A day in Riga

Anna, Sarah, and I woke up early to catch the 7:20am bus to Riga. We ate breakfast, made lunch, and then took a cab to the station where all of the buses left. We were all a little tired but very excited for the day trip.

The afternoon before after Sarah had arrived, we went to a travel agency to purchase our bus tickets to Riga. It was a little last minute, but we all wanted to experience Latvia (at least for the day) since who knows if we will ever be back that way.

We were on a nice charter bus that had wifi and televisions, but the three of us mostly slept through the four hour drive. When we arrived, we walked to the Old Town, picked up maps at Tourist Information and then headed off to see Riga's most important sites. The map led us to a dozen historical, must-see locations.

I took heaps (you can thank the Australians for getting me hooked on that word!) of photos, here are just a few from the day:

Freedom Monument, the symbol of Latvian independence and Riga's major landmark.

The spectacular panoramic view from atop St. Peter's Church

The day we were there, there was a festival taking place in Ratslaukums' Square. From what we could tell, it was to give thanks for the harvest.

Built in the 14th century, the House of Blackheads belonged to the Guild of Unmarried Merchants. At that time, it was the richest and most prestigious venue in Riga. It was rebuilt in1999 after it was damaged during WWII.

Riga Castle, the primary workplace of Latvia's president

See the pulleys on the outside of this building? Old school elevator system baby!

Three Brothers, a group of residential houses each from a different century with the oldest dating back to the 15th century.

Powder Tower, one of Riga's fortification towers. It dates back to 1330 and stored gunpowder in the 17th century. Since 1919 it houses the Latvian War Museum.

Walking towards Old Town

National Opera, constructed in 1863 as the German Theatre.

 Central Market, one of the largest and oldest markets in Europe that has hundreds of vendors selling clothes, flowers, candy, pastries, seafood, meat and lots of local produce.

A furniture store inside Central Market. It felt like we had gone back in time while we were in there. "Hello old school couches".

Inside one of Central Market's five food pavilions.

An outside vendor selling grapes and lingonberries

Walking through the underground tunnel to get to the other side of the street

Streets of Riga (adjacent to Central Market)

We ate dinner at a restaurant in Old Town. All of us were craving sushi and that meal hit the spot. I ordered a cucumber roll and a vegetable stir fry, it was pretty good but not like it is at home. 

After dinner, we walked to the bus station next to the Central Market where we waited for the bus back to Tallinn. We left at 7pm and for most of the ride back I read and took little cat naps. 

We arrived back in Tallinn after midnight. We took a cab back to the Monk's Bunk where Anna and I waited in the common/living room until 3am when we needed to leave for the airport. It was a long night and I was delirious from not getting a sufficient amount of sleep (Anna took a nap on the couch when we got back to the hostel). I kept myself awake by reading, I'm not sure how I was able to do that.

We had a short layover in Riga and then finally got back to Copenhagen around 8am. Needless to say that when I got back, I slept until 4pm. 

It was a whirlwind and extremely eventful 5 days in Eastern Europe. It was a fantastic experience, I had no idea that while I was in Copenhagen I would ever have the opportunity to visit Finland, Estonia, and Latvia...three countries I knew very little about until going there. I'm really happy I went because I probably never would have gone in my life if Anna hadn't suggested it. 

If you ever have the opportunity to experience countries in Eastern Europe, I'd say take it!