When I first agreed to take the trip to Riga my main reason was the thought of visiting a city in a country I had not been to before. When I started to read about the city I realised I had a real treat in store and was looking forward to enjoying the abundant Art Nouveau architecture in the city.
Of course, when you work as a tour guide you cannot always satisfy your own whims but on this occasion I was lucky. I got up at down one morning and explored the streets around the hotel, all brimming with Art Nouvea buildings and flooded with early morning sunlight. It was fabulous.
Our half day city tour revealed more treasures and it was a real delight strolling through the lovely parks that surround the city centre. Having just been told why a bridge across the canal was covered with locked padlocks we were treated to the sight of a bride and groom arriving to perform the ritual of locking an inscribed padlock around the railings and throwing away the key! If you want to get divorced you have to find the right key first!
The Freedom Monument, guarded by smart strutting soldiers, the Guild Houses, the Brothers Houses and the Cathedral were among many lovely historic buildings that we visited that morning. After a lovely lunch at Alus Séta we set off on a one hour river cruise to see the cityscape fromthe water.
The second day we venture out of town on a lcoal bus, finding the bus stop was an adventure in itself. We visited the Open Air Folk Museum which has over 100 old buidings re-constructed in a huge park. It would have been a lovley day were it not for the rain. We beat a hasty retreat to the famous market, at one time the largest indoor market in Europe and housed in 4 aircraft hangars.
Cocktails in the in the Skyline Bar at the Reval Hotel Latvia was a good start to our last evening in Riga and a chance to enjoy this splendind city one more time laid out before us.
