9th
Sept 2015
Perfect weather
for exploring a great city
We woke up to a
sunny day in Riga – Which considering they have had rain for the past 3 or 4
days just goes to show how lucky we are being with the weather. There was no hurry because we had decided to
walk into town instead of catching the local small tourist bus, and then catch
a different tour once we got into town.
So we walked down along the river, across the Vansu Bridge over the
Daugava River, and into the old part of town. We walked in past the Riga Castle
(which is currently closed and undergoinf major renovation), past the Art
Museum and down to Ratslaikums Square where we boarded our tour bus around the
city. It was so warm and sunny they had even taken the roof off the bus !!
The bus took us
down past Riga Circus, one of Europe’s oldest circus’ that runs permanently,
and then down past the National Opera House, which is located next to the City
Canal. Built by the Germans in 1863 as a
Theatre, it is now the pride of Latvian musical and cultural life, and the
outside was designed to resemble Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre. The City Canal was
once the moat around central fortifications that were torn down in the 19th
century and turned into parks and gardens in central Riga with sand hills.
From there we
passed the Freedom Monument, which is both a symbol of Latvian independence and
Riga’s major landmark. It stands on the
main street, and has three stars at the top, representing the three zones of
Latvia. In front is the Laima clock
stand, which is a favourite place for couples to meet.
We drove past the
Nativity of Christ Cathedral, which was absolutely sparkling in the bright
morning sunshine. This is the biggest
Orthodox church in the city, and served as a Planetarium and a restaurant
during the Soviet era. It has now been totlly restored and is used regularly
for Orthodox services. It is seen as a
symbol of architecture and stability, and is often visited by the highest
representatives of foreign countries, as well as all those who seek solace and
sanctuary.
Driving on around
the outer city, there is an amazing mixture of architecture everywhere. One third of Riga’s city centre is built in
Art Nouveau style, making it the premier Art Nouveau destination in all of
Europe. There are so many different
designs, and many older wooden buildings as well – Some of which have fully
carved pillars as if they were stone, but they are wooden. We also passed the Latvian National Theatre
building, and from there it was across the Vansu Bridge again towards our camp
site, to the western side of the river.
There is a large
canal on this side as well, but it is largely older houses that are out here,
although there are also some new offices near the river. There is also the Victory Park and Monument,
which was erected in 1985, and “celebrates” the Soviet victory over Naziism in
WW II, and the “liberation” of Latvia.
There is obviously quite a lot of controversy about it, and people have
tried to blow it up several times ! For
the moment it still stands, and the pro Russian supporters still have a big 9th
May celebration there every year.
Considering that some 42 % of Riga’s population is Russian (although
only 27% of Latvia’s population), there is obviously a lot of ethnic rivalry
still existing in the country, especially regarding issues such as this.
Coming back
towards town we passed a Railway Museum which had a number of Soviet engines
and rolling stock, and then the Latvian National Library – A new and very
impressive building on the banks of the Daugava River, and very visible from
the city. We crossed back into town on the Akmens Bridge, and the Dzelzcela
Bridge that carries the railway was off to our right, with the Soviet Style Academy
of Sciences building and the 368 metre tall Radio and TV tower both visible
down river. The radio tower is the
tallest structure in the Baltic States, and 3rd highest in Europe –
It was built with Soviet money and completed in 1989.
When we got back
into town at the end of the bus tour, it was lunch time, so we wandered into
the old city and found a medieval restaurant that we had seen yesterday, called
Rozengral’s. It is in a 8-900 year old
cellar that was a wine cellar and festival place in 1293, and the well next to
which we were sitting is still the only well in Riga, and there is a medieval
fragment of the first defensive wall built in 1201. We had a very nice medieval style lunch, and
went on our way much refreshed.
Unfortunately it is so dark in the cellars that photos were hard to get.
After lunch we
walked across town over near the railway station to the Central Markets. These are housed in several enormous
buildings that were originally the hangers for the Zeppelin ! The markets are open every day of the year,
and are always busy, with sections for meat, fish, fruit, pickles, flowers, and
just about anything else you can think of.
There was lots of caviar, mostly of salmon, but we found some sturgeon
caviar there which was about 10 times the price of the salmon ! Also lots of eels, and other fish and
creatures that we spent quite a lot of time trying to work out what it was
! Amazing place.
Walking back into
town through an subway under the road, it was interesting to see all the little
shops in the subway – So very reminiscent of Moscow ! We then continued our wanderings, heading
vaguely for the bridge to take us back to the camp site, but going via the
Opera House, the Freedom Statue, and the old powder Tower. The European Basketball Championships are
being held in town at the moment, so lots of very tall people wandering around,
and near the Freedom Tower they had basketball courts set up and many people
were milling
Talking of
Bentleys, I am surprised to see just how many Porsches, Bentley, Rolls Royces,
and Audi’s are on the streets – There seems to be a lot of affluent people
around here !
We then found the
Three Brother’s building which I thought I had seen yesterday, and had
mis-captioned in yesterday’s photos, so here it is now, correctly
captioned. We stuck our heads into a
number of churches in town – Of which there are many – There seems to be one on
every corner ! Then it was back to
Ratslaukum’s Square and the House of Blackheads to catch our bus back to the
From there it was
back to the camp site and a cold beer at the end of a long day exploring
Riga. Thoroughly enjoyed it – Riga
really does have a lot to offer considering it is relatively small at 600,000
people. However there are still many
economic, ethnic and social issues here, and outside of Riga there is obviously
still a lot of poverty. Beggars are
fairly common, and there is a lot of public alcohol consumption which can cause
problems in public. We saw an old woman
stealing vegetable greens from a stall in the markets, only to be chased by the
stall owner and abused. Riga has been an unexpectedly pleasant stop over, as it
is a place I have wanted to visit for a while.
I am so glad now to have been here, and be able to share just a small
part of this interesting part of the world with everyone. It would be
interesting to delve deeper into some of the history of Latvia and Riga, and
explore some of the old houses and dachas out in the country – But that will
have to wait for another time ! For now
we are heading south again tomorrow, towards Lithuania.
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