No. 57 - Latvia

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We took a wandering route and turned a three hour drive into a full day of forest and farmland views.  We stopped on a ridge line and enjoyed our picnic lunch and then followed the river into Riga.  Our apartment was on the south side of the river, about ten minutes from downtown, and was a FIFTH floor walkup.  We were pleasantly surprised at the size of the place, a newly renovated unit, formerly two separate two-room apartments.  The light and the space were great and we had a king bed for a change...and oddly enough, again, no TV for the third time in a row.  We visited a local market and stocked up and settled in for the night.

Riga ended up being a lot of fun.  A pretty city, really spread out, with interesting architecture.  We booked two tours of two days...a walking tour of the old city and a bike tour of the art nouveau district.  The guides for both were great and we really enjoyed the tie spent exploring on foot and on wheels.

National Library

 Historic Postcard Building

 Our crazy guide Edwarx

 Zeppelin hangers turned into a five hanger city market.

 Jewish ghetto.  Now being renovated by the Eurozone for commercial entertainment.

 Stalin era building...now the Academy of Science.

 Russian Orthodox cathedral in a country that is 85% atheist.

 National Monument.

 Our bike tour and guide.

 Opera House

 Kangaroo on top of the Portuguese embassy.

 Old fisherman village now an upscale renovated loft district.

 Wonderful Art Nouveay designed buildings from 1895 to 1920

We enjoyed one rainy day which meant a long, relaxing day in the apartment.  We had one free day to wander the city and do a bit of shopping.  Then it was off to Lithuania.