Sunday, February 8, 2015

A Snapshot of Riga, Latvia

Riga St. Peter's church view
Riga birds eye view
Nick and I have just arrived home from a whirlwind weekend getaway to Riga, Latvia. With a short weekend off, we decided the perfect getaway would be with the Tallink Silja line to Riga.


With this trip, we boarded the Isabelle on Friday afternoon at 4 and took off to Riga. We arrived in Riga Saturday morning at 11, and had until 5:30 to explore the city. At this time, the Isabelle departed for Stockholm and brought us home! More on the ship, dinners, and accommodations in a future post…today, let's take a quick look at what we were able to see and do in Riga!
Riga for one day
old town Riga
After hopping off the Isabelle, we headed straight towards Old Town Riga! I had a huge list of sights I wanted to see and things we wanted to do, so from the moment we hopped off the boat it was nonstop until we had checked many of the items off my list.

Riga cat
channeling my inner crazy cat lady with the Riga Cat!
While wandering around Old Town Riga, I spotted this giant Riga cat and knew I had to snap a picture with him! 

House of the Blackheads
House of the Blackheads
A highlight of visiting Riga, and something you must do while in Riga, is checking out the House of the Blackheads. Situated in the center of Old Town Square, the House of the Blackheads is quite an impressive structure, dating all the way back to the 14th century!

After visiting the House of the Blackheads, Nick and I headed to St. Peter's Church in order to view Riga from above. St. Peter's Church has a lookout that gives impressive views of the city- you can see from the first picture in this post, that the city from above is just as gorgeous from on the ground!

to do in Riga for one day
Rigan 'champagne' and planning the rest of our adventures!
After traipsing all about the Old Town and seeing nearly every important icon in Riga, it was time for a quick break for Nick and I. We sat down at a cute cafe in the old town, and I was able to enjoy a glass of champagne (well, sparkling wine!) from Riga. The champagne was actually quite delicious, although slightly sweet for my tastes- but hey, when in Rome (or, Riga!) After this, we took a walk through the art Nouveau district and headed back to the Isabelle for our return trip home. All in all, our trip to Riga was definitely a whirlwind, but was the perfect way to explore a new city! Stay tuned for more of our Riga adventures, including a slight mishap being led to the House of Black Cats instead of the House of Blackheads! 


18 comments:

  1. So cool :) What a beautiful town! I just can't wait to finish with this program and start travelling!

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    1. Thanks Ana! It was a great place to go explore. Now I am already impatient for my next adventure- two whole months away!

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  2. What a great weekend getaway! Thanks for sharing the pictures and showing us around :)

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    1. Thanks! I had so much fun exploring a new city!

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  3. Wow, what a neat weekend getaway! Loved how you were able to take a little weekend cruise (I just love boats, so that in itself would have been a highlight, in addition to seeing Riga!). It looks like Riga was lots of fun to explore - the House of the Blackheads is gorgeous!

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    1. Sara, I had never been on a cruise before so I loved traveling this way. Riga was a great city to explore, and I was able to cover so much ground in a few short hours- it was perfect!

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  4. That view from the church is gorgeous! And the House of the Blackheads is such an interesting looking building! Can't wait to read more about your time there.

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    1. Sara, more posts will definitely be coming! Riga was a very interesting city to explore, and I was able to see and do so much in a short time!

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  5. How cool! I really want to go to Riga :) House of Blackheads looks so gorgeous :) Going to read more on it right now. Can't wait to hear more about your trip! xo

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    1. Thanks Jordan! Riga had never been at the tip-top of my list, but this short trip was too perfect to pass up. It turned out great too!

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  6. Nice! I had an eight-hour layover in Riga a couple years ago and loved walking around and taking in the city! Looking forward to seeing more of your photos.

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    1. Did you also feel like you saw a ton of the city? I felt like I covered so much in such a short time!

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  7. Riga is quite beautiful, love all of the architecture ... and that cat! I've never heard of the Riga Cat before!

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    1. Thanks Christina! I'd never heard of the Riga Cat before, but I knew I had to get a picture with it.

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  8. My grandparents emigrated from Riga back in the 30s, and Ive always wanted to go and visit - your post just pushed me over the edge :) Thanks for the tips and pictures - looks absolutely lovely!

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    1. Abby, that would definitely be a great reason to go and check out the city! I bet they can tell you a lot of cool things about Riga for when you visit!

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  9. Wow amazing town! I wouldn't have ever known about this place, but now I would love to travel here it looks so cute to visit and take photos of!

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    1. Thanks Yvonne! Riga had never been at the top of my travel list, but the opportunity presented itself and I thought it sounded like the perfect place for a quick trip!

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