europe – The things I've seen. The places I've been.

It seems like summer would not be complete without a trip to a new city. This time we decided to go to a city that is so close yet felt so far away. Far away in a sense because I have never really been interested in Riga. It is one of those cities that I’ve been putting off for a long, long time. But there were still a few days of summer holiday. So we went for it and made Latvia my 52nd country.

We arrived very early in Riga on a small airplane from Helsinki with only one hand-carry. It was fun to walk around the old town when everything was closed. The old town was really pretty and since the centre of Riga is quite small, we spent a large amount of our holiday in the old town. There are also many beautiful public parks in Riga. I love how these parks are large, clean and peaceful. Another thing that was very beautiful in Riga was the Art Nouveau architecture built in the early 20th century during the period of rapid economic growth and Riga was a thriving city of the Russian Empire. I also love the Art Deco cafes dating from 1920s. One of the highlights was visiting the Laima Chocolate Museum from 1870. It was fun to learn about its history and eat lots and lots of chocolate. The hot chocolate was almost death by chocolate! This is one place that should not be missed in Riga.

We also did a day trip to Jūrmala. Jūrmala is a coast town facing the Baltic Sea, some 30 minutes train ride from Riga. The train was clean and modern and only cost 4 EUR per person both ways. There we enjoyed the sun, sea, sand, great food and rain.