Latvia

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Latvia

 Europe » Latvia By zapatos de caminar
August 20th 2006
Keenan and Selene Lativa - Riga
Another Baltic state, another gorgeous old town. There seemed to be less structure to Riga’s old town, it was easy to get lost and trying to find a particular sight was quite hard. The best strategy seemed to be to just wander around and try to work out what you were looking at. Riga’s old town was a lot bigger than Tallinn’s, and while it’s World Heritage listed, it’s used as if it were just a normal part of the city so it has a modern vs. old school feel.

Sigulda
About an hour out Riga, near the town is a huge national park with castles and caves. Despite the rain, we had a lovely day out and it was good to get away from the city and see some nature stuff.

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Photos

Riga, The Capital of Latvia
One of Riga’s main squares. This is quite a big open space Riga. There were heaps of little squares all over the city

Riga Old Town
Narrow cobbled streets of Riga

Black Cat House
Black Cat House. A blacksmith owned this houses ages ago, when his application to join the Great Guild was rejected, he turned the cat on his roof around so its bum was facing the Great Guild Hall, which just happened to be across the road. After a bit of back and forth, the Great Guild accepted him, and he turned the cat back. What a champ

St Peter's
Looking up at the spire of St Peter’s which we’ll climb later

Stalin's Birthday Cake
A leftover from Soviet times. Nicknamed Stalin’s birthday cake, it really is a monstrosity

Riga
Up the top of St Peter’s Church, looking over the old town

Riga II
The hangers in the foreground were used as zeppelin hangers during WWI, close to where we stayed and are now a huge market. Can’t remember what that huge monument in the background is

Riga III
The Daugava River

Kman
Kman checking out the view

Sigulda castle
View over the valley to Sigulda castle

Approaching the Castle
Catching a cable car over the valley, how’s the serenity?

Zane waz ere
There are thousands of names carved into the soft rock around some of the caves. This one stood out

The Castle
Finally there! Approaching Sigulda Castle

The Castle II
Checking out the view from the tower of the castle. It was built in 1214 and they certainly picked a good spot