With a 10:00 flight I had a decent amount of time to get to the airport, security was backed up so much the gates were closed due to it being rammed. Even with that the amount of people, it actually only took 15 minutes. After a rather bumpy landing I arrived in Riga or more accurately Rīga, the bar across the I signifies it is a long vowel.
Tried to use Bolt (equivalent of Uber) and instantly got rejected 3 times by the drivers. Maybe the drivers have to pay an airport fee, managed to get one by going up the stairs to a different area. Airport is quite close to the city so only 20 minutes or so to a hotel near the old town.
Decided to have a wander around the newer area, lots of park area nearby. Soon spotted the huge golden domes of the Riga Nativity of Christ Orthodox Cathedral. The church was open and when I went in some monks were chanting which certainly added to the atmosphere.
Later I headed up to the Skyline bar for a great view over the city and a pint* of Tervete
The next day it was forecasted to rain all day...and it did.
Truth be told though, the weather as just heated up in time for my holiday as a week before there was heavy snow throughout the region.
As I was being a cheapskate breakfast wasn't included in the hotel, but worry not, I got some tasty avacado toast at the easy to pronounce Zvaigzne Cafe.
Then it was onto the ominous Corner House. A very busy tour with around 30 people in cramped conditions. Turns out not that cramped comparing to when it was a KGB run prison. The guide was excellent telling the stories about how it was run after WWII up to the collapse of the Soviet Union (and a bit beyond). For years later people would still give it a wide berth.
Then onto the Natural History Museum from rocks to whales and a whole lot in between over 5 floors. an exhibition of ants had, for some reason, a picture of Harrison Ford in the middle. Somethings just get lost in translation I feel.
A drier day, and the temperature is creeping upwards. This time a walk tour round the old town, not overloaded with history, got round some main sights in the old town without actually going into them, that can be done on your own time. So that's what I did! First onto St Peters Church, the elevator to the top starts from the 3rd floor (guess it's hard to retrofit old buildings). Good views over the Daugava river that separates the old town on the Eastern side from the newer Western side.
Another significant sight in Riga is the iconic House of the Blackheads. Although turns out that a significant portion of old town was bombed, so this was finally properly rebuilt around the millenium.
Later I headed over to Alberta Iela, which I'm sure you will already know as being an Art Nouveau gem!
Enroute I popped into the Anatomy Museum which was full of bits of people in formaldehyde, not somewhere to visit just before lunch.
During a population and prosperity boom at the beginnig of the 20th century, Riga was throwing up Art Noveau building like nobody's business. Now it was over 800 buildings in the style.
I headed into the Art Noveau museum with a spectacular spiral staircase. Got up the five flights of stairs to enter the museum only to be told it was on the ground floor...
* A round 500ml instead of 568ml from a pint
