Latvia - Riga-diculously Nice Place

July 7-9

Hello everyone!

After spending the past few days exploring two cities that I have visited before, I headed north to a new country. One that I know very little about. Welcome to what is apparently the home of the Christmas Tree!

Like it's fruit, Riga was sweet and colourful

Site of the world's first recorded Christmas tree, from 1510

The middle of the three nations commonly clumped together as the Baltic States, Latvia is a bit of an unknown for me. I was therefore excited to get out and see its capital, Riga, as soon as possible when arriving, going for an evening run.

With a couple of stops, we took about 8 hours to get from Vilnius to Riga

Riga's castle was first made in 1330

Riga's Old Town is a UNESCO Wold Heritage Site

I was aware that it had an Old Town, like many European cities. I was not aware that it has many parks and green spaces. Very enjoyable.

Riga Cathedral

Riga City Canal

I was aware that the Baltic Chain, referenced in the Lithuania blog, passed through Latvia. I was not aware of the specific Latvian history and suffering at the hands of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. Though I wasn’t able to explore the KGB Museum, just reading posters in the entrance gave enough clues as to the horrors that happened inside the hauntingly beautiful building.

The footsteps showing the Baltic Chain. Our guide
showed us pictures of her in that chain in 1989.

A propaganda poster from the last 1930s

Called The Corner House, political prisoners would be
subjected to torture (and possibly worse) in its basement

A lot of the history you will see in Riga, a much larger city than Vilnius in Lithuania, is related to its challenges faced over the last 100 years or so. One of the most striking is something that I have already seen in Warsaw: Riga’s was also an Academy of Sciences. Locals call it ‘Stalin’s Birthday Cake’, even though he was long dead by the time it opened in 1961.

View of Stalin's Birthday Cake from the river

Like the Warsaw version, it has been repurposed
since independence was secured in 1991

One interesting person I learnt about here is a man called Zanis Lipke. The Latvian national retrained to become a contractor for the Luftwaffe, then used his position to smuggle Jewish workers out of Riga’s ghetto. He saved dozens. A memorial, and the remains of a synagogue burnt down by the Nazis with many Jews locked inside, can be found to the east of the Old Town, next to the original site of Lipke’s house.

The face above the writing is that of Lipke

The synagogue memorial

For all this talk of 20th century history, Riga’s story actually goes back a lot further. The city itself is over 800 years old, with its cathedral being founded in 1211. Its charming Historic Centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and has a wide variety of architecture looming over cobbled streets. One quirky section is called the ‘Three Brothers’: three narrow terraced houses next to each other that all have differing colours and architectural styles.

Riga's imposing cathedral and square

The oldest is the white house

Nothing sits atop the Three Brothers, unlike a building near Riga’s Great Guild. A man was rejected from registering with the guild a long time ago, so put a statue of a cat on top of his roof to distract people looking out of the guild’s windows. Near the cat is a replica of a large stone head which was found in Latvia almost 200 years ago. The original is in Riga’s Cathedral.

The man was eventually invited
into the guild. He refused.

The stone head replica

Another quirky story of Riga’s past is connected to its medieval walls, specifically what is now called the Swedish Gate. The story goes that a young woman fell in love with a Swedish officer, whose barracks were outside the walls. One night he didn’t show up, so the woman went to look for him. In doing so, she broke curfew. Naturally, her punishment was death by being buried alive within the wall of the gate. This then became haunted, with the ghost only eventually being appeased by the creation of an art piece positioned further down the street. So the story goes…

Where the man in the blue shorts is looking
is where the woman was 'built alive'

The art piece, with the easy name of 
Geisterdenkmal, was made in 2015

Whether you believe the old tales or not, this Historic Centre district is beautiful to walk around. It’s even better to kayak through - an artificial canal has been created that gives you another gorgeous perspective, particularly when the sun is shining!

The canal follows the line of the city's old defensive moat

Riga's Freedom Monument, which survived
being taken down by the Soviets

As part of my rather long paddle, I passed Riga’s Central Market. I was told that this is the largest market in the world, which I really don’t think is true. Made of 5 hangars, it is sizeable, sure, but it’s not that big. What it does have - which I found out when walking around in it the day after my paddle - is lots of great food and by far the cheapest beer you can find in the city.

There are over 3,000 stalls in and around the Central Market 

It could be Europe's largest, though is much smaller than
the world's largest market, said to be Yiwu in China

The beer is sold in plastic bottles (they give you a cup
if you ask) - 1 litre was just over 3 euros

This paddle, undoubtedly the highlight of my brief stay in Latvia, also took me through the other side of the city which is bisected by the Daugava river. It took me downstream to the Riga Radio and TV Tower, which is hard to miss at any point in the city. Incredibly, it is the tallest structure in the European Union.

368 metres tall

You can't get much closer than this - the tower
is closed, due to be reopened in 2029

Around the corner, there was complete tranquillity. Gliding along a still stream through lilypads and long grass, it was as if I had been transported to somewhere like the Okavango Delta. Amazing to see a side of Riga that not many do, and definitely kept me going whilst I was paddling over 3 km against the river current to get back.

Apparently if you are born in July, this is your birth flower

This stream is called Biekengravis - I'll call it Latvian Okavango

I was told there was a surprise on my route -
a canoe slalom course! I...struggled...

Riga has been a very pleasant surprise. A city with a lot going on, whilst never feeling too big or too busy. A city with Old World charm mixed with modern amenities. Relatively cheap whilst not neglecting quality. I imagine the atmosphere when their not-original Christmas tree is erected is different (and much colder), but Riga has been a lovely place to spend a couple of summer days.

Salad very much optional

Paddling on the Daugava

Paddling in Riga's canal

Love you all,

Matt