roamin' round riga

On Friday July 8th, Nick and I arrived in Riga, Latvia for a weekend trip. Nick had done some research for Riga and planned the entire trip. I can honestly say I did not really know what to expect and had no real idea in my head of what all we would do! We got in pretty late so we just found a wine bar called Easy Wine next to our hotel that was so cool for Friday night. You literally just pushed a button (3 different buttons for different sizes) and then the wine would come out of the machine automatically into your glass and you had a card to rack up your cost. Pretty genius if I say so myself. After we spent an hour or so there we just headed back to the hotel as we knew that Saturday would be a long day.

flying above the clouds...

the wine machine!

On Saturday morning, we woke up and headed to the farmer's market. It was huge!! The market is outside and inside in this area where zeppelins used to be built during WWII. It looks a bit drab when you just look at it but to know all the history went on in that very building is fascinating. We grabbed some traditional Latvian food (not sure if it's my favorite ever but it was still good!). Afterwards, we just walked around for a bit until we met up with the group for a walking tour. Our tour guide was very good! He was a local Latvian from Riga and had a lot of interesting tidbits to share about the city. We saw these three houses called "The Three Brothers" which was very cool architecture. It was a green, yellow and white house. We also got to check out a lot of churches (shocking!!) and other other buildings. After the tour Nick decided to try his luck at shooting some arrows at an archery range that was set up outside along side a 12 year boy (or was this 12 year old boy really Nick?!.. just kidding!) We then checked out a local brew house and grabbed some lunch. I got this awesome vegetarian dish with grilled zucchini! it was great. We spent the rest of the day just walking around and taking in all the sights. It was very nice outside so we checked out some churches and the opera house. We also walked along the canals. Nick had made reservations at a restaurant called 1221. All he wanted to do was try caviar. We weren't in Russia... but close enough... is what he said! Now.. I will admit the caviar in general was fine and tastier than I expected but i will NEVER pay that much again for food :). No idea why it is such a delicacy and why it is outrageously expensive. Overall the meal was fantastic. We got to eat on the rooftop terrace and enjoy the weather. After we finished eating we did a kayak tour on the river/canals. This was quite an interesting experience as it was after the sun went down and a bit eery. I thought Nick and I may snap each other's heads off by the end cause we obviously both thought we were better at paddling than the other and he got bit my a spider but it was still cool to see Riga by night and overall worth the experience. We even got to see some beavers!

latvian cuisine

fake flowers looking very real

unique latvian songs by two latvian singers

and there's a TGI Friday's???

the three brothers!

nick shooting arrows with a 10 year old 

zucchini <3

beautiful colorful Riga!

central square! 

traditional selfie.... no selfie stick of course though

panorama time

hottie with some caviar

good to try this once but never again... so expensive

bridge over the river at nighttime while on the kayak

On Sunday, Nick and I woke up and headed to this bagel place for breakfast. YUMMY! It was really really good and now I want a bagel while I'm typing this. I realized that most people who read this on a regular basis and may actually take note of the places I say are American so to them a bagel is not a big deal. BUT if you have not had a bagel in awhile or do not eat them often go check out this place called Big Bad Bagels.  We then went to check out the Art Nouveau district on the famous street Albert Iela. This architecture is very unique. Just check out my pictures. I'm not very artsy so do not have much to necessarily add to the conversation but it was awesome to check out for an hour or so. If you are into architecture it's a must when you are in Riga. Once we were done with this we went to where the KGB building used to be in Riga. This was extremely eye opening for me. We were able to see first hand the type of torture that was handed to the prisoners here and it really shook me up. I think it is always important from a historical point of view to see and learn this; however, a lot of it makes me so sad for the world and it makes me realize even more that we must change the world today... and never go back.

All in all, I loved Riga! I think it's a must for all visitors especially if you find yourself on that side of Europe! I think it gives a great taste of a different part of Europe that a lot of people do not expose themselves too. I would recommend !