36. Riga, Latvia Part 2
The Walking Tour
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 do come across as quite a dour lot, interactions in shops restaurants and taxis were usually one word affairs, if even that!
The building above, called House of the Blackheads in the Town Hall Square facing the City Council building, is the most photographed building in Riga. Emils had us guessing as to its date of construction. We all got it wrong! Surprisingly, as he pointed out, it is 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.
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.
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 and more interesting tours to choose from.
The building above, called House of the Blackheads in the Town Hall Square facing the City Council building, is the most photographed building in Riga. Emils had us guessing as to its date of construction. We all got it wrong! Surprisingly, as he pointed out, it is 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 building stock was 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, for example the Lutheran Cathedral (above) ... though Emils did point out that a third of Latvians are agnostic or athiest.
This is the Catholic one ...
The only surviving Synagogue (of eight that existed 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. It is very inconspicuous.
And finally, the jewel in the crown of Riga churches, the magnificent Russian Orthodox Cathedral, currently closed to the public for fear of attack, given the Russia-Ukraine war.
There were lots of references made on the tour 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, like the one in Vilnius it is now owned by Radisson Blu hotels.
Our guide talked about the censorship laws that were in place during the Soviet occupation. One of the few foreign books allowed was the Sherlock Holmes series. These became so popular that a TV series was eventually made based on them. The show was still set in London, but to avoid having to film there, the producers chose to film in Riga, as it was felt that it was the most western looking city in the Soviet Union at the time.
This, for example became 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, Jauniela (above).
This is Swedish Gate, the only surviving original city gate, and it is great t see that the house above is still lived in.
Here is the National Opera House, set on the banks of the canal.
This must be one of the nicest Police HQs of any capital city. It it difficult to see the Latvian flag flying outside it, but the Latvian flag is interesting in itself 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 Square stands the Latvijas Radio Building, dating from the 1930s - an interesting hybrid of Art Nouveau curves and Art Deco geometry.
Then there is the famous Cat House of Riga (Kaķu nams) in Riga, a 1909 medieval-style building featuring two angry black cat sculptures on its roof. According to legend, a wealthy merchant placed the cats with their arched backs and raised tails pointing at the nearby Great Guild as an angry revenge prank after the guild refused to let him join. 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 may have 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. I was happy to see that they looked like they were the genuine article and not reproductions
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 stubbornly 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 sunset from the living room window. A sign that 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 - another eclectic mix of Eastern Europe delights. It was an unusual combination for sure, but the main object of the exercise was to get warmed up!
Final thoughts
I absolutely loved Riga, despite the damp weather on my arrival and on my first morning. 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 grand Art Nouveau Embassy District and that everywhere was walkable within 15 minutes.
My time here was far too short - this fellow giant of a city and I were only starting to get to know each other. I'll be back in the height of summer, when I hear the parks really come into their own.
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