Riga Day 1

Today started out with another run out in the rain. We got up about 8 o'clock and hit the streets, winding and winding around. Our route took us through some cool parks in Riga and also some stop lights. No one crosses through the red light like in NYC, but waits for the walk sign. Weird.

Katherine in one of the parks with the canal running through the middle.

When we finished the run we decided to walk a loop around the hostel. This is a shot from a weird old parking area. This teller booth looks a little run down, but was not out of commission.

This is the entrance to our hostel from the busy street.

On the way to the free walking tour we stopped for some kebabs. That would be donner kebabs from a Turkish restaurant, well at least Turkish in food, the attendants were Latvian and spoke English.

The free walking tour lasted 2.5 hrs. I can never miss one of these gems in a new town. They are just too good. You get a local to show you around the city and have always felt like we needed to give a tip at the end. Awesome!

Old street named after Richard Wagner. Cool. But it got renamed during the Nazi occupation. It still stands with his name.

Katherine and our guide, Anita. She was super cool and full of knowledge.

This pic is of the markets. Hopefully, we will go through them all in the next day or two. They are old Nazi Zepplin hangers cut down to size.

Radio tower in the background.

Called Stalin's birthday cake, but actually a building for the academy of science.

Flowers in the garden during the walking tour.

Two typical Latvian women. They know how to rock it!

After the tour we went to the Occupation Museum. Latvia has been overtaken many times, especially by the Germans and the Soviets. Watch out who is trying to take your stuff.

This is a popular park for playing chess that we ran through in the rain this morning. We were here again this afternoon, and as I checked out my map, these old dudes were getting busy with some serious games of chess.

This meal was at a cafeteria style restaurant. Just get a tray, load it up and pour some beer!

After running 4 miles and a walking tour of the city, we are beat. More to come tomorrow. The plan is to hit the coast. We will have to take a short train or bus ride to get there.

 

 

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