Yesterday, the first of two days in Riga started with a walking tour so we could orientate ourselves. We learnt that Latvia is the middle-sized of the three Baltic States. The whole country has a population of 2 million, of which 1 million are squeezed into Riga (similar population size to the Birmingham City Area). In twenty-five years, they have lost 300,000 people (about the same as the population of Shropshire). Its language, Latvian, is more closely related to Lithuanian, although it shares more history with Estonia. The population largely consists of 45% Russian and 55% Latvian. Tourism makes up 60% of its industries along with pharmaceuticals, textiles, Air Baltic, wood and agriculture. Its flag is red, white and red, and it has 500 miles of coastline along the Baltic Sea.
We saw a lot of points of interest on the tour, but I shall only mention some of the key highlights here. City Hall Square has a building named 'Blackheads House'; the house is decorated with several features such as the Blackheaded man – from where it gets its name; statues of George and the Dragon, King Arthur and mythical gods plus an Astronomical Clock. Riga Town Hall can also be found here. The Bremen Town Musicians Statue consists of animals from Brothers Grimm standing on top of each other. Rub each one and your wish will come true in a year (donkey), month (dog), week (cat) and day (rooster). Suffice to say I couldn't reach the rooster, so nothing was happening that day!
We saw the small and large Guild Halls. Opposite them is the 'Cat House', so-called because of the statues of cats on the roof. Cats were considered important as they kept rats down, so the statues were symbols of protection. The story goes that the owner of the house was a Latvian Merchant. When he was refused entry to the Guild for not being German, he turned the cats' tail ends towards the Guild Halls; the cats' tails are upright!
Riga Cathedral (Dome) and Dome Square are located in the very centre of the Old Town, and Dome Square is also the largest. Seven streets flow into it like seven arteries. The square has a marked point where you can stand and see all three golden cockerels on top of Old Town's churches. The 'Three Brothers' are the oldest residential stone buildings in the city and represent different stages in the architectural development of Riga, from medieval to baroque. From there, our tour took us past St. James's Cathedral and the Parliament building, the Swedish Gate, Jacob's Barracks and Powder Tower (where the Cat House could be seen again) and onward into the Art Nouveaux Quarter.
The lunch stop was at the 'Flying Frog' for a seafood tagliatelle or chicken pasta dish followed by ice cream with fruit and caramel sauce or green tea mint chocolate cake, accompanied by mocktails.
The Jewish Community side of the Esplanade is dedicated to the Nazi and Soviet occupations and the reigns of terror. The exhibits display the atrocities committed and the systematic attempted destruction of the nation's sovereignty. The Freedom Monument, on the other hand, honours soldiers killed during the Latvian War of Independence and symbolizes freedom, independence, and sovereignty. At 42.7 metres high, it is made up of 13 sculptural groups on four levels, which depict Latvian history and culture.
We ate at the Rock Cafe. Fried potato cakes with smoked salmon and dill sauce for me and beef with gnocchi for Andy. We rounded the night off with a drink in the bar with some of our fellow travellers.
Today in Riga didn't actually start in Riga but at the largest seaside and spa resort in the Baltics; Jurmala. The wooden art nouveaux buildings were used by Soviet Generals and officials during the occupation; the area was forbidden to locals to stop any escaping, and the beach was raked regularly to spot footprints. Today, this is a very expensive area to buy a property. We had a stroll through the main street and I had a paddle in the very cold Baltic Sea, but it wasn't really beach weather, so we headed back to Riga again.
Back in Riga, we went straight to the Central Markets and wandered round all the fish, vegetable, meat, spices and bread stalls, before ending up in the food court for lunch. Some of the options included Chinese style chicken garlic noodles, fried potatoes with meat in tomato sauce with cheese, a buckwheat and mushroom veggie dish or salad.
Our next stop was the National Library of Latvia, where you could buy a drink and cake. We attempted to get a view from the roof where it is said to be is the only free amazing viewpoint of Riga but you could only do that with a tour guide, so we had to content ourselves with a reasonable view from 6th floor.
This prompted us to head for the Radisson Blu Hotel Skyline Bar, which we did via Castle Square with Riga Castle, now used for government work and a souvenir shop with the option of an alcohol tasting of their national liquor 'Balsam' in various flavours including original, blackcurrant and cherry plus rum and vodka. This had warmed us up nicely for the Skybar on the 26th floor, with panoramic views across the city and it's cocktails. One sampled the 'Lover's Clock', a cocktail comprising cabernet sauvignon Merlot and blackcurrant balsam; rather like a mulled wine (but not hot). When in Rome... or Riga in this case!
We had dinner at 'Brevings' in a side street just off Dome Square; half beef and half venison burgers, to soak up the alcohol. The meal was about E12 each, so pretty reasonable.
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