Riga

finally a real glimpse of eastern europe! ive been hunting for the quiet eastern european city with nice bakeries,small cafes and not a hoard of tourists. it seems ive found it in riga(surprisingly). lots of old cobbled streets, very pretty, and yet around the outskirts is the older houses that are slowly turning to rubble. well worth a visit for a laid back romantic weekend!! there were a few stag do’s on sat nite wandering around, but nothing compared to prague or any uk town on the weekend, the locals keep to themselves but most speak english,german and russian(as well as lat!) 5 stars!

I was only hear for one day but it was a beautiful day in late spring. The sky was clear, the people were friendly, and the ice cream was plentiful. The only thing was there were some many tourists! I guess you can expect that at this time of year. But everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves so that’s good!

Best experience ever

A great jumping off point for the rest of the Baltic States…

This is one of my favorite places in the world. I have been several times. The people will treat you so well. The old part of the city is very interesting to walk through… it is cobblestone and they still let some cars drive through the very narrow streets.

Although many people dont know about it.. for Eastern Europe, this is one of the “hot spots” of vacations.

~lg!

I’ve written a long-ish two-part travelogue—places we stayed, things we saw, and general impressions—about my trip to Riga, Sigulda and points beyond on my blog. Part one can be found here, and part two can be found here.

This country, to me, was a throw in on a trip I went on to Russia. I wasnt too impressed with what I saw here. Our guide showed us some buildings he thought were noteworthy. I thought some were interesting, others were not. In the end though, all you do is look at it, take a picture, and then move on, repeating this a number of times. Very simple, and I wasnt really in awe of anything I saw (though there was one building I really liked). I have to say though, there are some really fine looking young women in this country.

Riga has so much to offer. It is such a perfect mix of Eastern and Western Europe. Art Nouveau is everywhere. So much of the old city architecture has German and Scandinavian influence, then there is the gorgeous Orthodox Cathedral, which was used as a planetarium during Soviet times. Museums…interesting little shops…something for everyone.

I must admit falling in love with the chain of stores called Nelda. I always find it fun to shop and do everyday things like everyday people when I visit another country.

Riga feels old, and I like that.

http://www.rigalatvia.net/

this place is surreal
but great!
its very cheap and that makes it great…

not loads to do but a fine place if you want to take it easy and wander around

Well, I live here…