Bright and early, we met our Polish/Latvian guide for walking tour of the old town. Unfortunately, my “whisper” headset malfunctioned so I didn’t catch a lot of the commentary. I still wanted to post pictures to give a taste of Riga.
Our bus dropped off at a small turret that guarded Riga many centuries ago.
Our guide pointed out a gothic cathedral nearby. During Soviet occupation it was used as a disco for college students.
This is one of the oldest churches in Riga, dating to the 13th century. Latvians were forced to convert many Catholic churches to Protestant during different periods of their history.
Riga has over 700 Art Deco inspired buildings throughout the city.
We also learned about an architect who had the whimsical habit of adding iron cats to his buildings.
Nearby was a cafe for “spinster cat owners” to play off that eccentric twist.
Old town also featured ancient buildings still used as homes today, such as this mint green one that was built in the mid-1600s.
As part of the conversion from Catholic to Protestant churches, Riga saw an influx of German clergymen. One had his town donate a statue of the “Musicians of Bremen” as a sign of goodwill.
Across from the statue were two enterprising ladies selling handknit items. I knew I would find more sturdy versions at the Christmas market, also hand knit, in the colors I was looking for.
Once we left the condensed church area, we walked through an arch that was from the Swedish occupation, the earliest settlers of Riga.
This led to bar row, starting with an ale house erected in 1225.
A more modern bar included red statues made exclusively of cherry liquor bottles. Not sure if they add the dark blue label after purchase.
This bar/cafe couldn’t be bothered to come up with any theme, or name for that matter.
As we meandered through a series of squares, we ended up at a second short bar row, one with a sign that made it clear what it was.
Riga has four main squares and each touts a decorated Christmas tree, including the one with the photo-opp Riga sign.
Europe has a trend right now where they dress up the statues in a square for the holiday, such as this one:
There were two Christmas attractions added to our tour, but the photographers in the group were making us late, so we rushed by other shops on the way to Black Magic.
