Baltics - 12 June 2012 (2)

Morning City Tour of Riga

City Canal

City Canal

Dzintars, our driver for the rest of the tour, was there to meet us off the bus.  Aija introduced us and said that his name translates as Amber.  Dzintars drove us to the hotel by a circuitous route because our rooms wouldn’t be ready.  Now back in her hometown, Aija could give us a detailed commentary on what we saw.  She was particularly keen on the Art Nouveau buildings and knew a lot about them.

Opera House

Fountain & Opera House

When we eventually arrived at the Hotel Irina, we only had 15 minutes to wait for our rooms, so Aija continued to give us information on where to go and how to get there.  When the rooms were ready, we dashed upstairs and then met up again in the lobby for our city tour.

First Aija took us to the Opera House, where most people bought tickets for “The Barber of Seville” – after having changed some money just across the road.  The Opera House lies beside the City Canal, which is bounded by gardens and crossed by some very pretty bridges.  I had already seen the opera in Moscow – and, peasant that I am, had fallen asleep during the performance – so I decided not to go.   While I waited for the others to get their tickets, I watched some people who were busy planting new flowers and hoeing the weeds in the nearby flowerbeds.

George Armitstead & Wife

Padlocks on Bridge

We walked alongside the canal, passing some interesting statues and a bridge full of padlocks.  The first statues were of George Armitstead, his wife and his dog.  He was the 4^th mayor of Riga (1901-1912) and, though born in Riga, came from a British merchant family.  It is a local custom to place padlocks on the bridge to symbolise eternal love and the padlocks often have romantic messages and the names of the couple.

Freedom Monument

Freedom Monument

We paused near the main bridge, which bears the Freedom Monument.  Aija stood by a smaller monument, which was to two journalists who were killed on 20 January 1991, when the Latvians were still trying to gain their freedom from the USSR.  I found myself getting very tearful during her tale.  The Latvians didn’t declare independence until 21 August 1991, during the unsuccessful coup d’état when Yeltsin stopped the tanks in Red Square.

Freeedom Monument

Powder Tower

We walked to the only remaining tower in the old city walls – the Powder Tower.  There was also a short stretch of the walls, although much had been restored.  Church towers could be seen at frequent intervals during the walk.  We passed the “Cat House”, which has cats on top of each of its turrets, reportedly in protest against its owner not being able to join a guild, and then walked past the small and large guild buildings.

City Walls

City Walls

At several points during the tour, we would pass someone whom Aija knew.  She exchanged a few words with them and introduced them to us.  I think they were mostly ex-pupils or colleagues and all seemed to be successful women, who held Aija in high regard.  Aija certainly seemed to know a lot of people.

Small Guild Building

Turret of Cat House

Finally, we came to a square with some Art Nouveau buildings and open air cafés/restaurants.  Aija said it was Christmas Tree Square, but it might also have been the Egle Open Air Venue.

By this time, a few people were protesting that they really needed to stop and eat – it had been a long time since we ate our packed breakfasts – so we stopped for lunch at the Mozums Pro restaurant.  I sat with Ian, Bob and Ann and had a mozzarella salad with a superb dressing, chips with a chilli mayonnaise dressing and freshly squeezed orange juice.  Although very tasty, it was expensive, costing LVL9.00.

While we were waiting for our lunch, Aija pointed out a branch of Swedbank on the square and I took some Lats out of the ATM.  I forgot to take my receipt so I went back after lunch.  It was safely tucked away, which I thought was very honest.