The sun came out for a few brilliant hours this morning (and by few, I mean two), which gave me a chance to see the sites in Riga, Latvia. Latvia is in so many ways the middle of the Baltics. It is geographically between Lithuania and Estonia, its population and area are in the middle, and most transportation to and from the region comes through the country (Riga International Airport is the busiest in the Baltics, and most international buses have an endpoint in Riga or at least stop in the city). And compared to Lithuania at least, people speaking multiple languages is also much higher here. I regularly heard English and Russian on the street, and a lot of people also appeared to be proficient in either French or German.
So what did I see in Riga? Well, it's a small city. I guess as I go to smaller and smaller countries, the capitals will get smaller and smaller too. It didn't take me very long to work my way across the Od City multiple times; I kept criss-crossing it to get to different sites. The most prominent is probably the Freedom Monument. Constructed in the 1930s to honor soldiers who died in the 1918-1920 war for independence, it stands at the edge of the Old City on the canal to the newer sections of the city. At the top of the statue is Liberty holding three golden stars. While the stars officially represent the three historical constitutional districts of Latvia, during the push towards independence in the 1990s and the solidarity between the Baltic States, some (mostly Lithuanians and Estonians) said the stars represented each Baltic country. Way to take over someone else's national statue, Lithuania and Estonia!
I also saw a few churches and old buildings, but sadly, unlike Vilnius which actually labels buildings of historical significance, Riga just hopes you can figure it out on your own. Case in point: there's a series of three houses in the Old City called the Three Brothers. The houses form the oldest complex of buildings in the city but are relatively inconspicuous if you don't know that you're looking for them. The oldest house is from the late 1400s, and the other two from the 1600s. But given how Riga's streetscape is filled with old buildings, how was I supposed to know that these are the buildings I was looking for? I walked by them twice before figuring it out. The same thing happened at the Swedish Gate, the last remaining part of the old city wall. I realized what it was after I walked through it and saw the rest of the old city wall along the way.
So that's Riga. It's a cute city, but definitely doesn't take much time to go around. I also visited the central market, the Art Nouveau District, and several parks. After awhile, all old European cities start to look the same, and Riga didn't really do too much to show why it's different except having A LOT of flags and patriotism showing (independence day is next week). I definitely enjoy its compactness, but it makes me nervous for my next stop in Tallinn, which is 2/3 the size of Riga!
I don't have a good video from Riga, so here's a quick video introduction to the three Baltic countries:
I also saw a few churches and old buildings, but sadly, unlike Vilnius which actually labels buildings of historical significance, Riga just hopes you can figure it out on your own. Case in point: there's a series of three houses in the Old City called the Three Brothers. The houses form the oldest complex of buildings in the city but are relatively inconspicuous if you don't know that you're looking for them. The oldest house is from the late 1400s, and the other two from the 1600s. But given how Riga's streetscape is filled with old buildings, how was I supposed to know that these are the buildings I was looking for? I walked by them twice before figuring it out. The same thing happened at the Swedish Gate, the last remaining part of the old city wall. I realized what it was after I walked through it and saw the rest of the old city wall along the way.
So that's Riga. It's a cute city, but definitely doesn't take much time to go around. I also visited the central market, the Art Nouveau District, and several parks. After awhile, all old European cities start to look the same, and Riga didn't really do too much to show why it's different except having A LOT of flags and patriotism showing (independence day is next week). I definitely enjoy its compactness, but it makes me nervous for my next stop in Tallinn, which is 2/3 the size of Riga!
I don't have a good video from Riga, so here's a quick video introduction to the three Baltic countries:
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