Latvia Part II

My hotel had a nice continental breakfast and they stored my luggage when I checked out at 11:00. My family was arriving on a flight that got in at 1:00 but they would have to pick up the rental car and figure out how to get to me. I suggested that I just meet them at the rental apartment since my hotel was in a pedestrian only part of the city and it would be hard to figure out where they could pick me up. We would decide once they picked up the car.

I went out to do some sketching. I went back to Dome Square where all the Buddy Bears were and sketched the view there.

 

Since I still had time before I expected to hear from them I did another sketch down one of the streets in the old town.

Here are a few more photos from Riga.

When I heard from my brother we decided that it made more sense just to go to the rental apartment which was about 15 minutes outside of Riga in Marupe. The woman at the hotel desk called a cab for me and made sure he knew where he was going...and off we went.

When we arrived at the property I didn't see my brother, but I found the homeowner who showed me where they were. There was a second house on the property and we were renting 1/2 of that. It was very nice with 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, and a living/dining room all on two floors. Like the rest of Latvia it didn't have AC but at least it had big windows that opened wide to let in light.

We were all hungry and needed groceries so we ventured out to the grocery and what seemed to be the only restaurant in the area, and not Latvian but Italian. lol The food was good and the beer was cold and we were together which was what mattered. 

My nephew who we hoped to see that day was in transit. He had gone to pickup his 7 year old son who was in Germany with Joe's ex-wife, and their flight back to Riga was cancelled. They wouldn't be arriving until the following morning, so we just hung out at the apartment for the evening.

Latvia, Part I

The next part of my trip was getting to Riga, Latvia. My nephew and his girlfriend had just moved there and were getting married there. Since I was "in the neighborhood" I decided to travel there. I was flying Finnair from Madrid to Helsinki and then from Helsinki to Riga. Since I was already near the airport I just hopped on the Hilton courtesy bus to the terminal. Things went well. I was meeting my brother, sister-in-law, and niece the following day but I had one afternoon and evening in Riga alone. After taking a cab from the airport I checked into my hotel which was in the historic center of Riga. The lady at the check-in counter was very helpful and gave me a map of the city as well as a recommendation for a place for dinner and dessert. 

The restaurant, Alus Seta was cafeteria style and very unusual inside, so after I finished eating I did a sketch of the interior of the restaurant bar area. 

I didn't realize it but sitting a little bit behind me and off to the left was a young girl who was maybe about 14 who was sketching me. She came over with the sketch she did and wanted me to have it. She was from Italy, loves to sketch, and was so happy to see me sharing her hobby. I told her I would only accept the sketch if she signed it for me. Then I taped it in my sketchbook. She was so thrilled! I wish I had something with me that I could have given to her in return. Her parents thanked me too and said that it was special for her to give the sketch to me as a gift.

In Dome Square right around the corner there was a wonderful exhibit of "Buddy Bears" which have been traveling around the world. There are 140 of them, one for each country that is part of the United Nations and each was decorated by a different artist. The exhibit hopes to promote world peace. Here are a few of them that I liked. They were so fun!

I walked around for a while taking photos in the old town and hoping to wear off some of the delicious dinner I had of lamb shanks, roasted potatoes, salad, and blintzes. I wanted to have dessert at the other place that was recommended, Rigensis, one of the oldest bakeries in Riga. It was hard to pick from all the choices but I settled for this sort of napoleon-like slice of heaven. It looked so pretty on the plate that I had to sketch it.

My only problem with Riga is that at this time of year the high temperature is usually about 76 degrees, but they were having a heat wave. Air conditioning is nearly non-existant! My hotel room was uncomfortably hot!!!