In September, off to Riga

After a few relaxed weeks at home in August, I was off to Riga in September. While the real purpose of my visit was to attend a conference, I managed to arrive the Friday before the meetings, to catch up with my friend Wendy and see the town of Riga.

To be honest, I had low to no expectations for Riga. I hadn't had time to do any research, and figured I would just see how it was when I got there. After all, my hotel had a bathtub, so in the worst case I could always stay in and take bubble baths with glasses of wine.

Unfortunately for the bubble bath plan, Riga was a brilliant surprise. Not only were the people incredibly friendly, but the town itself was the perfect combination of old and new, city bustle and quiet town.

Foremost amongst the city's attractions are its Art Nouveau buildings. Little did I know that Riga has the most Art Nouveau buildings of any city in the world. This one is one of the gems:

It's impossible to tell in this photo, but the whole facade is covered in faces, bodies, animals, and symbols. Even though it was pouring rain on the day we decided to discover Art Nouveau Riga, it was well worth getting wet.

This is one of the others that I particularly liked... it's really in disrepair, but somehow that gives it its own character and charm. I love how the elaborate decorations mix with the dilapidation. Beautiful contrasts.

While we did make an effort to see the sights of Riga, Wendy and I had both prioritized relaxation above all other goals. This led us to a great discovery: Riga is the town of tea houses. Amazing, unique, not-to-be-missed tea houses.

This one was perched in a park... the patrons sit along a platform upstairs, on cushions and pillows, shoes off, sipping their tea while watching the river or the pedestrians pass by. I cannot wait to build my own tea hut modeled after this one!


Another of our favorites, Goija Tea Room, was quite the opposite. Dark and quiet, it lent itself to long conversations and contemplation.

I won't admit how many other tea houses we went to... let's just say that we spent most of Saturday and Sunday either drinking tea or walking to the next tea house.

Riga, all in all, was a lovely town. In fact, even the meeting room for our conference was lovely:

So, I would highly recommend it as a destination. In the end, just before I had to catch a taxi to the airport, I discovered a very cool second hand shop upstairs just around the corner from my hotel. There, I got a green jacket, a brown fuzzy jacket, a white lace shirt, and a pair of shoes for something like 15 euros. Not a bad way to use up the last of my lats!