There weren’t very many times on our two month trip where we decided to just pay for an Uber, but leaving Tallinn for Riga was one of them. Not only had we stuffed up our suitcase wheels on the cobblestone roads, but we just couldn’t face trekking up the hill and trying to find the bus we needed to get on. Lucky we did take an Uber that day, as it saved us tons of time which we ended up using to find the correct bus to take us to Riga. Whoever said that bus travel is easier than train travel is seriously mistaken.
We were pleasantly surprised by the luxury on our first bus though (it was never to be repeated on our trip, but we didn’t know that at the time). We had individual TV screens with movies, music and also this awesome coffee machine that we took full advantage of for some hot chocolate and cappuccino’s on our long journey.
After arriving in Riga, it was another long walk to our accommodation, because we didn’t realise that we had to specifically request the stop we wanted. So instead of a 7 minute walk, it ended up being 30 minutes. I wish I could say that we learnt from our mistakes, but this did happen to us more than once on the trip!
Our accommodation was another Airbnb rental, but it was another winner. It had everything we needed for a self catering stay and best of all, it had a washing machine. We already needed to do a load of washing so badly, that we just went with it and hoped it would dry before we had to pack up and go to our next destination. The only problem with the accommodation was the five flights of steps that we had to climb after our already tiring 30 minute walk, we almost died! Apparently they don’t believe in lifts in Riga.
Riga itself was actually such a pleasant surprise. I had always thought that the Latvian people were very miserable and unfriendly people, but on our first day we noticed that wasn’t the case at all. We had organised a free walking tour and the lady that showed us around had lived in Latvia her entire life and was so friendly and passionate about her country. It was just amazing to see.
She showed us the majority of Old Town (always the prettiest in any city) and then went on to explain about Black Balsam which is their traditional drink and still used when someone has a cold or digestive issues. She even went to the trouble of organising a tasting of the three different flavours – original, blackberry and cherry – with a bit of chocolate tasting as well. It truly made our day. There aren’t a lot of times I feel like someone will go above and beyond to make your trip special, but this was definitely one of them.
She also introduced us to our first self service restaurant and we were seriously not disappointed. It was called Lido and is apparently a franchise, but all I can say is YUUUMMM!! We tried a salmon pie (so basically cooked salmon with pie crust and mashed potatoes on top), potato salad, lentil salad, crispy chips and an eisbein looking thing with crispy fat and juicy meat (I think it was pork 🙂 ). It was the best and pretty much only meal we ate at a restaurant the whole trip.
We did get to try some fresh pastries and ice cream while in Riga at least. We heard that Riga has some of the best ice cream in the world and I think I now know why. It was just so fresh. The sorbet part of the ice cream tastes like fresh berries and the milky part is only filled with milk, cream and vanilla. No added ingredients. No added preservatives. Just fresh and absolutely delicious. It is also incredibly soft when you go to eat it. That is how you know it is good Latvian ice cream, when it’s not rock hard.
Riga so impressed us with its prices though. I couldn’t actually believe it, but the grocery store in Riga was cheaper than the ones at home. Food was so well priced in the store that we managed to get two bags full of groceries (to last us 2 nights) for R350 where at home we would have paid R600 for the same bags. It was crazy cheap. Figuring that out, we should have bought a new suitcase, but alas, I was cursed with an incredibly stubborn partner who would rather drag a broken suitcase for an entire two month journey; than buy a new sub-standard one and risk that the wheels might fall off again.
So, besides seeing every square in Riga and what felt like the outside of every church in Riga as well, we decided to try some traditional Latvian beer. What better place to try it than at an Australian pub/hostel. The best part about the pub was the fact that it was actually an old VW Kombi that they’d hollowed out and turned into the main bar serving area. That and getting to try 10 different beers. We were just grateful that we had decided to share instead of getting 10 each like the barman had suggested. We still had to walk home after all. 🙂
If you need to buy fresh meat, seafood, fruits or veggies; there is no better place than the Central Market. I’ve actually never seen anything like it. It was these huge warehouses right next to each other all filled with different things. Apparently there was even a clothes section, but we didn’t get that far. We did see the flower section though. That was incredible. If I lived in Riga, I would probably visit there every day just to walk through the flowers. We were warned that it was a big pick pocketing area, so we were fully on guard and looked like we might attack passers by. Lucky enough, we didn’t have any troubles, but then again, we are South African – pick pockets should be scared of us! 🙂
My favourite part of Riga by far was the canal boat cruise that we did. Not only did I finally get to rest a bit and put my feet up for an hour, but we were the only ones on the boat and we got the best view of all of the sights that we couldn’t make it to on foot. Riga Old Town was by far the prettiest area in the whole city and the nicest to walk around, but I missed the medieval buildings of Tallinn and hoped to catch a glimpse of one around every corner. The most we did get to see was the only surviving wall from what was once a surrounded city. It’s actually in the back alleyway behind some old buildings. You wouldn’t even know it was there if you tried to find it. That is why I reckon the walking tours were always the best. They always gave us an insight into the new city we’d just arrived in and also a pretty good orientation of where everything was and where we’d like to go back to.
We heard from a lot of people that the Eastern European countries are the most dangerous, scariest places to travel with truly unfriendly, miserable people; but I honestly felt the complete opposite. We never felt unsafe. We never felt like people were unfriendly or miserable. We never felt scared in these countries. It always felt more hopeful. Like they’d been through a lot, but they were coming out on the other side, bigger and better.
*Did you know that Riga started the Christmas tree tradition in 1510?*
