Riga, Latvia

June 8th

Riga is famous for grand Art Noveau buildings. Apparently around 1900 there was an economic boom and the newly wealthy were looking for things to spend their money on and so they built grand houses. Michael Eisenstein (Father of Sergei Eisenstein the Russian filmmaker) was one of the important architects. As you might imagine we had an excellent guide today. Marada(?), not only is her  English excellent but she has also studied Chinese and lived in Wuhan so she is ready for the arrival of the Chinese tourists!

Once again, we had a walking tour - fortunately the weather was sunny and mostly there are footpaths so I did not have to negotiate too many cobblestones.

 Street in Riga

 Our room in the Gutenbergs hotel. Apparently for many years the building housed a printing works and I guess this is a remnant of the press. It certainly adds ambience but you have to be careful not to hit your head!

 The steeple of the cathedral originally built in the 13thC

Typical flamboyant facade

Kindergarten outing

Blackheads house built in 1344 for the Blackheads, a guild of unmarried German merchants. It was bombed in 1941 and later completely flattened by the Soviets, but the original blueprints survived and it  was rebuilt in 2001.

A familiar figure, St George and the dragon.

A Viking boat on the river.

An Australian bought this Heritage listed house and started to destroy it but a local architect bought it from him and restored it but I am not sure of  the significance of the kangaroo..

 Behind the swans is the Riga - Stockholm ferry.

One of Eisenstein's flamboyant Art Noveau buildings.

Typical decoration.

One of the five market pavilions. The fruit and vegetables were good quality and cheap.We stocked up on apricots, cherries and strawberries.

Flowers of course.