Riga, Latvia



After leaving beautiful Cesis we took the train back to Riga to spend a few days.  We happened to arrive in time for the 150th year celebration of the founding of the Latvian Society.  There were festivals and events happening city-wide.  It was great to be involved in the celebration and we learned a lot of history of Riga.  We strolled through the old city and among other great sights we found a great cafe called Black Magic!  We also explored the Riga Market - which happens to be the largest market area in Europe.  The market is housed in five old zeppelin hangers and has everything from fresh fish and other meats to vegetables, beer and all types of household goods and souvenirs.  One stop shopping!




Military Museum detail

The old castle - the current presidential residence




Bremen Town Musicians


Definitely read about the history of this monument -
google: "1905 monument Riga"

We also spent a day exploring Riga's historic Art Nouveau Architecture area.  Not only did we see all the great buildings, we visited a museum that showcases one of the few remaining apartments from 1930's.  We learned that nearly all of these large, multi-room, single family apartments did not survive the Soviet era.





























On the last day in Riga we traveled north to the neighborhood of Mezaparks - and we wished we had not waited so long!  Mezaparks is a great area that boasts a large nature preserve with a zoo, amphitheater, beach, trail systems and long boulevards where folks bike, walk and inline skate.  A must see on your next trip to Riga :)

A welcome to Mezaparks




Comments

  1. David J. SmithNovember 13, 2018 at 8:46 AM

    We loved Riga when we visited back on my own Fulbright to Estonia. We took a bus from Tartu.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

From the Baltics to the Balkans: Fall Fulbright Reflections

Image
Narva College As the days are growing colder and the Christmas candies are appearing in the shops, I am finally making time to reflect in writing upon my first few months as a Fulbright Scholar in Estonia. During the past few months, I have had the pleasure of teaching serious and smart students, working with helpful new colleagues, and traveling throughout Estonia and to Serbia for professional conferences.   Opening Day Celebration at Narva College I am teaching four master’s level classes and two bachelor’s level classes at Narva College of the University of Tartu. The master’s level students are current English language teachers taking methodology, academic writing, media in English language teaching, and skills development courses. The bachelor’s level students have an oral communications class and a thesis seminar class with me. It has been really interesting to learn about the educational system and the local culture from my students. They, like students ...
Read more

Cesis, Latvia

Image
Seems the theme of our Latvian vacation is coming up churches and castles!  After a night in Riga we took a train two hours north to Cesis, Latvia.  Our time in this city has turned out to be the best couple of days we have spent thus far!  We explored a medieval castle and church and spent time enjoying the old town.  Our hotel was in the heart of the old city - our travel agent Rhonda did a great job pulling this trip together.  We traveled back to Riga on Thursday and we will spend a few days exploring Riga before traveling back to Estonia. 
Read more

Petree and Kirkpatricks at play!

Image
What have we been up to? No, it has not all been travel and having a cocktail in some far off town square...(However, we do hope to soon post our Scandinavian holiday trip photos :) but we are trying to stay active and do as much as we can around our school and work schedules.    We have traveled to the city of Narva-Joesuu a few times. Located just a few kilometers north of Narva, we take a local bus that is free to travel between these two cities. Narva-Joseuu sits on the Gulf of Finland where the Narva River enters the sea.  Historically a resort town on the gulf, it is still filled with a number vacation homes, year-round residences, and three destination spa-hotels. It is known locally for these spas as well as nature.   Gulf of Finland  The forests of Narva-Joesuu On the coast Many Narvans travel to Narva-Joseuu to hike through the woods or spend time on the beach. Early this winter we spent an evening i...
Read more