Traveling Around: Riga, Latvia

Can you relate?

• Enjoying a wonderful view from our hotel window. Perfect for relaxing in the hotel room after walking around all day.
• Rolling my eyes a little bit as I watch all these tour groups walking around the city; the tour guide with some sort of funny umbrella so that the group won’t lose him/her.
• Arriving at one of the important buildings in the main square only to find it covered up by scaffolding, I guess it will have to be the next time I visit that I see it.
• Seeing well-designed and well placed wall murals on old buildings throughout the city, quite beautiful some of them!
• Getting to Riga at just the right time for raspberry and strawberry season; some tables at the market had huge lines waiting to buy some of these unbelievably delicious fruits.
• Finding a restaurant that was in a building built way back in 1221, well at least that was the year that was on the building.
• Listening to some street performers and being amazed at their talent; I could only guess that they were professionals.
• Spending time with an old friend in a foreign city for both of us; just so nice and get to make some new memories.
• Feeling fortunate and lucky that we had really great weather every day of our trip; the sky and clouds were magnificent.
• Going back to a restaurant more than once because of the great food and great restaurant staff, so nice.
• Laughing out loud a bit watching a local trying to count out change in EUR, a currency they just started using a year ago I think.
• Using my Russian every chance I got, only to find myself in a conversation at the main market where I could only nod my head like I understood everything that the saleswoman was saying to me.
• Singing the Latvian Eurovision song from this year in our hotel room, and watching the performance on Youtube.
• Getting a tip from the hotel receptionist to take a certain tram, thinking it was going to give us a nice tour of the city, only to find out that it took us way out into completely nowhere.
• Looking at a pastry display case and being in awe of the decadent sugar masterpieces. (and then not trying any of them!)
• Loving the central market here, located in an old German Zeppelin hanger. You can get everything here!
• Being a stupid tourist and probably paying a tourist price to get on a boat and take a 30 minute ride up and down the river running through the old and new parts of Riga.
• Going up the main tower here to get a good view of the city. We went up on the perfect evening with amazing clouds and sun shining!
• Walking by an 60s restaurant with a live honky-tonk band playing American music, how strange it’s here. People love it too, always a packed house.
• Entering a museum, getting all the way into the entrance and the ticket counter and NOT buying a ticket to get inside.

Currently we have 2 international schools listed in Riga, Latvia on International School Community:

•  International School of Latvia (15 comments)
•  International School of Riga (12 comments)

If you are on a trip right now, away from your host country, write to us at admin@internationalschoolcommunity.com with your “Can you relate?” traveling experiences.  Tell us where you are traveling in the world, what you are seeing and how you are coping with any culture shock.  Once your Traveling Around experience is posted on our blog, International School Community will give you 6 free months of premium membership!