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November 6th 2006

Published: November 15th 2006

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Marta S

First Day in Riga

The first day was bitterly cold. We walked from the train station in a blizzard that left us frozen to the bone. Once we reached our hostel, we hunkered down next to the heater for the remainder of the day.

First day in Riga got off to a rough start. We got off the train and onto the platform to discover that it was not only MUCH colder than it had been in Minsk (didn’t think that was possible), but that we were in fact in the middle of a blizzard. Foolishly, I tried to quicken my step in an effort to escape the sheets of falling snow, which resulted in me slipping on the top step of the downward-leading stairs and taking a “quick” ride down about a handful of them. Ouch!! And Ohhh…how embarrassing!! I collected myself and totally played it off like nothing had happened…my ankle was throbbing quite painfully, though.

That pain was immediately overshadowed by the numbing-cold from the increasingly falling snow. I had my snow cap pulled down and my scarf wrapped up only leaving my eyes uncovered. This was by far not enough to shield me. We walked, and walked, and walked till finally, just as my hands were on the verge of frost-bite, we found our hostel.

Well, for the remainder of the day we huddled around the space heater in our room. Sporadically, I would make a fast trip to

Town Hall Square (Ratslaukums)

This picture was taken on the first night, just as the snow had stopped and the temp. increased dramitically...enought to wallk around and see the city by night. This building looks much nicer all lite up.

the computer room to check my email, but then had to return back to the room to thaw back out. What a shame, too, cause the city looked amazing…well, from what I could see of it through the snow and my eye-slit.

The following day was a completely different story. The snow had not only stopped, but had practically disappeared over night…thankfully. So, with a whole day of sight-seeing in front of us, we had not a moment to spare.

We started out with a walking-tour of Old Riga, which was nice but not a whole lot different from other European old towns. More importantly than the buildings and history was the vibe that was felt from among the people. This city really had life to it. There are relatively no traces of its membership in the Soviet Republic and appeared to have embraced capitalism at impressive speed. Cafes, restaurants, markets were aplenty. One of my favorite sights was the Central Market. When it was completed in the 1930’s, it was one of the largest and most modern marketplaces on the European Continent. Made out of WWII Zeppelin hangars, they now function as meat, fish and dairy markets.

"Milda"

An important focal point for Latvians...built in 1935, amazing that it survived. Joking known as the "travel agency" because placing flowers by it meant an automatic trip to Serbia.

I loved this place!! The bustling atmosphere of people buying, bargaining, sampling and gossiping was really exciting. I walked away with a jar of jam, yum! Later we walked to the Art Nouveau district to take in the architecture, it was stunning! Lastly, we made our way to the top floor of highest hotel building in the city. This is the home of the Skyline bar. From here you can see all of Riga while in a swanky/chic lounge sipping a very smart cocktail. We sat there for a good three hours…it was a nice way to end the day.

All-in-all, this is the city I would chose to come back to (perhaps in the summer). It’s perfectly preserved and peaceful with a vibrant nightlife twist. After all, it HAS been named the Paris of the East for a reason!

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