It's cold in Riga! It’s interesting to be a tourist at a time when no one in their right mind would be touristing tourist destinations. In Riga the average temperature is 23 degrees Fahrenheit and snow falls once a day, at least. As we wondered the streets, we mostly heard German and Russian spoken amongst the other few tourists (I suppose the Russians are used to this weather, maybe it's even an improvement.) Aside from the weather, it was nice to be a tourist for a couple days (as opposed to an American living in Estonia and struggling to be as Estonian as possible.)
On our first day I was on my own for lunch and picked a café called “I Love You” out of the guidebook. Quasi-lame title, I’ll admit, but it was great! I had a fantastic salad and homemade (and home-seasoned) Latvian french-fries. I spent that afternoon wondering around Vecrīga (Old Riga.) The old town is quite nicely contained and maintained, filled with restored buildings, shops, cafes and numerous massive Lutheran churches. We were able to go to the top of the tower of Pēterbaznīca (St. Peter’s) and were greeted with a sweeping view of Riga and the Daugava (the river that runs through Riga.)
The next day we visited a couple museums. The Latvian Occupation Museum is especially affecting and well worth visiting. However, the best part of our second day was walking through the Art Nouveau area of Riga. Located only ten minutes by foot from Old Riga is Alberta Street, an amazing street full of Art Nouveau buildings. The colors and ingenuity of the decorations are truly spectacular. It’s fun to imagine actually living in one of these buildings (and consequently dealing with tourists like me photographing your front windows all day long.) I highly recommend a visit.
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