Day 21: ROAD TRIP!

Okay, so right now it is 4am here in Latvia. The sky is getting light and I can hear the birds chirping. I'm going to try and write this blog post to the best of my ability to give you an honest portrayal of my amazing day under these tired and half-sleeping circumstances.

Today was the day that I made my first trip to Riga after a few failed attempts to go. My original plan was to travel by bus with the student who met me at the airport when I arrived in Latvia but, as usual, plans changed. Instead, as a faster and cheaper option, my Estonian friend offered to take us by car and join us for the day. As you have to drive pretty much straight for most of the journey to Riga from Valmiera, we amused ourselves by blasting music, Michael Jackson hits to be more specific. We had to meet quite early in the morning to get to Riga at a decent time and because of this I fell asleep for at least the last third of the journey. But when a sign saying "Riga" appeared, I was soon nudged awake to experience Riga from the start. I have 117 photos of Riga so I'll have to be decisive in the ones I post on here.

Riga clock on top of Origo Shopping Centre

The student who came with us is from Riga so we were in for a treat: a full tour of Riga and Old Riga with personal experiences and past memories thrown in! The first thing we did was go into one of the shopping centres and could hear beautiful singing in the distance. We followed the singing and came to find a small concert of choir singers, performing as preparation for the big celebration of St. John's Day on Saturday.

I didn't want to leave but Riga awaited me.

I must say that that I felt very proud of myself today. I managed to walk past several clothes shops and not be tempted to buy a single thing. That must be a record for me. Before this sudden strength wore off, it was time to explore the city of Riga. There are so many beautifully decorated parks in the centre of Riga from which you can see most of the landmarks.

Standing in from of the National Opera House (complete with a tourist pose)

We just walked a few steps and already I found so many things to take photos of.

Stroking the Major (from 1901 - 1912) of Riga's dog

The main focal point in the centre was the Freedom Monument (unveiled in 1935), a tower that symbolises much political significance for Latvia. It's very tall so you can't exactly miss it! The great thing was that I was able to get some background information and history on it rather than just taking a pretty picture and walking away. This monument, which has been restored twice over the years, honours soliders killed during the Latvian War of Independence (1918 - 1920). The liberty statue at the top of the tower holds three stars to represent the then three regions of Latvia (but now there are four regions). The history of Latvia just amazes me...

Another tourist pose...

I don't know if it is very clear but there are also guards of honour who stand at the bottom of the monument. We caught them just as they were marching away to swap with other guards.

Walking past striking water fountains, statues of important Latvian writers and prime ministers and ministry buildings, our tour brought us to the National Theatre.

From the outside.

The theatre was open so we went inside to look at the interior design in true tourist fashion. A elderly Latvian gentleman who works there allowed us to go upstairs even though is was closed off and we unexpectedly saw this...

A sneak peek!

Sometimes you have to go that extra mile to see such intricate beauty of a place and I think me being a tourist helped his decision to let us venture upstairs.

The President's Castle

It was time for Old Riga, the part of the tour I was most looking forward to from hearing all the stories about how wonderful it is, and they were correct.

A cathedral through the trees.

The atmosphere of Old Riga is amazing. It feels like an old village in itself, almost separate from the rest of the city. I walked past several buildings, mainly churches, that were nearly 800 years old - 800 YEARS OLD! My mind was blown (again)...

House of the Blackheads, originally called the New House
(built in 1335 but reconstructed many times)

I wish I could put all my photos on here but then it wouldn't really be a blog but more of a slideshow. But truthfully, photos cannot do this place justice. As soon as we arrived in Riga, I could instantly feel the excitement. I just reminded me so much of home. I think it was the hustle and bustle of the people. It's great to get a different perspective on Latvia. I have been living in a small-ish town for the past few weeks and now I have seen a big city. Now all that's left is the countryside...

I could quite happily live in Riga in the future. A beach can be my back-up plan.