Riga, Latvia

Given that our travel objective is to seek out new cultural experiences from around the world, we pounced at the opportunity to visit Riga - European Capital of Culture, 2014 (shared with Umea, Sweden). Once called the 'Paris of the North', this pretty Baltic city is full of art-nouveau architecture, talented street performing musicians, and living up to its reputation (according to Olie) of having very attractive women. Whilst this was a short stay - 1 night followed by a trip to neighbouring Vilnius, Lithuania; we enjoyed walking around the city and soaking up the cultural atmosphere.

Arrival in Riga

A Ryanair flight from London Stansted Airport delivered us to Riga International Airport close to midday. As Latvia uses the Euro for currency, we had plenty of spare coins to pay for a ticket on the public bus to the Old Town - a 20 minute journey. The bus dropped us off in front of the Central Train station, located just outside of Riga's Old Town - a cobblestone, car-free area that is also UNESCO heritage listed.

The UNESCO sign embedded into the cobblestone street

History Notes

Riga (and Latvia) was developed throughout history on the back of the trading routes in amber that were used for jewellery across the ancient world. In medieval times it became a member of the Hanseatic League (like other cities we have visited - Bergen, Hamburg, Antwerp). After a brief period as a Free Imperial City of the Holy Roman Empire, it was incorporated into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth; then became part of Sweden in the 17th century; and then a port city of the Russian Empire up to World War I. Latvia was occupied by both the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany during World War II. Independence from the Soviet Union was achieved in 1991 and EU membership attained in 2004.

Proudly the European Capital of Culture for 2014

SemaraH Hotel Metropole 

Our hotel was located on a main road, close to a tram line and within walking distance of the airport bus stop. The hotel staff were friendly, spoke English and provided us with a map of the Old Town. Due to time constraints on this trip, we focused ourselves around the historical center. This decision was backed up by online travel reviews of the city outskirts - dominated by Soviet style grey block buildings and unlikely to be of great interest to visitors.

Our hotel

Riga Central Market
After check-in, our priority was focused on finding somewhere to eat lunch. The Riga Central Market is spread out in a complex behind the Central Station. The street stall vendors sold fresh fruit and vegetables with the Saturday crowd buying up the week's groceries. Inside the warehouses, the stores focused on meat and deli products and a range of cakes and pastries. Sellers of clothing, shoes and other household items were gathered on the other side of the market.

Central Market

Saturday morning rush at the market

Exploring the Old Town
We purchased a small snack before heading back into the Old Town to start our sightseeing activities. Our first impressions were that Riga has a variety of pretty buildings and churches - namely Riga Cathedral and St Peter's Church.

 

Town Hall Square
The Town Hall Square is one of the landmarks of the city, rebuilt after the original buildings were destroyed during World War II. The main buildings include:

Latvian Occupation Museum

Town Hall

House of the Blackheads

A beautiful reconstructed 14th century building originally used by the Brotherhood of Blackheads, a guild of unmarried merchants.

Roland Statue - A Frankish military leader, nephew of Charlemagne

Roland Statue in front of the House of Blackheads

Tokyo City Sushi

Lunch was at the Tokyo City Sushi restaurant, where all sushi dishes were 2-for-1 on Fridays. It may seem odd to seek out Japanese food in a Baltic country, however we had fallen in love with salmon in Helsinki (see separate blog post) and were keen to see if the fish in a nearby port would stack up. It lived up to expectations.

A selection of salmon sushi

Evening Walk

Our sightseeing resumed in the evening hours, exploring the Riga Cathedral (Doma) Square. The yellow lighting provided a romantic glow to the area whilst a cellist entertained a small crowd with classical music. Side streets were decorated with lights in the shape of stars - perhaps Christmas decorations already in place a couple of months early.

Riga Doma

Capturing an audience with beautiful music

Star shaped lighting

Down a side street, the facade of the Latvian Parliament building came into view - a grand stone building next door to a church. 

The Black Cat House Restaurant - Melnais Kakis
After reviewing the menus of many restaurants in the Old Town, our choice for dinner was at The Black Cat House, near Livu Square. The restaurant had a musical atmosphere with a live band playing for the crowd. The menu spanned across traditional Latvian dishes and served local beer.

Enjoying a pint of local beer

Complementary amuse bouche dishes were offered with the dramatic presentation using dry-ice (solid carbon dioxide).

 

River Daugava riverbank
The River Daugava bisects Riga and there are two pretty bridge crossings that were explored on Day 2 of our trip. The Railway Bridge is an iron structure that links the banks near the Central train station.

Railway Bridge

The second crossing - Stone Bridge (Akmens Tilts) sits near the National Library of Latvia with its iconic triangular shaped architecture.

National Library of Latvia

The Stone Bridge is decorated with panels that reminded us of Viking/Celtic designs and created artistic photos as the early morning sunshine reflected from the water's surface.

Other monuments relating to Latvian history and culture are also located close to the riverbank.

1905 Revolution Monument

Latvian Red Riflemen

Freedom Monument (Latvian War of Independence)

Charming Buildings

Our travels in Europe have taken us to many pretty towns and cities where the mixture of architectural styles and colours has been a highlight of the visit. Riga was one of those places that visitors can spend hours on a sunny Autumn day just wandering the streets and finding interesting things to see. Highlights of our walk included:

The Three Brothers - the oldest houses in Riga

Powder Tower and City Wall

Troksnu Lela - a street of pastel painted buildings

Collage of interesting streetscapes

Collage of interesting buildings

 

Floral and Foliage Highlights

Autumn flowers and leaves, in particular the multi-coloured hues of Japanese Maples caught our attention whilst we were sightseeing. 

Outside of the Old Town, the Bastejkalns Park - formed when the city's defensive walls were torn down in the 19th century, was a drawcard for locals and tourists enjoying the sunny weather.

Nativity of Christ Cathedral

The last sightseeing stop was at the Orthodox Nativity of Christ Cathedral Church, built in the Neo-Byzantine style in the 19th century when Latvia was part of the Russian Empire. The structure is decorated with metallic paint that glistens in the sunlight. Wikipedia reveals that it was converted into a planetarium during the Soviet years and restored back to a church when Latvia gained independence in 1991.

Next stop - Vilnius, Lithuania

In less than 30 hours we had covered a fair proportion of Old Town Riga and it was time to say goodbye. The next stop via a four hour Ecolines bus ride was Vilnius, capital city of Lithuania. The original plans had included a stop-over in Parnu, Estonia to increase the country count. However, a separate trip later in the year will tick off Tallin and complete our tour of the Baltic states.

At the international bus station in Riga

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