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Published: July 26th 2003
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From the church tower.
A view of the impressive looking TV tower and the markets. Where the POSH backpackers is located. I spent a few more days in Riga. Basically I checked out the sights in the day time and the nightclubs in the evening.
The sights: most give student discounts - me not a student. They are also listed in the free magazines and maps given away at the tourist information centre.
St. Peters Church - at 72m, gives some fantastic views - costs about £2 for entry.
The Art Noveau Region - a famous architect designed an entire area of the city. Due to having the entire europe guidebook I can't name him but well worth seeing and the photos are just a small sample of what can be seen.
The Jana Rozentala and Rudolfa Blaumana Museum - Accidently went to this museum as it was located in the Art Noveau region and thought it was about the architect. Instead it was the flat of a latvian painter and his family. Some of the paintings were really nice and it was great to see how people would have lived at the turn of the 20th century. Run by a pair of little old ladies who were very proud of the museum and wanted to tell me
Nice street.
Erm... I should say more. all about all that I saw. Unfortunatly my Latvian was not up to understanding much. About 70p.
The Museum of Applied Art - a collection of some really beautiful objects, in the center of the old city. 80p for entry. Really worth a visit.
The Occupation Museum - A strange bunker like museum standing on concrete stilts in the old town provides the story of Latvia 1939 - 1991. During the second world war Latvia was alternatly occupied by the Russians and the Germans, the museum provides in English the details of the history and houses many interesting objects from the time. The reconstruction of a gulag helps demonstrate the misery that would face those deported to Siberia and illustrates well why so few survived. The descriptions of the objects were at times really harrowing, little drawings made by a fourteen year old girl as she travelled with her family through Russia on a train destined for a gulag, through to letters between families which were all censored. Well worth a visit and free entry.
The history of Latvia Museum - provides all the details of the waves of empires that claimed the area as there own
throughout history, Romans, Vikings, Russians, Germans etc etc. Unfortuantely the details of the items were only available in Russian or Latvian - so I missed out but got the vague gist. Free on Wednesdays.
The Markets - Located just outside my hostel near the bus and train stations, located inside a series of Zepplin hangers they are huge, bustling and full of really cheap things to eat. Pumpernikal bread is really good.
The Cafes, Bars and Clubs - well the ones I went to 😊
Kaficinjas - little cafes scattered throughout the city serving mainly locals, really cheap and often great food. The difficulty is getting what you want - mostly a combination of pointing and guessing. Beers are only 50p per pint in these wonderful little places 😊
Piebalgas - Big bar in the main square of the city, serves pints at between 90p - £1.80 for a Hoegaarden. Generally I headed here just before finding a club.
Roxy - Russian club playing mix of Russian styles plus some western hits, had to go jump about when the Prodigy came on. Has a number of rooms with different styles. 1 lat weekdays rising to 5 at the weekends.
Pudakivim something something - Some say the best club in town but I'm not personally convinced. Though the room downstairs with fur on the walls was fantastic. Liked it more than Roxy though.
Plus a few more bars and clubs that I can't remember the names of.
I really like Riga - I think that in two years time it will be very different, I imagine more like what I'm told Prague is - very beautiful but really starting to become overun with tourists. I'm told that this year there are almost twice as many as the year before. I guess I'm maybe helping this trend by putting on the web how great it all is... but then I write that about most places.
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Fred
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Art Nouveau
Michail Eisenstein is one of the most well known proponents of the style and designed many of the Art Nouveau buildings in Riga.