š
Riga is a beautiful city, by far my favourite of the short time i've spent in the Baltic states. I arrived at 7:00am from Lithuania by bus and spent my first few hours walking around the Old Town and city centre as the sun rose. I was immediately stuck by the playful architecture and felt drawn to it's whimsy. I hadn't done too much research and wasn't quite sure what to expect when I arrived. However, I immediatly felt such an affinity towards Latvia.
A major enticing factor for most young travellers is the cost. Riga was very affordable with accomondation as low as (if I remember correctly) $10 a night and beers around $6. Latvian food, in addition to being excellent, is also quite cheap. I went to a Latvian resturant chain called Lido and ate an entire day's worth of food for around $15. Lido was loud, hectic, and somewhat intimidating, but the food was excellent and I think we should petition to have one built in every country.
In line with affordability is the thrifting in Riga. There is an expansive amount of thrift stores with an array of great finds. I was there at the end of a two week trip and didn't have much room left in my bags to shop extensivly, but I picked up a black raincoat out of necessity (it was 20 degrees my first day but had begun snowing on my third?) for about $10 that I have been using consistently since. They have quality jeans, leather coats, vintage finds, and the best selection of knit sweaters i've seen thoughout Europe and Scandinavia, even better than Norway.
Lastly, I met an array of very lovely Latvians. I had heard that Latvians can be a bit reserved and assumed it'd be a similar vibe to Norwegians. However, every Latvian that I spent time with was very welcoming, kind, and warm. I stayed in an airbnb and my host was very kind and welcoming. He gave my great advice on what to do/see, cooked me breakfast in the morning, and chatted with me about my travels and shared his. He was, admittidly, a bit strange but overall I enojyed staying there, though I don't think I would stay with him again.
I met a guy through Bumble while I was there who offered to show me around the city. We went for beers the first day I arrived (though I had been up since 3:00am and my soul was somewhat nonexsistent at that point) and the following day we went thrifting, to the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia, Lido, the oldest cinema in Latvia, Stalin's building, as well as spending time walking around the city. He was extremly kind and very funny, as well as knowledgable. I learnt so much about the history and culture of Latvia and am very thankful for the time we spent together, I don't know if I would have enjoyed my time in Latvia as much had it not been for him.
Lastly, on my final day in Riga I got a tattoo. Just to briefly return to the affordability, the tattoo was $75, which was $40 cheaper than the tattoo I got in Krakow, and they are very similar in size. The artist was an 18 year old Latvian girl who I immediatly fell in love with. She reminded me exactly of my friend Megan from back home and was very silly and outgoing and I was immediately very comfortable around her. It was nice to meet her as the other two people I had met here were men, so it was interesting to hear about Latvia from such an outgoing female perspective. We did confess our love fo each other at the end of the appointment and she followed me on Instagram! Truly, love at first site.
If you ever get the chance, or are ever so enticed, you gotta go.
+5
May 5, 2024
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This was my first trip out of the country once I got my green card. My wife and I wandered the streets safely, ate more carbs than we should have while losing weight (???), looked at art and buildings that were around when Rome was still running gladiator battles, and met strangers for drinks at a bar and stayed there for 6 hours talking about life. Truly my fave trip. We did Florence and Rome andā¦errrrā¦I forget the name but itās the place with all the islands. 10/10 trip. Reach out if you need any recs.
Apr 3, 2024
I canāt express enough how beautiful this country was and how much I highly recommend doing the thing youāve always wanted to. I stayed for just over a month, because if staying in an apartment there for a month was less than a big city in the United States, why not? I went everywhere from La Spezia, Cinque Terre (Corniglia pictured), Florence, Rome, Pisa, Lucca, Milan, etc. Take the trip, life is too short!!
Jan 15, 2025
šŗ
Some of my great-grandparents came from there in the 1920ās and while they were Jewish and the cityās Jewish population has shifted and stuff I still want to just explore where my ancestors lived and get to know the people there. Also Iāll probably be the first in my family to travel to where my ancestors lived because none of my grandparents or parents have visited there or the other places my family came from
Aug 16, 2024
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