Riga - Top Five Fave

Let me start out by saying that I generally don’t do research while I’m writing these little travelogs. In fact, these days I don’t even research a place before we get on the plane. For example, I made our hostel reservations two days before we left on this trip and we didn’t even look at "the book” until we were on the plane. I realize that this goes without saying once you have read anything that I have written, but it must be stated nonetheless....I don't really know anything about any of the places that we visit or the people that inhabit them. I learn as I go. So these are what this stupid tourist picked as her Top Five Fave of Riga....

Black Balsam. Like to travel but want to avoid the crowds? Go to Riga in the dead of winter. You’ll have the place to yourself! Our first morning there I began to question our decision. Within an hour of leaving the hostel I had lost the use of my fingers. Taking photographs became prohibitively difficult at that point. After about two hours the stiffness in my joints made me feel like the tinman and my face was frozen. Fortunately we were close to a Balsam Bar, which are scattered across town, and now I know why. Black Balsam is a syrupy black liqueur brewed with approximately 42 secret herbs and animal bits and tastes quite lovely when heated up and diluted beyond all perception by fruit juices and other sweeties. It warmed me right up, from the inside out. Like oil to the tinman. And then winter wasn’t so bad anymore.


Grey Peas n’ Pork Rolled in a Delicate Layer of Pork (with apologies to vegetarians). Latvian food hasn’t really progressed much beyond the medieval fare of yore (save for the potato) and that was just fine by us. Floyd gave up his vegetarian ways when we moved over here and he really hasn’t looked back. I’ve always been a heathen. Note the dish in the photo. In the background you have your pork cutlet wrapped in a crispy, yet fatty layer of bacon. Succulent. In the foreground you have what’s called “grey peas”. Now tell me that doesn’t sound appetizing. They were actually wonderful. The peas, which are bigger than the peas you might be used to and are not really grey at all, are served slightly al dente with a side of a warm, cream sauce just littered with chunks of bacon (and we’re not talking baco’ bits here). This is then poured over and mixed in with the peas. And off to the side is a glass of kefir, a sour, cultured-milk that didn’t seem to belong to any one dish but was tasty nonetheless. Pork is also commonly served as a filet that has been beaten beyond all recognition, dipped in a flour/herb mixture, and maybe in beer, then fried up. Dill and cardamom are used on/in everything and hemp butter is served with the black bread (sadly, no relation to the black balsam). Perfect food for a wintry visit but a tough diet for a hot summer day.



Art Nouveau Architecture. This must be why they call Riga the Paris of the North. Yet, despite my two visits to Paris so far, I have yet to notice architecture like this. Maybe it’s because in Paris there is so much more to look at. So many other sights to pack into your itinerary that the art nouveau architecture gets stuck at the bottom of the list. Or maybe I’m just a dummy and I’m the only one that’s never noticed before. Regardless, these buildings are incredible. Floyd read in our guide book that one of the tenets of art nouveau design is the “fear of the vacuum”. Our cat Jezebel also has a fear of the vacuum but I think they’re talking about something different here. They’re talking about the need to decorate all of the spaces and it’s just thrilling to look at. I’m a nature girl and I’ve always poo-pooed the whole “going to the city to look at the architecture” aspect of travel but when you see buildings like this it can make a building rival a tree or a mountain in terms of beauty and interest. And I can’t believe I just wrote that...but it’s true.



Museum of the Occupation. The modern history of Latvia is pretty simple. Latvia won it’s independence in 1918 and Russia promised to relinquish authority over Latvian territory FOREVER. So much for that promise. In 1939 the bear was back and he was pretty nasty this time. Not only did the Latvians lose their freedom but thousands were sent to Siberia.... or met with quicker fates. And then came the Nazis. I don’t need to tell you what happened then. But then the Russians came back...even nastier. This is the period when hundreds of thousands of Latvians were systematically rounded up and sent to the GULAG, or Russian concentration camps. It was all incredibly dismal until Latvia regained their independence in 1991. The Museum of the Occupation does a great job of explaining to the visitor, through photos, letters, objects, and stories what this bleak period was like for Latvians and, importantly, how they maintained their dignity and their culture. In a way, it wasn’t just about the Latvian people, or the Baltic people, but, for me, it was a story of oppressed people everywhere and the psychological torture that their oppressors use to keep them down. It felt very relevant.


Embracing the Frump. Latvians are a stylish people. Even in the winter. The cobblestone streets are clumped with snow and coated with ice and I stood aghast at these women strutting along in their stiletto boots and long, elegant coats. They were not picking their way along. They were, without a doubt, strutting. Hair flowing, makeup perfect, nails groomed....strutting. I, of course, was in my logging boots, long johns, baggy jeans, fleece coat and gore-tex outer layer....with, the coup de grace, a grey ski-cap that read “Yosemite” on it. Now I may not own a pair of stiletto boots but I’ve done my share of strutting. I can strut. But not in Riga...in February. So I embraced the frump. Behold....the frump.