My Adventures Where in the world is ….

We came upon this cute little park and eating area on one of the little streets. Very strange sculptures as well as a large wind chime. Not historic I am sure.

This cathedral is in the middle of a large square with seven streets (they say but we could only account for six) coming into the square. We were able to go in a little but it was closed except for a small chapel. It seems to have lots of concerts planned there.

Looking up at the dome of Dome Cathedral. Not as tall as St. Peter’s but still impressive.

Going into the square we passed a quaint restaurant but as we stood in the square and looked around we saw this painting of a seascape on the side of the building. Seemed quite out of place but it was interesting.

This is just one of the streets going out of the square.

These buildings are across from Dome Cathedral.

Another view out of Dome Cathedral square.

We didn’t know what this was when we first saw it but later saw it is actually a part of the presidential palace.

This is a cute little Catholic Church. It is a functioning church and delightful inside. Very nice.

Here we walked seeking the church under the steeple. Cute street to walk on.

We later learned this street is all part of a convent. Perhaps this sign says what it is?

More of this very old street that is part of the convent.

So now we see a Church and the steeple to yet another one behind it.

So here is Carl in front of the Church of St. Jacob. We couldn’t get in until the next day and again it is a functioning church and beautiful inside with stained glass windows and paintings.

This is part of the original baricade and gate house from the revolutionary days. There are holes in the walls for guns and bullet holes in the walls as well.

The Powder Tower was used during the revolution and before to house the military and to store artillery. It is very tall and interesting.

All around Riga, in old town and in the newer parts of the town, there are little restaurants that have doors kind of like shutters that close over the door when they are closed and when open have the menus posted on what seems like chalk boards. There are lots of little places like this.

Here is a view of the monument from about a block away.

Here is a close up of the monument. It is a copper figure of Liberty lifting three gilded stars.

Base of the Freedom Monument on one side.

The guards standing at attention at the base of the monument. The have on warm coats and hats but their faces and ears are not covered – made us cold to see them.

Details of this side of the monument.

Notice on the left the soldiers coming out for the changing of the guard. We were there at a great time.

Marching in great precision the new guards come out.

They salute and prepare to change.

The new guards march forward to meet the guards they are replacing.

They salute each other.

They change places.

The cold guards move back to their leader and prepare to leave.

Me in front of the monument. Notice my nice new hat which is fleece lined and very warm and a good complement to my great scarf that I can put over my head and around my neck or just around my neck.

Walking toward old town away from the monument is this very strange clock which is supposedly very famous. Not sure what it all means, but it was interesting. The building on the corner is one of many hotels in the city.

We loved these three houses all decked out with Christmas finery. They are a good sampling of the houses we saw all over the town. All unique and all different but reminiscent of the past. These houses are still occupied. Some houses have shops on the first floor and apartments upstairs, some are businesses, others are actual residences.

One of many narrow little streets. The car looks very out of place here.

This is St. Peter’s Church – the oldest church in Riga. They say the oldest reference to it is in 1205 AD. It is a huge building with a very high steeple.

Another view of St. Peter’s Church

Another view of St. Peter’s Church

Another view of St. Peter’s Church. Unlike most of the churches in Riga this church is not for worshiping. It is being renovated and kind of a museum with a fee to go in and see it.

Here is another street with a steeple in the back ground to yet another church.

We went down a street we saw many people disappearing into the little opening. It seemed so quaint that we decided to look in and there were shops and a little tea house there. Cute.

Living where we are we are often frustrated as most streets are not named so it is hard to get around. In Riga that is not the case. All the streets are named. This grouping of signs shows several streets converging.

I loved the story of The Bremen Town Musicians when I was young and low and behold here in old town Riga is a statue to them. Carl is standing near it. It is kind of dark but there is definitely a donkey, a pig, a cat and a rooster. This is outside a church – interesting.

Artists view of old town Riga.

This map is not to scale but has several landmarks on it.

This map is more to scale. The blue is the large river Daugava. the green is a park system that is very large and I am sure very beautiful in the spring and summer. Even in winter it is very nice. Out hotel was on the right of the farthest right greenway. The middle yellow road going from the top right to the bottom left is the road we walked along to get into old town. The monument is just to the left of the second greenway which has a small river (perhaps creek is a better word) going through it.

This is the Rigas Dome, a government building of some kind.

Name plate on the Rigas Dome.

We were just wandering when we came upon the House of Blackheads. It was once the meeting place for the guild of unmarried German merchants. It is currently under renovations so we couldn’t go inside but it was amazing to see it from the outside. The clock is a masterpiece with four times on it (day, month, hour, minute).

Statue in front of the House of Blackheads

I hope you can see the clock a little better here.

Going toward the river is one of the many bridges that cross the river.

This Statue to the fighting Soldiers looked very soviet to us but is it very Latvian.

A closer view of the Statue to the fighting Soldiers

This is a bird’s eye view of the Cathedral I found on line.

It seemed irreverent to to take pictures inside but I found a few on line that give you a flavor of the cathedral’s beauty. Inside the dome is a gorgeous painting of the Savior – wish I could find a good picture of that. It is truly awe inspiring.

A closer view of the front of the cathedral inside.

Here is the hotel we stayed at in downtown Riga – it was a high class hotel. I doubt we would ever have paid to stay here. The restaurant had amazing food. Our stay there included the best breakfast we have ever had in a hotel – you name it they had it and more than that. Amazing.

Out front of the Hotel.

This is the hallway into our room. It actually was quite spacious. Not huge but plenty big for our needs.

Here is the bed in our room with the window that has a great view of the city – especially the old town.

This is the Cathedral of the Nativity which is just across the street from our hotel and where we spent part of our Sabbath day. It is truly amazing inside and out.