Day 80.

Today is a travel day and we are taking a bus to Riga, the capital of Latvia.  The 4 hour bus ride is only 18 euros and the bus is really nice. True to the fun fact that there is WiFi everywhere, the bus has fast WiFi for the ride.  Upon arriving in Riga, we discover that our Airbnb is only a 15 min walk from the bus terminal and we set out with our backpacks and bags. We arrive in Old Town Riga.  It is cobblestone like Tallinn but with more cars as there appear to be less restrictions on driving through the Old Town streets.

 As I’ve mentioned, arriving at our Airbnb apartments for the first time is a hold-your-breath, see what you get experience as it can be hard to tell from the Airbnb pictures and description what you are really getting and since I’ve booked it 2 months prior, I don’t even remember what I booked amongst all the different ones.

As we approach this one, it looks like this is going to go down the wrong path.  We go through a gate into a courtyard and straight in front of us are giant signs indicating the dance club is just down the stairs in front of us. The painted signs have flames and what looks like a Tasmanian devil or maybe it was just an actual devil on them.  The apartment building is a square going up and overlooking the courtyard with the devil worshiping dance club in the basement.  

We go in the door to the left and need to take the elevator since we’re on the 7thfloor (top floor).  There are signs posted by the elevator saying the elevator is an antique, that you have to follow a 7-step sequence exactly in order or the elevator will get stuck and that there can be a maximum of two people in the elevator or it will get stuck. And if you get stuck, they kindly provide a phone number to call but warn that it would be an hour for them to arrive and not to try to force your way out of the elevator during the wait.

It is definitely an old school elevator with a wooden door you have to open and then there are two wooden doors that swing in and out.  I step into the elevator and no joke, it dropped 2 feet from just my weight.  I make a note to myself to cut down on the breakfast pastries.  We decide I’ll take the 2 biggest bags and everyone will huff it up the flights of stairs to the 7thfloor.  I am all but convinced that I’m going to spend the next hour stuck in the elevator but I follow the sequence as indicated and do manage to make it to the 7thfloor without incident.

By this point our expectations of the actual apartment are somewhere between extremely low and rock bottom.  We enter the apartment and…drum roll please…it is amazing!  It’s absolutely huge, 3 bedrooms, bunkbeds, 3 bathrooms, a huge kitchen table, couches, an outdoor deck. Leanne will later say it’s one of the top 2 or 3 best Airbnb we’ve stayed in and the moral of the story is one we remember hearing as a youth – don’t judge a book by its cover.

We have learned a lot about Estonia and the Baltic region but Latvia has its own identity and culture so we turn to Justin for the fun facts about Latvia so without further ado…

Top 10 fun facts about Latvia:

(1)  Latvia has the world’s tallest women with an average height of 5’ 7” while the men have the 4thhighest average height

(2)  Similar to Estonia, it has only 50% of its land covered by forest

(3)  Over 1/3 of its 1.95M population live in the capital city of Riga

(4)  Riga has one of the world’s greatest collection of Art Nouveau buildings with 800

(5)  Latvia has the world’s 4thfastest internet speeds

(6)  Latvian born tailor Jacob Davis invented denim jeans and then paired up with Levi Strauss to produce them

(7)  Latvia’s national sport is ice hockey and there is an ice rink in every town

(8)  Latvia’s flag is one of the three oldest in the world dating back to 1279 

(9)  Latvia is home to the world’s first decorated Christmas tree in 1510

(10)       Their summer solstice celebration is significantly bigger than their Christmas celebration

Having been properly briefed by Justin we head to explore Riga.  It is later in the day and most cultural places (museums, churches, etc) are closed so we do a walking tour.  We see the National Opera House in compliance with the new requirement for each city.  We stroll through the parks that have fountains and the Daugava river (originates in Russia and goes through Belarus and Latvia to the Gulf of Riga) running through one of them.  We note that Riga has more parks, green, fountains and flowers in the city than Tallinn did in Estonia.

We next see Latvia’s Freedom Monument which is really impressive at 42 meters high.  The monument honors soldiers killed during the Latvian War of Independence from 1918 – 1920.  The monument was originally scheduled to be destroyed by the Soviets after their re-occupation but it managed to survive and stands as a symbol of the restoration of their independence in 1991.

Next stop on the walking tour is the Nativity of Christ Cathedral which happens to still be open. Built in the late 1800s, it is the largest Russian Orthodox cathedral in the Baltic countries.  The Soviets closed the church in the 1960s and turned it into a planetarium but it has been restored to a church.  

Upon entry, we learn that the women must cover their hair / heads which is the first time we’ve encountered this.  Leanne has a scarf she uses but Ashlynn has to resort to using the hood of her hoodie. Once inside, there is a service happening in the front of the church.  The priest (or equivalent for the Russian Orthodox Church) is chanting prayers facing away from people in the area.  It is a little confusing because there are tourists milling about intermixed with parishioners here for the service.  

The priest is walking around swinging a ball of holy water (my catholic education fails me as I can’t remember the name).  Before I know it, I realize he is walking right towards me.  I look around and everyone else is bowing but me.  I quickly bow as the priest walks by me. I decide it’s time to make a graceful exit and I start backing up until someone associated with the church come over and starts yelling at me in Latvian and pointing to the floor as the parishioners all look up at me. Apparently, I’ve crossed an invisible line that is not meant to be crossed during the service.  Now it’s really time to make my exit which I do making sure to keep within the invisible lines.

We continue to walk around and take in the Art Nuevo architecture for which Riga is famous.  We head back and grab dinner.   At the restaurant, the bar menu informs us that Black Balsam –if you haven’t tasted it, you haven’t been in Riga.  Riga Black Balsam is a traditional Latvian liqueur under the slogan black magic since 1752.  They are definitely serving this stuff in the devil worshipping night club under our Airbnb apartment.

According to legend, Empress Catherine the Great of Russia was visiting Latvia when she became ill.   Upon drinking a bottle of Riga Black Balsam she was cured.  I’m not sure if she was actually cured or just felt less ill while intoxicated.  Leanne and I try some and sure enough, it tastes pretty much like Vicks or Nyquil.  But at least we can say we tried it.