Friday 6th December 2025

Riga 

No we didn’t die overnight, but did get 9 hours sleep which hopefully broke the drought and it might be back to some normality.

Managed the vagaries of how to bathe  in the unusual bath/ shower arrangements without the need of the rescue squad to extradite us from the bath.

As you do on a balmy 5 degree day you breakfast at a French patisserie in the Old Town of Riga, albeit in the dark at 830 in the morning. 

Then it was off to do a 2 hour guided walking tour of the City which recently achieved UNESCO listing.

Here comes the walk of temptation

Went down what might be termed Debauchery Avenue where all of your sins and cravings could be satisfied in the one strip. Try the Coffee House, aka Weed Shop, Vape Shop, any bar you want with enticing signs like 59 Shots for €50 and the Adult Shop – lucky we were on a schedule.

Tour started at the House of The Blackheads which we passed yesterday It was named after St Mauritius a  black Saint who was Saint of the Promiscuous Traders in lay language. He was apparently beheaded for crimes unknown.

In the same square was a house, where legend had it, female herbalists,in ancient terms witches, wove their craft only to be burnt. 

They love their myths and legends over here.

Our very knowledgeable guide then bought us back to reality with grim stories of the 159k Jews murdered  in the woods,  mainly during WW2 by both Germans and Russians.

There is not a lot of love for Russia and with a population of only 1.7 million and a nett population decline of about 20k last year they fear a possible Ukrainian situation.

The Govt is trying to reverse the population decline by offering  job security and full pay for a year and a half, plus  providing  €60 a month childcare rate when back in the work force.

In a less sombre environment we visited the huge spired John The Baptist church and the Mayors old house.

In the square behind the church is Hamlins donated sculpture of 4 animals supposedly looking behind the Iron Curtain. Touching all animals simultaneously brings good luck. Looking at the sculpture it sounds like one weird game of Twister.

Hobbled along some very wavy cobblestone paths whose state of repair comes from fact they are laid on top of a still present stream.

The roads were on the edge of the old palace wall into which houses were built. Remnants of the wall still remain inside a modern hotel.

Hotel also had a collection of interesting art.

Seemingly every building has a black cat somewhere on display. It’s become a symbol of Riga. Seems some architect trying to join the Architects Academy tried to exhibit his skills by including them in a building design opposite the Academy. Reject by the Foreigners only members be reversed the cats with their bums facing the academy – might just be a Ripley’s  Believe it or not event.

One thing that stands out in Riga is its cleanliness. Apparently kids are taught at an early age not to litter. There is also a sense of safety and our guide suggested they had one of the lowest crime  rates of the Balkans.

Chatting to one of the Pommies  on tour and remarkably they had relatives in Gymea not far from where my daughter lives. The old 6 degrees of separation.

Wandered along the old outer wall of town hearing stories about the life of the Executioner,murdered starcrossed lovers and how some of the cemeteries ran out of room and just collected the skeletons and placed them in church tombs for everyone to see. It was a bit of a jigsaw puzzle with heads arms and legs in different piles.

Architectural differences abounded during the tour and later in the day we would tour the Art Nouveau area by ourselves. 

Overall it was a great tour led by a passionate, educated and knowledgeable guide which we thoroughly enjoyed.

Farewelled our Pommie  tour companions with a quick cricket update and popped into Market to try a Black Balsam, aka sweet rocket fuel drink with 45% alcohol before heading off for more walking.

Off along the riverbank with a great view of the spectacular National Library across a quite expansive river.

Arrived at bus station to do a bit of reconnaissance for tomorrow before heading to the markets situated in some old buildings looking like domed plane hangars.

Each of the hangars housed different products including meat fish, groceries and dairy products. The poor old fruitier were consigned to spots outside between the hangars.

There was an amazing product range, with none of it particularly cheap. 

Jane nearly created an international incident when she attempted to check out the huge fish holding tanks, with Olga the 100kg fishmonger giving her a dressing down.

Tails between our legs we were off grabbing a Uzbekistan styled lunch.

Enjoyed a brief respite back at the hotel before restarting our journey to see the Art Nouvea side of town which gained its reputation as a leader of the movement between 1898 and 1915.

On the way over we meandered along the canal which was formerly part of the city protection system, through beautiful parklands. In one the boys were grooming and testing the outdoor ice skating rink.

We were joined on the walk by what may have been half the Latvian Army as they marched , weaponless, along the pavement.

Soon reached the magnificent Cathedral and refreshed our minds of the wealth that existed in the church. It was an interesting arrangement with no pews just standing room.

Arrived in the Art Nouveau area where street after street was dotted with wonderfully ornate houses. It was also full of Embassies,  hotels and eateries – any one going hungry simply wasn’t trying. You might go thirsty though if you are a wine drinker looking at discount prices in the bottle shops.

Had our fill of culture and headed back towards town grabbing a couple of happy hour drinks in a bar where we could have been everybodies grandparents – just a couple of old hipsters listening to the music in reality.

Worked our way back to the market enjoyed another Black Balsa, some sort of caramel cone and did some trinket shopping before bopping along to a bit more music- wondering if there was more than herbs in the Balsam.

Traded our collection of cups in for €8 and wandered around a bit more, engaging with a few other tourists then off for a light dinner at an Italian eatery/wine bar. But not before a visit to another properas decoration store.

With even ruddier cheeks from a little red wine we headed home for our last sleep in Riga before heading to Estonia tomorrow.