the Baltics! It’s a fairly average burger and fries but hits the spots nonetheless and I suppose, it had to be done!
Next morning as we leave Riga, we visit the Salaspils Memorial to victims of Fascism.
The memorial is built on the grounds of what was a punishment camp built by the Nazis and the stories we read about in the exhibit are horrifying. Salaspils Camp was officially know as an extended police prison and later became a “labour correction” camp “for those who did not follow work regulations”. Data indicates that approximately 23 000 people may have been imprisoned in Salaspils Camp: half were political prisoners, work avoiders and convicted soldiers, and the remainder were prisoners resulting from special campaigns against civilians in Belorussia, Russia and Latgale.
The memorial consists of giant statues, each one in the blocky Soviet realist style,representing a different kind of prisoner. There are a mother and her three children, a weeping woman, a labourer on his last legs, and four men who could’ve been in a protest
We somberly move on……. Our next stop is apparently the most beautiful palace in the Baltics – Rundāle palace. We don’t go in to the palace itself, but we walk around the extensive gardens. It’s a beautiful sunny day and the gardens are a perfect place to walk around and enjoy the sun and the greenery.
The palace was designed and built by the same architect who built the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg. This was also a summer home for Catherine the Great and from the outside with the yellow colour it is similar to the Hermitage
Our next stop will be across the border in Lithuania – that’s in the next instalment. Until next time…
odohertyelaine 