October 5

 Flung the drapes open this morning to see Latvia! And some pretty grey skies…we are not going to be five-for-five today. It wasn’t raining, but it felt like it might. My hair is always a good indicator of the weather and it was fuzzed out like a Brillo pad. Who knew it would be humid in October in Northern Europe? 

The ship was docked almost on the grass. I am so happy that none of these stops need a tender to get to shore, it’s a joy to just be able to walk off and on whenever you please and not have to wait for those cramped little boats. 

We had our usual breakfast and then left the ship to walk to town. The skies seemed threatening so I tossed an umbrella into my little backpack, just in case. 

It literally took less than 7 or 8 minutes to get to the edge of the old town. There were two ways to go, one was longer and confusing and course that’s the one I chose. *sigh* I even had a map and still went the wrong way, but we ended up in Doma Laukums, which is the name of the town square, in minutes, so it all worked out. (We did pass a Circle K though, just outside the city walls, which seemed weird) 

Not sure if all the police cars here are electric, but this seemed like a good time to stage a heist as not only was it plugged in, there were no policemen anywhere in sight. Plus, one could dash down those tiny little twisty back lanes where no car could fit. Or, even if they could, it would be like those scenes from bad comedy movies where the doors wouldn’t open.  I resisted the temptation though, and besides I don’t know how to yell “This is a robbery!” in Latvian.

There were a multitude of souvenir shops on each side of the street, of course they all sell basically the same things at basically the same prices, but I did notice that the ones here offered a pleasant change from the usual souviner fare, there seemed to be an emphasis on craftsmanship and locally inspired pieces. Treasures rather than trinkets. I did buy some locally made touques.

Heading down the cobblestone streets towards the town square. 

I found the Latvian people to be very quiet. Their friendliness was expressed different than at home. They are not cold by any means, but definitely reserved. I had read about that prior to our arrival here, and it’s quite true. They don’t feel the need to smile and make small talk with strangers,  which is really rather refreshing. Their culture is often described as valuing privacy and personal space. A haven for us introverts! 

The country does have a complicated history with the Soviets, a time when a person didn’t say anything to strangers, and they only regained their independence in 1991, so I suppose that is a lingering effect. In any case, I absolutely loved it there.

We carefully picked our way to a coffee shop in the town square so that I could have my “Coffee in Another County” moment and watch the passersby. 

In Riga you see black cats everywhere. Not actual live ones, but in every souviner store you see them on paintings, jewellery, dish clothes, postcards, key chains and so forth, they’ve become one of the city’s most famous symbols. The story goes that a wealthy merchant applied to join The Great Guild and for whatever reason, he was refused admission. He was furious and so he had 2 large metal cats places on his roof, with their backs arched and their rear ends pointing towards the guild, a snub if there ever was one. There ended up being a court case as the guild was so offended, and the merchant was eventually admitted to the guild if he promised to turn his cats around, which he did. All’s well that ends well, and now you see black cats everywhere. I bought a wee watercolour of one.

The town square was surrounded by some pretty impressive buildings. Thank goodness as you get off the ship at each port, there are little tourist stands with maps with explanations of the different places, as well as where public toilets are and whether or not you need to pay for their use. So far I we just utilized the bathrooms in the places where I had my daily coffee…win-win.  

This was originally a bank, but is now a radio and weather station.

This was originally a stock exchange, built in the early 1800’s and is now an art museum.

The town square is surrounded by buildings built from as early as the 1200’s right up until the early 1900’s. The bottom floors are mostly cafés and restaurants. Lots of little stalls selling handmade goods are scattered in the square as well as lots of benches and flowers. 

This is the Riga Cathedral, construction started in the year 1211! The pipe organ inside was, at one time, the largest in the world. It has 6,718 pipes and the outer casing was crafted in 1601. I’d love to hear it, they play quite often, but the timing was wrong for us today. 

We did some more wandering down the little back streets and eventually worked our way back to the ship. 

He decided to have his afternoon snooze and I was going to read on the balcony, but man, that old town was so close that I had to go back.

Can’t sit here and read when secret places are so close! It’s still not raining, so it’s now or never. 

You can see the spires of the old town right there, it’s a couple of minutes walk down the path you can see to the right of the highway, then you cross a bridge and there you are!

How can you not enter that passageway? Just look at those old city walls!

Is he pointing me in the right direction?

I stood there wondering if I should dash across the street and risk my life, until I realized there was a crosswalk just ahead, so I decided to not break any laws and do the right thing.

This is the Evangelical Lutheran Church, started in 1209 (1209!). It was badly damaged in WW2, but has been carefully restored.

This is Our Lady of Sorrows, and its spire is easy to spot from anywhere in town. It was right near the passage that I came in through, so I figured as long as I could see it, I could find my way back. These streets are so twisty and all look very similar, it’s so easy to get turned around and lost. 

Little cafés and bars are foud at the ends of so many alleys. It’s magical!

This park was across from the Royal Palace. Green and shady (if it were sunny!) with a lot of benches,  and very welcoming. 

Just a modern store in a very old building,

Little restful spots everywhere. I had read that Riga was a wonderful place for rest & relaxation, and it truly was.

As I walked, the buildings became more of an Art Nouveau style, many with modern stores on the ground floor, apartments and offices in the higher floors. I want to live in that turret.

I guess….if you’re a shoe person….

Hmmmm. Not my church…no cross on top. Am I lost?

I don’t recognize these cobblestones. Shoot, maybe I am lost?

I backtracked a bit, spotted “my” church and headed back to the ship. Crisis averted.

That night we went to the second of the Main Dining rooms, the Four Oceans and while I had a good dinner, his was questionable. I had potstickers for an appie, cordon bleù for a main and carrot cake for dessert. He had an Asian noodle salad, brisket for a main and cannoli for dessert. The brisket was unlike any brisket either of us have ever seen/tasted and I do not mean that in a complimentary way. It was SO tough that the knife could literally not cut it. This likely means a trip to the buffet later on. 

The entertainment tonight was Detroit Motor, and while the actual costumes and performance were outstanding, Motown is not my favourite music. There were a couple of songs I enjoyed, but I wouldn’t go again.

Another early to bed night, but we ran into a storm somewhere in the sea and holy, was the ship a-rockin’. It didn’t bother us, at least not as far as sea-sickness goes, but the motion was like someone shaking the bed and I wanted to holler “Will you just lay still?!” Getting up at 3am to go pee was an adventure in itself. I seriously wondered if I should put my shoes on in case we got called to “Man the lifeboats” in the middle of the night. I was truly a little bit nervous. Steven never moved all night.