Čau, Čau! Līdz drīzumam

It is time to leave Latvia.  For the final blog post here are some of the things I'll miss about Latvia and Rīga (not in any particular order)
  • Jūgendstil architecture
Even this past weekend we were still seeing examples we hadn't noticed before. 
Elizabetes iela 10B, architect Mihails Eizenšteins
  • Wooden house architecture
Wooden houses are interspersed in a few neighborhoods and were one of the first unusual things I noticed as we drove in the city on our arrival.  Those that survived are quite old from the 19th or even 18th century.
Kalnciema iela 25
  • Walking, walking, walking
Rīga is a walkable city.  Even though I loved the public transportation, the vast majority of our needs and desires were all within walking distance of our apartment.
  • Curd cheese snacks (Biezpiena sieriņi)
I think these taste like cheesecake and at least two of our visitors agreed with me.  These are the best afternoon snack, late night snack, mid-morning snack, travelling snack AND they are not available in the US.  My favorite flavors were the Rimi caramel and the Kārums lemon.  If I ever start a business importing foods, I will change their name from curd cheese snacks to Baltic Bars with a tagline about how they are creamy and sweet, and then, I'm sure they'll sell.
Kārums Lemon Curd Cheese
  • Cultural offerings:  opera, symphony, chamber music, film, theater, art, circus
Our last weekend we went to a dance competition for the Song and Dance Festival and then a return trip to the Latvian Art Museum.  Rīga has so many events, and of such high quality.  ...and have I mentioned that they were all within walking distance?

A couple of local celebrities sipping champagne at the Sinfonietta
  • Local foods:  pelmeņi with skābais, medus kūka, pickles, blintzes, cloudberry jam, etc.
Pelmeņi with skābais are dumplings with sour cream, our favorite was to mix vegetarian and chicken
Medus kūka is a delicious Baltic style honey cake with sour cream filling
Pickles crisp and perfect from the pickle bowl at the farmer's market
Blintzes (pankūka) at Lido, especially the biezpiens filled with sour cream
Cloudberry jam on bread from Mīkla or any good bakery

Buying pickles in the market
Medus kūka - bring it on!
  • Nurme bar and all the breweries and taprooms we visited
There is some great beer in Latvia and Rīga in particular.  Breweries not to miss for a good pint of alus were Labietes, Valmiermuiža, Alus Rūme Trofeja, Duna, Tieka but my favorite bar was our corner tap and bottleroom, Nurme or the brewery taproom from Nurme.

Nurme Bar
  • Stabu iela 55
Though there were many noisy nights, our apartment was otherwise a perfect spot to call home from March - June.
Sunset from our apartment
  • Easy and inexpensive public transportation:  tram, trolleybus, or bus
Where else can you ride any distance in a city for 1.5€ (even to the coast and the beach).  Public transportation covered the breadth of the city, sometimes in crazy routes but always got us where we wanted to go.
  • Rīga parks
The city is ringed with parks and we got to know them by walking through them and running in them.  Our go to running park was Ziedoņdārzs which was only 2 blocks from our apartment and with 3 laps around we had the perfect 5K route. 
  • Rīga Cafés
SO many cafés, such good coffee.  Best coffee was definitely Kalve which was on our street, but best place to sit and enjoy cake or pastry was Mulberry in the quiet center neighborhood and these were just two of the many cafés where we sat to watch the people go by.
  • The cityscape of Rīga
Architecture, gardens, streets, culture, views, it all comes together; what a great city.
Rīga skyline at sunrise
  • The coast
It is a one-hour bike ride or a 20 minute train ride to the beach from the center of the city.  We explored the coast in both directions and the beaches and the sea are beautiful but maybe while we were here, too cold to be called swimable.
Beach north of Rīga
  • Latvians are genial and Latvia feels safe
There is so much written about Latvians and their reserved or private nature but rarely do the terms genial, good-natured, or even friendly get used to describe folks here.  Obviously andy descriptions of an entire group are over-generalizations BUT our experience is that friendships may be difficult to form but people truly do care about each other and that creates a safe environment.
  • Kalnciema tirgus
This was, by far my favorite market.  What's not to like about a market with a little carousel, fresh farm produce, crafters and performances in the super cool, super chill Kalnciems quarter.
The greens seller at Kalnciem

Kalnciem market carousel

Dancers performing at the market
  • Learning about Latvian culture and the history of Latvia
I'm no expert but I can tell you a bit about the Livonians, the Latgalians and some pagan traditions too.  I have a deeper understanding of the ins and outs of the occupations of Latvia and the lasting impact on a small country that just wants to be independent.  Brīvības (freedom) is more than the name of a street here.
Flags are hung for holidays and commemoration days (it is the law in Rīga)

Wearing a flag to celebrate the bronze medal winning hockey team
  • Travel in and around the Baltics and Scandinavia
We've take a bus ride to Talinn, a bus ride to Vilnius, a short plane trip to Norway and Finland.  Travel is easy and not too expensive in this area.  Yes, adventure is out there and the months from February to June mean there are fewer of us tourists on the roads of the Baltics and Scandanavia.
  • Having visitors
It was so much fun to be sharing our apartment and our temporary city with our family and our friends who made the journey to Latvia.
Nava and Patricia in our apartment

Saadya and Patricia at Nurme

Patricia and Lindi at Mulberry

Julia and Thembi on Museum Night

Patricia and Dani at Nurme

Julia and Keith at Labietis

Ed and Kajsa with us on Stabu



Good bye Latvia



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