LATVIA IN EUROPE
Latvia is a long way from London. Further away than Norway and Sweden. First you cross the Channel by ferry or Channel tunnel train from southern England to Europe. Then, driving clockwise, you pass through France, Belgium, Holland, German, Poland and Lithuania. Finally, crossing Latvia, you reach Riga, the capital, in the centre of the coast. The Baltic coast. It might be a good idea to fly-drive on a low-cost airline.
Problem
A blonde Latvian tour guide knocked at my door in London.
She said, "Hello. I am from Latvia. I am a student and I am selling jewellery to finance my studies at the university."
Photo of Riga university from Wikipedia article on Latvia.
She opened a black, folder, with a double page display of ear-rings on black card or black cloth. The ear-rings were long, and pale pinks and greens. Rather pale for me. I wear bright colours. She said, "These ear-rings are made from ..."
No point wasting her time and mine. I asked, "How much are they?"
"The ear-rings are £5."
That seemed very reasonable. However, I replied, "I don't have pierced ears, so how much are the necklaces?"
"They necklaces are £15!"
At five pounds I might have had one. But the colours are not right for me. No point wasting £15, when I have lots of jewellery in better colours.
She continued, "To finance my studies. I am studying English, at the university."
"You speak perfect English."
"Yes, I am a tour guide, in Riga. I can speak English. But when visitors are from other places, Newcastle, and so on, I cannot understand. So I come to England to try and learn other accents, not received pronunciation."
"You are from the capital of Latvia?"
"Yes. "
"I write about travel. A blog on travel. What are the top three tourist sites?"
"St Peter's Church
The black-headed house
The dome cathedral!"
I asked, "What's the black-headed house?
"It dates from the Hansa time when Riga was an important trading place."
"Ah!" I said. (Obviously trading and selling runs down the generations.)
I asked, "Ah. I don't know much about Latvian history. Does Riga any buildings which are more modern?"
"Yes, many kinds. We have art nouveau."
"Do you have a website? A business card? Are you on Facebook?"
"No, no, no - we are not very technology minded. We are not on social media."
She is sweet and helpful. I should ask her in, but I'm reluctant to opening the door to somebody who can't prove who they are, has no business card, can't even be found on Facebook.
"I'm sorry not to open the door. But I'm not properly dressed."
"I understand. It's very hot."
"What do you eat in Riga? What could I eat?"
"We have so many things - all home-made?"
"What kind of starters?
"Soup. So many soups."
"Name one."
"Beetroot soup."
"Ah - the same as in Poland and Russia!"*
"No, no! Quite different. Ours is a cold soup. Not cooked."
"What is the recipe?"
"You can look it up. You will find it."
"And the main course."
"So many things - fifty different dishes in a restaurant."
"Name one fish."
"Salmon."
"Ah, yes. Everybody likes salmon. What about dessert?"
"We have bread soup?"
"Pardon? Bread soup? For dessert?"
"Yes, it's called bread soup. But it's a dessert. It is a pudding, with whipped cream on top."
"I must go to Latvia and try it. Latvia is on my list. One day."
Yes, Latvia is on my list, along with other places: Lithuania, and Estonia. But of course, in Europe, there's also, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia. And Ukraine - my shortlist is getting longer, the more I think about it. I don't get through all those in a year, unless I manage a couple of round trips, literally round.
I asked, "If I come to Latvia and want a tour guide who speaks good English, how will I find you?"
She gave me her email. Her name is Angela Tananova and her email is angela.lv01@hotmail.com
I asked, "May I take a photo of you, for my blog about Riga - and a Latvian tour guide?"
"No, I am ...?"
"Shy?'
"How about back view, just your long blonde hair?"
"No, I don't think so. Show a photo of Riga."
***
So, I shall show you photos of Riga. First, Riga is divided by the river. (River Daugava.)
On Riga's East side (like in London) you find the old area.
The central area is called Centrs. (The spelling looks like centres). The centre arches around the old area.
At the centre of the centre is the old area, on the waterfront. It is called Vecriga. (The spelling looks like old-Riga. V e c like the French vieille, meaning old. I think of it as VE-ry Creaky Riga or V(ery) E(lderly) C(hracter).
The House of The Blackheads, in the old city - called V e c r i g a (spaces to evade autocorrect)
The Blackheads were a guild whose patron saint, St Maurice, is depicted with a black face.
The elaborate building has been reconstructed. It was first destroyed by the Germans in WWII, then by the Russians. The colours are even more beautiful when it is floodlit at night.
The city was founded by Albert, of Bremen, a German town. If you've been to Bremen, you might recognize the statue of the animals from the legend of Bremen.
Encricling the medieval old town are the later buildings - still old to us.
Rue Alberta see art nouveau, also known as jugendstil (style) - 800 art nouveau buildings.
How do you get around the city?
Travel
Old and new trams take you around.
Old tram
New tram.
After you've admired the Christian churches, you might look for the Jewish history. See the remains of the synagogue which was burned by the Nazis with people locked inside it. The ghetto area museum exhibits. Tripadvisor has some good reviews.
Wear walking shoes to cope with cobbled streets in the pedestrian areas.
Taxis are likely to take long routes and overcharge, so book from your phone through two taxi booking services which show you the price. You know the price in advance with Taxify, the Baltic equivalent of Uber.
Food
Puddings include maizes zupa, literally bread soup. This traditional dish is made with rye bread and fruits. Unlike England's summer pudding, which is a bread shell around fruit, maizes supa is more like a bread pudding. It is brown in colour from the dark rye bread, more a Christmas pudding colour, served mostly in a round bowl with a circular dollop of contrasting white cream in the middle.
Amusing restaurant in a windmill
Avoid being led into bars by touts - lists of about 15 places which operate scams are listed in both Wikivoyage and Wikitravel but note locations as well as names because they get closed down then re-open under another name.
After Riga, other places you might visit:
West of Riga is Jürmala which has the Baltic's longest beach.
The Blue Flag Beach - Jürmala
Other attractions are the cities with the wide waterfall.
the streams through the streets.
Getting There
Useful Websites
air.baltic.com
wizzair.com
ryanair.com
opodo.co.uk compares flight prices
s
kyscanner.net/flights another comparison website
tripadvisor.com
https://www.webcitation.org/6fW0WJTJg?url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid
Museum of london
https://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/museum-london-docklands
The cheapest flights I could find were under £40 one way, about £70 return.
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
