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!!!