Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: Riga

  • Riga – Museum of the Occupation of Latvia

    This is the temporary home of the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia, which concentrates on the period between 1940 and 1991 when the Russians were effectively in control in the country. They have a new building being built at the moment, which isn’t likely to open until 2020, which will give them much more space. I also had a rather positive experience at their second site, which is temporarily closed, the Corner House KGB Museum.

    There are a limited number of exhibits and interactive displays at the moment, as they don’t have the space to show everything that they’d like. Instead there are a lot of information boards which tell the story in chronological order and they’re clear and well presented. Above is one of the boards which shows what street names were changed to in Riga during the relatively brief period of German occupation during the Second World War.

    This is a purse which was meant to be used for a Latvian soldier’s identification badge, in case he was killed in action and needed identifying. He used it instead to place prayers from his mother and sister in, a reminder of the home-life that he was missing.

    One of the special exhibition displays, the notice reads “this item (like history itself) is being made right now!”. It went over my head….

    The museum started operations in 1993 and its site closed in 2012 for the new building to be constructed. I look forwards to visiting Riga again when the museum is open, as there was a special display on some of the plans that they have, and it looks an exciting project. I noted that there was a staff member at the entrance to the museum who was welcoming everyone and giving them an introduction to what there was to see, it set a positive tone for visitors.

  • Riga – Taxify (and voucher code)

    I must admit that I hadn’t heard of Taxify before I got to Riga, but it’s reasonably well advertised around the city. It’s a company which has its roots in the region (Tallinn in Estonia is where it started, but it expanded to Riga after that) and is a sizeable competitor to Uber. It works along the same principles, so I thought that I’d give it a go to get me from the hotel to the airport.

    My flight leaves at 06:00, so to give me a lot of time, I got a taxi at 01:00, just in case it all didn’t work and I was stuck several miles from the airport. This taxi plan was much easier than the option of public transport as I’d have needed to leave two hours earlier to get the last tram. I checked out of the hotel, put my start and end points in the app and then the driver turned up three minutes later. All very efficient.

    The bonus of this whole experiment is that I had a €5 code to use, so I expected that my journey would be cheap. What I didn’t expect is that the taxi fare only came to €4.80, so my entire ride from the hotel in the early morning was free of charge. That’s a definite bargain. And I’ve found myself at the airport much earlier than I had anticipated, but better to be too early than too late.

    If anyone reads this wants a €5 voucher code, just use:

    FZRH9

    I think this works in any city that Taxify operate, not just in Riga.

    One slight negative is that I accidentally ordered a taxi the night before when testing it, but I was able to cancel immediately so it didn’t matter. I do like that users can pick whether to pay by cash or card, and I think Uber insists on having a saved credit card, which Taxify doesn’t.

    Anyway, I’d definitely use Taxify again if I’m visiting a country where it operates. They’ve tried to open up in London, but that plan failed and they’ve lost their licence, but they seemed pretty reputable and reliable to me from my experience.

  • Riga – Three Brothers (Trīs brāļi)

    I was going to wait for the tour group to move away from in front of these three buildings, which are known as the Three Brothers. However, as it was quite overcast it wasn’t going to be a great photo anyway, so I didn’t bother waiting.

    The three buildings, which aren’t open to the public, are from different architectural periods of Riga’s history, with the frontages dating from the fifteenth to eighteenth centuries. They are now protected heritage properties, but given how many interesting buildings there are in Riga, I’m slightly surprised that so much is made of them.

  • Riga – Road to Nowhere

    On the south side of the river, I wonder whether a whole new development will be complete by the time of my next visit…..

    There is a lot of construction working taking place at the moment, and I’m surprised how the south side of the river isn’t really that built up. It looks as though it used to be an industrial area, but that will perhaps change to a more residential and commercial area over the next decade or so.

  • Riga – Ciemakukulis

    Back on the south bank of the river today, this little cafe seemed to be popular with locals popping in for a cake or bread to takeaway. It was one of the busiest cafes that I’ve seen this week, even though I was there at around 11 in the morning.

    The tempting displays with the pastries and cakes all looking freshly made or prepared.

    I said that it was really busy, but that was mostly with people taking food away. However, when I arrived there was only one table free, I took this photo during a slight lull in proceedings. I was sat in an area where they had laid out a little board and toys for children, so I’m sure families would be welcome. Which reminded me that Leon would like this….

    Latte and yoghurt cake. The cake was moreish, light and flavourful, with the latte being rich. The base of the cake added some texture and the fruit added an element of healthiness to the proceedings.

    The prices were reasonable, around £4 for both the cake and the drink, and the service was efficient and polite. There wasn’t really time for engaging service due to how many customers came in at once, but the surroundings were peaceful and comfortable.

  • Riga – Latvian National Library

    The National Library of Latvia is located in an impressive building known as the ‘Castle of Light’.

    The artwork is known as “The Large Vase”, which is very deep and meaningful…..

    This reminds me of the building they move into during later series of The Thick of It. But it’s very impressive and I like how it’s possible to see bookstacks when entering the main foyer.

    I wasn’t particularly impressed with the set-up the library have to welcome visitors, there are innumerable reception desks and it wasn’t apparent to me what function each one had. I am a member of the British Library and understand that access to the book stacks is always fiercely guarded, but the British Library has much better public access to its permanent exhibitions.

    I’m guessing that they’ve put the temporary exhibitions on the higher floors which require reception to sign visitors in, whilst the permanent exhibition is accessible to anyone. But that’s a guess, as I couldn’t find any temporary exhibitions and the queues at the various reception desks impaired my desire to find out.

    Anyway, I’m sure the temporary exhibitions are lovely, but it was the permanent exhibition that I wanted to see and I found that. They’d hidden it behind curtains and it might have been useful if they’d signed that visitors could still go in and that the curtains were just protecting the light levels. Unsurprisingly, to me anyway, there were no other visitors during my time in the exhibition.

    There are public tours of the building but they’re ad hoc and they appear to require a group to go round. It’s a shame that they don’t encourage greater public access, the librarians could perhaps be just a little prouder of their building. I’m reminded of my visit to San Diego library in California, which is a building of colossal size and complexity, and they were offering tour after tour to build engagement with the public.

    Anyway, those gripes out of the way, the permanent exhibition was well put together and it’s worth visiting the library to see it.

    This is the first periodical which was published in Latvia, with this particular issue dating to 1697.

    A burnt book  🙁

    I can only begin to imagine the horror of being a librarian at an institution such as this and seeing huge parts of the collections being destroyed. The destruction of books usually goes hand in hand with a destruction of freedom.

    This is glorious, it’s a religious book from France which was owned by the Franciscan friary in the city. It’s one of thirty books which survived from the friary’s collection, an impressive number given the fires and battles which Riga has endured.

    One of the oldest items in the library’s collections, dating to the tenth century. It is possible that it was donated to Livonia in the thirteenth century as part of a request from the Pope to support it with liturgical texts, although that isn’t certain.

    I’m not sure of how the technology behind this works, but when you turn the pages of the giant book the sound and background display changes. The pages are large and firm, but the binding seemed a bit worn, so I was surprised just how effectively the surroundings changed. At the entrance to this clever exhibit the display reads:

    “A book is a door to another world that has no physical boundaries”.

    A sketch by Gunnar Birkerts, an American Latvian architect, which formed the basic design of the library building.

    The sculpture ‘Divi Raini’ , or ‘Two Rivers’ outside of the library which was unveiled just a couple of weeks ago, in the presence of the country’s President. It’s a very noticeable piece of artwork, designed by Aigars Bikše.

    It’s a glorious building, although politically controversial, but the public engagement does seem a little poor compared to all the museums and institutions I’ve visited this week.

  • Riga – Gan Bei City

    Located on the seventh floor is Gan Bei City, part of a small local chain of Asian restaurants, and they seem to be mainly located in shopping centres.

    There’s an outside terrace, which is closed at this time of year, but which offers excellent views over the city centre.

    The lunch menu, which is really good value, so my soup, chicken and drink cost the total of €7. The standard menu, which I could have also ordered from, was a bit more expensive though.

    The hot and sour vegetable soup with chicken, served at the appropriate hot temperature, but lacking in the spiciness mentioned on the menu. The flavour was rather intense, as if Maggi seasoning was liberally put in the soup. However, it was still a pleasant flavour and there was a generous amount of chicken, although rather a limited amount of vegetables. For €2 it was though a generous portion and good value for money.

    Chicken coated with honey and it had some crunch to the batter, without the chicken itself being tough. The rice was fluffy and everything was at the appropriate temperature. A range of textures and flavours, and again, really solid value for money.

    The dining environment seemed a little formal, and it was certainly generously staffed in terms of serving staff. But the staff were all keen to help and the service was always professional and helpful. My drink didn’t arrive until the second course was served though if I was going to mention something slightly negative.

    But, for the value offered, I’d visit one of the other restaurants in the chain if I was in Riga for longer. If I was here in summer, I’d also try and get one of the tables on the terrace at this restaurant.

  • Riga – McDonald’s (one for Dylan)

    This post is just for Dylan, and any other 7-year old who is dreaming of travel……

    Riga is in eastern Europe, a two-hour flight from London Luton airport. There are a lot of trams in Riga, as well as buses and trains. But the trams are the most exciting and they go for miles. One of them goes to the zoo, photo below of the tram   🙂

    And inside the tram below.

    And the zoo was excellent, the owl was sweet. Lots more photos here.

    In Riga there are lots of independent restaurants and small chains, so McDonald’s isn’t as popular. But the ones they have still have a lot of people in them, and there’s lots of seats. And Chicken McNuggets   🙂

    Below is a Big Mac BLT, something new. And a cherry pie, they don’t usually have those in the UK. Leon would like the burger  🙂

    For those who food like McDonald’s, they can go to Hesburger which is similar. They have meals like Happy Meals, where you get a toy and they also do chicken nuggets   🙂   A photo below is the Hesburger I went to today.

    And there’s lots of parks!

  • Riga – Museum of Jews in Latvia

    Housed in a building owned by the Jewish community of Riga, the second floor museum consists of three large rooms. There’s no entrance fee, although hopefully everyone who can leaves a donation, and there’s a free audio guide available in English. The staff member at the reception desk was keen to explain about the museum and what was in each of the three rooms.

    The stained glass windows were donated by Hilde Shneider, who was imprisoned in the Riga ghetto and then in a concentration camp.

    This prayer book was found near the site of mass graves near Rezekne.

    A fragment of a tombstone which was in the Jewish cemetery at Aizpute. Around 100 tombstones still exist at the cemetery, but much was damaged or destroyed by the Nazis.

    There were many villains in the Second World War, so it’s important to remember the heroes. This is Jānis Lipke, a dock worker in Riga who saved over 40 Jews by smuggling them out of the city’s ghetto. His efforts were responsible for saving 20% of all of the Jews from the city who survived the Second World War, and he was awarded with the status of the Righteous Among the Nations.

    The numbers worn on the clothing of the prisoners in concentration camps, these were worn by Jozefa Perlmana (8533) and Jankela Sermana (6201).

    A section of a prisoner’s clothing and their number, 98071, belonging to Aleksandr Usman from when he was at a concentration camp in Riga.

    A purse which was made from the Holy Scrolls stolen from the Karsava synagogue. Karsava is a Latvian town where nearly half the population before the Second World War were Jews, but they were nearly all killed by the Nazis. The synagogue was destroyed and the community shattered.

    A map of where mass graves of Jews were found across Latvia.

    “Everything is over”.

    A plan of the Riga ghetto.

    The museum made an effort to show life in the Jewish community over the centuries, and not just during the Second World War. It was all well put together and the audio guide was certainly comprehensive, there was over an hour’s worth of recording provided. The whole environment felt very welcoming and it’s clear that this museum is very much a labour of love.

  • Riga – Uzvaras Piemineklis (Victory Memorial to Soviets)

    Monuments don’t come much more controversial than this in Latvia and I spent as little time here as possible. This was mainly because I had been told that very many Latvians strongly dislike the monument and that visitors aren’t encouraged to hang around it for long.

    There weren’t any other visitors to the site when I visited, but there were a group of three people sitting on a bench nearby who appeared drunk. They also appeared to be Russian from what I could gather, but a guide earlier in the week told me that this is where pro-Russians often go, so that isn’t perhaps entirely surprising. It’s not really a location I felt comfortable in though, even though it’s only around a mile away from the city centre.

    There have been efforts to have this monument removed, but the Government has said that, as it is, that it should stay. This didn’t stop a Latvian nationalist group trying to blow it up in June 1997, although the attack went wrong and two of them died.

    The main tower is 79 metres high and the whole complex is designed to be a victory memorial to the Soviet soldiers who died during the Second World War. The monument was completed in 1985 and is known by some locally as ‘Moscow’s finger’.

    The sculptors of the project were Lev Bukovsky and Aivars Gulbis, and this section represents the Motherland.

    A group of three Soviet soldiers. The site itself is starting to fall apart because of a lack of investment and there is no signage at the site giving information about the monument. It was an attempt by the Soviets to strengthen their support by portraying the Germans as the enemy, who were ‘bravely’ fought off during the Second World War. But much has changed since the 1980s when this was built, and its future will likely be highly controversial for some considerable time to come.