The Random Wanderer

Having travelled through much of Eastern Europe throughout the past couple of years I have sort of felt I have largely neglected the Baltic states with exception of a few days in Lithuania last year visiting friends. Consequently, when I realised the most reasonably priced flights to my next adventure went via Riga, I decided it was time to spend a few days in Latvia. My four days in Latvia are far from enough to do everything that the country has to offer, nevertheless, I managed to fit quite a lot into my time.

Having flown to Riga after a fairly frustrating Gatwick Airport experience (no surprises here), I boarded the number 22 bus and set off to the City Centre. So in general, as with most cities in Eastern Europe, the Riga transport system works very well. I bought a ticket to the centre of the city from the machine at the bus stop outside of Riga Airport. I believe it is also possible to buy tickets through an app on your phone, however, I was far too lazy to do this time. The key, however, is to make sure you scan your ticket when you board the bus or any other form of transport. I didn’t do this, however, for once the ticket conductor was very friendly when she boarded the bus and told me what to do. Nevertheless, I’m sure there are some less friendly conductors, so just try and remember. I think, when in doubt on transport throughout central and eastern Europe, just try and scan your ticket, as stupid as it may look sometimes.

Anyway, I eventually made it to the centre of the city, getting off the bus just outside the central railway station. You would think that my subsequent 2-minute walk to the hostel should be trouble-free. However, you would be wrong. All I can say is when you are carrying one heavy backpack on your pack and another on your front, having a trait of often tripping is not ideal. So flowing my spectacular exit out of the underpass I would like to give a special thanks to Thom for dragging me back on whilst it felt like the rest of Riga was staring at me. I eventually made it to my hostel and went about dropping my bags and going on my first wander around the city.

This is actually the first trip I’ve gone on in the past year where I have brought an actual camera, my Dad’s Canon RP. If I’m completely honest, I have no idea what I’m doing with it, I hope that thanks to some YouTube videos, over the next month my pictures should just get better and better. Nevertheless, for now, I think that some of the pictures I took in the centre of Riga have come out very well. I think this has a lot more to do with the photogenic traits of Riga’s old town than my photography ability.

 If I’m honest with you I’m not entirely sure what half the things I took photos of are, I walked around Riga slightly aimlessly if I’m honest, having either missed (or forgotten about) the walking tours each day, I have very little information on any of the beautiful buildings in the city. The exception to this is the brightly coloured buildings on the town hall square. These truly beautiful buildings, which I believe were destroyed and then subsequently rebuilt in the aftermath of the Second World War. The rebuilding is however immaculate and I love the feeling of the square. Every day when I passed through this square, a cellist was playing sat in the middle of the square, whilst every so often the bells chime. It’s one of those experiences that are quite difficult to explain, but it’s just incredibly nice and calming to experience.

Situated on this square, is the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia by the Soviet Union. The museum documents the history of Latvia between Latvia’s first declaration of independence in 1920 to its independence in 1991 upon the fall of the Soviet Union. Having visited many museums documenting the history of communism or their experience of the Soviet Union, I found this museum very good in comparison with some others. The museum documented the plight of many Latvians, the mass deportations, executions, and the suppression of Latvian culture. The suppression of Latvian culture and language during the Soviet times is still apparent today. Despite the official statistics saying otherwise, I found Russian by far the predominant language in Riga, very much something I did not experience when I was in Lithuania, nor did I expect in Riga. In many ways, this does not bother me, in general, I’m opposed to restrictive language laws which are sometimes seen in the states throughout the former Soviet Union. However, the sheer predominance of Russian I heard makes you aware of how the nearly 50 years of Soviet rule affected the Latvian way of life and culture. A particular quote in the museum really caught my attention. Teodors Jēkabsons was a student and member of the Guards of the Fatherland, a resistance organisation to the Soviet occupation. He was arrested and sentenced to death by the Soviet occupiers in 1941. His final words before his sentence were “I have no hatred for the people of the Soviet Union. I worked for the good of my own nation and wanted to fight for my nation’s freedom and independence”. These words in the context of the current events around the world really struck a chord with me, and I think are very appropriate words for all people to read today and perhaps try and learn a little from our past.

On my second day in the city, I decided to go to Jūrmala Beach was one of my roommates from my hostel. Fortunately, I had abnormally good weather whilst I was in Latvia, on this particular day it was sunny and 31 degrees. It must be noted that I’m not exactly a beach lover usually. Other than in deserts, I hate sand, I hate how it sticks to everything. However, this day was great, the sand on the beach was incredibly soothing, we must have spent 3 or more hours on the beach and it flew by. The sea is rather cold, but for those brave enough it is very refreshing after a long day in the sun. We took the train from Riga Central Station to the beach, getting off the train at Dubulti Station. A return ticket costs approximately €2.50 which struck me as very reasonable. All I would say is that if you buy a paper ticket, ensure that the QR code on the ticket is not damaged whilst you are at the beach. Unfortunately, this happened to me, and I, therefore, had to have a rather embarrassing and apologetic conversation with the train conductor, who was ming enough to just let me buy another on the train which queued me saying «спасибо, извините» far too many times over and over again.

Nevertheless, I had a really good time in the entire short few days I was in Riga. I feel like I’ve now slightly experienced the Baltics a little more, however, I’m sure that I will return one day soon to Latvia and Lithuania, as well as go and discover Estonia. I think from what I have seen of the Baltic States so far, are nice and relaxed countries with very reasonable prices and some really beautiful little towns. I think for anyone looking for a few days away, with an interesting history, good prices, and beautiful attractions look no further than Riga.

Accommodation

I stayed at Cinnamon Sally Hostel in a 6-person dorm. The hostel is a great choice for any solo travellers or small groups of friends. In my opinion, the hostel strikes the perfect balance between a place where you can get a good night’s sleep and is clean and pleasant to be in, and a hostel with a great social side. The hostel has its own beer on tap and regularly runs its own bar crawls ensuring everyone can meet others. To be honest, I had one of my favourite (although strange) nights out as a result of one of these bar crawls, that being said, sorry Daisy for literally throwing your entire drink over you, next time I shall check all window ledges before slapping my hand against a wall. All in all, Cinnamon Sally is a really good choice for anyone looking for a nice hostel to be in and sleep in, combined with a good social life.

Hostelworld Link – https://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/Cinnamon-Sally-Backpackers-Hostel/Riga/45416

Things to do 

Jūrmala Beach

If the weather is good enough, without a doubt visit Jūrmala Beach, the beach itself is really nice, many sports events were going on there when I visited and all of the little towns by the coast seemed really nice.

Museum of the Occupation of Latvia

As I said earlier, probably the best museum about states’ experiences of communism I have been to and in the current global environment is very thought-provoking.

Walk around the old town

The old town of Riga is exceptionally photogenic and I would say just wandering around for a couple of hours is the key thing anyone visiting Riga should do.

Kronvalda Park

A park just outside of the centre of the Old Town, as with Margitsziget in Budapest, it’s just a really pleasant place to sit around and chill. I found the building by the side of the canal very cool and thought it was an interesting contradiction with a statue of Pushkin in the foreground.