Latvia in Layers

For our first month, we are staying at a flat on the edge of the old city of Riga ( Vecrīga).  This means we often walk or run through the old city, the canal park (Bastejkalns), or near the Daugava River. The old city is compact, full of beautiful old churches and buildings, tricky-to-walk-on cobblestone streets, tiny alleywa ys,  caf é s, restaurants, and wandering tourists.  Yes, even in the gray, cold, and wet winter months, tourists are on the old city streets. I imagine as the weather warms, those streets will further fill, so we are grateful to be moving on to our new apartment (we've found an apartment!!) at the end of the month.  Vecrīga skyline from the Kipsala area A street in the old city, don't stumble on the cobblestones One of my favorite views, looking toward the Old Bourse from Dom Square Our newest game as we run or wander is to take in the monuments and give them a date of construction (your choices are the Soviet era, pre-Soviet era, or post-Sovie...

Welcome to Riga, Latvia, and my third Fulbright experience (Rwanda, Nepal, and now Latvia).  Let me start with the required qualifier: “This blog is not an official site of the Fulbright Program or the U.S. Department of State.  The views expressed on this site are entirely mine and do not represent the views of the Fulbright Program, the U.S. Department of State, or any of its partner organizations.” OK, now all the legalese is out of the way, and I can fill you in on my first days in Riga and my first impressions. Riga is dark, very, very dark.  The most popular color for a jacket here is black.  The most popular color for a car here is black.  The sun rises at 8:00am and sets around 5:00pm.  When the sun is not up, it is dark.  I wake up around 6:00am and it is dark.  To go running safely requires waiting until just before 8:00am so that it's not too dark and I can see the icy spots.  Oh, and every day thus far, we've barely seen the sun,...