Second stop on our Baltic getaway: Riga, Latvia!

Riga is the largest city not only in Latvia, but also in all of the Baltics. It also boasts the most impressive collection of Art Nouveau architecture in the world. Having just come from Vilnius, I found Riga to be a bit intimidating. How would we ever see everything in fewer than 48 hours?

Well, it wasn’t so difficult. It looks big on the map, but the streets are so narrow and jumbled, everything is actually pretty close together! Our hotel, the Hotel Neiburgs, was very centrally located as well, which gave us spectacular views of the adorable street and the Dome Church, one of the top sites in Riga!

What do you eat while in Latvia, you ask? Well, that depends. Do you like fish?

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Riga is not on the coast, but it does have a waterway that leads out to the Bay of Riga, then onward to the sea. We had three fish options for breakfast each morning, too!

The morning of our one and only full day in Riga dawned early–as the summer days do in the Baltics! During our run through the most adorable park, we saw most of the sites on our list, at least from the outside, including this lovely lady, Latvia’s Freedom Monument:

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Art Nouveau tour anyone? We decided to start at the farthest point of interest and work our way to the River. It worked out well!

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But what’s the best thing we did in Riga? Definitely exploring the park in the middle of the city. It was absolutely beautiful. The flowers were all blooming, the canal was peaceful, we could see many landmarks and historic sites from any place in the park, and Steve took us on a romantic canal boat ride! With Mr. Peabody Pembroke, too:

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In our afternoon wanderings, we enjoyed a few lovely churches, perused the Museum of Latvia and its Navigation, and took a few moments to sit and enjoy the House of Blackheads.

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We also enjoyed a once-in-a-lifetime kind of dining experience. Just across the street from our hotel was 1221 Restaurant, where I read on Trip Advisor that patrons can dine on the roof! This was great! Well, until that last part when it rained during dessert… but even that was funny!

And on our second morning in Latvia… I turned 31! We spent some of the day Riga, Latvia, some of the day on the LuxExpress Bus, and the last part of the day in Tallinn, Estonia! Spending the day with my love in two countries was a pretty special way to spend my birthday!

#31andhavingfun