Today was a perfect day for being a tourist, sunny, temperature in the high teens.
I spent the time wandering around the Old Town, and the Art Nouveau buildings. This style of architecture was very popular from about 1900 to 1912, which coincided with a building boom in Riga, so there are, literally, hundreds of these buildings in Riga. The fronts are full of very fancy figures and fanciful creatures. They are quite the sight, and are numerous.
It was funny, but there were about 4 school tours, grade 5, or so. Typical school groups. Three paying attention to the teacher, the majority looking bored, and half a dozen boys, in the back, horsing around.
I also visited an Orthodox Church. These churches are very beautiful inside, and quite different than a Western Christian church. There are no pews, just an open area, with chapels along the outer perimeter. Photography is forbidden, and, being a good Canadian, I didn't take any.
I saw a lot of Japanese tourists, at least three bus loads, and also some Japanese young people, back packing. The only other place I have seen Japanese tourists were at the salt mine in Krakow.
I visited the Latvian museum, dedicated to the history of Latvia in the 20th century. Very grim. The Russians simply moved thousands to Siberia, and used them as slave labour. Only 1% were able to return, after Stalin died. The Russians also brought in 700 000 Russians to live in Latvia. After Latvia gained independence, in 1991, the great majority chose to stay in Latvia, even though they weren't given citizenship. That's why there are more Russians than Latvians in Riga.
The other thing I found interesting was that this was the first museum that acknowledged the fact that there were a good number of Latvian collaborators, that helped the Nazis and the Soviets.
The one bad experience was lunch. I went to a restaurant that was highly recommended by a couple of well known web sites, as providing real Latvian food at cheap prices. They were right about the price, but the food was insipid. Maybe I'll try McDonalds
tomorrow. They actually make a very god cappuccino.
Till then remember " Eat well, travel often"
Ralf
I spent the time wandering around the Old Town, and the Art Nouveau buildings. This style of architecture was very popular from about 1900 to 1912, which coincided with a building boom in Riga, so there are, literally, hundreds of these buildings in Riga. The fronts are full of very fancy figures and fanciful creatures. They are quite the sight, and are numerous.
It was funny, but there were about 4 school tours, grade 5, or so. Typical school groups. Three paying attention to the teacher, the majority looking bored, and half a dozen boys, in the back, horsing around.
I also visited an Orthodox Church. These churches are very beautiful inside, and quite different than a Western Christian church. There are no pews, just an open area, with chapels along the outer perimeter. Photography is forbidden, and, being a good Canadian, I didn't take any.
I saw a lot of Japanese tourists, at least three bus loads, and also some Japanese young people, back packing. The only other place I have seen Japanese tourists were at the salt mine in Krakow.
I visited the Latvian museum, dedicated to the history of Latvia in the 20th century. Very grim. The Russians simply moved thousands to Siberia, and used them as slave labour. Only 1% were able to return, after Stalin died. The Russians also brought in 700 000 Russians to live in Latvia. After Latvia gained independence, in 1991, the great majority chose to stay in Latvia, even though they weren't given citizenship. That's why there are more Russians than Latvians in Riga.
The other thing I found interesting was that this was the first museum that acknowledged the fact that there were a good number of Latvian collaborators, that helped the Nazis and the Soviets.
The one bad experience was lunch. I went to a restaurant that was highly recommended by a couple of well known web sites, as providing real Latvian food at cheap prices. They were right about the price, but the food was insipid. Maybe I'll try McDonalds
tomorrow. They actually make a very god cappuccino.
Till then remember " Eat well, travel often"
Ralf
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