Latvia
Latvia |
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Portion of a U.S. government map of eastern Europe
I have been to Latvia several times, always on my way to or from Russia. I worked on a project in Sankt-Peterburg, doing repair work in a hospital. Click here to see lots of pictures and travel stories from Russia.
I would fly to and from Helsinki, Finland. There are frequent ferries across the Gulf of Finland between there and Tallinn, Estonia. I would stay in Tallinn for a couple of nights, then take an overnight train to Sankt-Peterburg.
I would return in the opposite direction, generally staying longer and visiting Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
US Government map of Latvia
Here is a view coming from the train station early in the morning after arrival from Tallinn or Sankt-Peterburg.
This is looking from the big square where the train station is located, up Marijas Iela toward where it turns into Aleksander Caka Iela.
Below is a major monument in central Riga.
With the end of Soviet rule, it has become a symbol of Latvian national pride.
Well, it probably always was, but now Latvians can openly refer to it as such without risking a few years in the gulag.
Here are two views from a tall cathedral steeple in the Old Town.
There is an interesting mix of architecture. First, the Old Town itself.
Then there is the Stalinist Grotesque. See the building above the horizon, to the left of center, in the image below.
Related to that is the Soviet Utilitarian. See the half-cylindrical concrete halls now serving as markets, in the image below.
Finally, there is the Old Futuristic, looking modern today although built under Soviet rule. See the asymmetric suspension bridge at right, and the large radio tower below.
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Here is that Stalinist building up close.
It is of the same general design as a series of buildings in Moscow, just not nearly as immense. |
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Zithers!
Lots and lots of zithers!
Logistics — At least learn these words:
| Sveiki | Hello, Good-bye |
| Lūdzu | Please |
| Piedodiet | Pardon me |
| Paldies Liels paldies |
Thank you Thank you very much |
There are trains between Vilnius, Lithuania, and Tallin, Estonia, stopping in Riga. From Riga there are buses and trains to other Latvian destinations.
There has been train service between Sankt-Peterburg and Riga, but I don't know if it's still running.
A nice day trip out of Riga is to head up to Sigulda. Local trains run every hour or so for about 1 Euro. A pleasant little town next to a nice national park.
There weren't any hostels when I was going to Russia for the hospital project. There weren't many foreign tourists in Latvia then! At the time, the best deal was an unrenovated (meaning "Soviet") room in the Hotel Viktorija. Unrenovated, but the rooms were nice as you can see here.
The showers down the hall were pretty dire,
but the museum quality of the dysfunctional TV set
in the room may made up for that.
That is, if you were a fan of archaic Soviet electronics:
Hotel Viktorija
Aleksander Caka Iela 55
Riga, Latvia
+371-2-272-305
Leave the train station, head to your right on Marijas Iela,
past a 24-hour exchange office.
Marijas Iela turns into Aleksander Caka Iela after a few blocks.
It's about eight blocks, about one kilometer, to the Viktorija.
Travel in the former Soviet Union meant encounters with mystery meat referred to vaguely as kutlet. What is kutlet? Probably some sort of animal product. Or primarily animal product. Or at least containing animal product.
What variety of animal?
And what does "product" mean?
That's part of the exciting mystery of the kutlet!
The prevalence of kutlet was one of the very few reminders that the Baltic countries used to be part of the USSR.
The Hare Krishna Cafe in Riga was a rare relief from the kutlet. A vegetarian buffet, with soothing plinky, plinky music and chanting.
There was also a Hare Krishna place in Tallinn, Estonia, although the local food situation wasn't as dire there.
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