36. Riga Part 2

Our tour guide Emils stood out from other Latvians I had observed or spoken with, by the simple fact that he smiled a lot! Yes they are quite a dour lot, interactions in shops restaurants and taxis were usually one word affairs, if even that! 

Emils told us that the dream of all Latvians is to live in the countryside, with no neighbours within sight or shouting distance, so that explains a lot! 

This tour was a general tour, showcasing the highlights of Riga's Old Town. The meeting point was in front of St. Peter's Chrch (above). It was the only tour available on a Friday. If I had been there on a Saturday, there would have been four different (more interesting) tours to choose from. 

The building above, called House of the Blackheads is the most photographed building in Riga. Surprisingly, as Emils pointed out, it is also the most modern building on the town hall square! It was built in 1999, and it is just a replica of the original building which was destroyed in the war in 1941. 

All the other buildings on the square suffered a similar fate in the war, however Riga was lucky compared with other Eastern Europe capitals, as only 3% of its buildings were bombed. 

So the oldest building on the square currently  is actually the Stalinist style building above, from the 1950s.

The second oldest building on the square is this brutalist style block from the 1960s, which normally houses the Occupation Museum, but this has been temporarily relocated.

There are numerous churches, though Emils did point out that a third of Latvians are agnostic or athiest. Above is the Lutheran Cathedral ...

This is the Catholic one ...

The only surviving Synagogue (of eight before WW II) is on a quiet narrow side street. This is in fact what saved it, as destroying it would also have destroyed all the neighbouring buildings ...

And finally, the jewel in the crown, the magnificent Russian Orthodox Cathedral, currently closed to the public for fear of attack.

There were lots of references made to Latvia's time spent as part of the Soviet Union. It did not gain independence until 1991

Above is a sister Soviet "Intourist" hotel to the one in Vilnius, but now modernised and insulated on the outside. 

Our guide talked about the censorship laws that were in place during the Soviet Occupation.  One of the few foreign books allowed were the Sherlock Holmes series. These were so popular that a TV series was made based on them. The series was still set in London, but to avoid having to film there, the producers chose to film in Riga, as it was the most western looking city in the Soviet Union. 

This was Sherlock Holmes’ house on "Baker Street".  The TV series was extremely popular and therefore this house became the most photographed building in Riga during the 1970s and 1980s.  

Lots of other TV series and films set in London and Paris were made on the same street (above). 

This is Swedish Gate, the only surviving original city gate. 

Here is the National Opera House, set in one of the green parks by the canal.

This must be one of the nicest Police HQ of any capital city. It it difficult to see the Latvian flag flying outside it, but the Latvian flag is interesting as it the second oldest flag in Europe (after Denmark), and the two dark red stripes on a white background symbolise two rivers of dark red blood. 

On Dome Sq. there is the Latvijas Radio Building from the 1930s. 

Then there is the famous Cat House of Riga. It is a merchant house built by a peasant who became wealthy and wanted to put two cats up on the roof. There is no proof of the origins of the tale and it is now felt that a tour guide made the story up in the 1990s at the start of independence. However like all good urban myths this one has grown legs since then - or even tails!

The tour ended at one of the iconic images of modern day Riga, a small bronze sculpture of the Musicians of Bremen.  The donkey, dog, cat and rooster are squinting to see through the Iron Curtain. This was a gift to Riga from its sister city Bremen in 1991 to celebrate its independence.

One of the main sites that we didn’t see on the tour was the 'Three Brothers' Houses', so I made a beeline for this street before leaving the city centre. These are the oldest houses in the city and date from the 15th century. 

So that finished my sightseeing for the day. The temperature had dropped considerably during the afternoon and was now only 6⁰c. I  needed something warm and felt like a hot chocolate. 

I spotted this café on my way back to the apartment and went in, not realising until I went inside that it was billed "the most romantic café in Old Town", so even though I was on my own,  I stayed put, where it was nice and warm.

The sun was going down when I arrived back at the apartment and I could see this amazing sky from the living room window. The next day would probably be sunnier and warmer. 

It was quite cold inside the apartment, as apparently the communal heating system only kicks in when the outside temperature reaches a certain number, and this obviously wasn't low enough yet.

I decided to make another trip to Lido for dinner, to help me warm up. This time I opted for some minestrone soup, pollock stew, stewed saurkraut and farmer's potatoes. An unusual combination for sure, but the main object of the exercise was to get warmed up!

Final thoughts 

I loved Riga. It definitely reminded me of Paris.  I felt that it was a very cosmopolitan city, with a very vibrant city centre. 

Being 1m 95 myself, I felt so at home among maybe the tallest population in Europe! The fact that it is a planned city on a grid structure appealed to me greatly, as that is how my brain thinks.  

I suppose my impression of the city was coloured by the fact that I was staying in the Art Nouveau Embassy District and that everywhere was walkable within 15 minutes. 

My time here was far too short and I would love to come back in the height of summer.