Country #81: Riga...A brilliant choice
Way back in August, I found myself with some unexpected days off, the last few I would have for this year's Amsterdam stay. I was wandering around, unsure of what to do with this time, when I came across an ad for Baltic Airlines touting cheap airfare to Riga. That afternoon, I did a quick search for hostels in Riga, found there were some highly recommended ones, saw some pretty pictures and decided that Latvia was to be my 81st country.
I proudly went around proclaiming that I was heading to Latvia. Not surprisingly, this was usually followed by blank stares or questions as to why, exactly, I was going to what was it again? I had no good answer at the time (other than the obvious best answer: Because it's there). I did not even have any idea as to what I would find once I got there. I did know that there was a possibility to bungee jump from a cable car, but oddly, that was about the extent of my research.
Arriving at the fun to say Naughty Squirrel Hostel on a Monday afternoon, I was informed that the bungee jumping only took place on the weekend, a bit of a problem seeing as I was leaving on Thursday. This left me with a total list of 0 things to do. In response to my "now what?", I was handed a map, given a tourism brochure and pointed in the direction of the main square. The square, when I reached it, was not the historic, tourist-filled space found in most European cities. It was more off a giant bustling beer garden, full of fashionable yet funky locals listening to live music while socializing amongst beautiful,understated architecture. I began secretly congratulating myself on a brilliant choice of destination.
The following day, I joined something that was billed as an "Alternative" free tour . Essentially, it was a guided walk around the parts of Riga that tourists normally would not visit (ie. pretty much everything outside of the old town). Some of it, like the markets housed in abandoned zeppelin hangers, the old Stassi headquarters and the wooden construction prevalent in the "Little Moscow" neighborhood was fascinating. Some of it, like the flea market selling mainly used auto parts and cell phones of questionable origin, felt a bit forced. Overall, for a free tour purporting to show the "Real Riga" I felt they did a good job, although I would hesitate to recommend it to someone with limited time. I understand what they are trying to do, people should absolutely wander outside of the "tourist area" for a more comprehensive view but I feel that what they consider "fake Riga" or the old town which has been painstakingly restored also has an intrinsic worth that should not be discounted so easily. To get a different perspective, I followed the tour with a visit to the Museum of the Occupation which carefully documents the city's occupations by both the Nazis and the Soviets (who occupied the city both before and after the Nazis). There is a reconstruction of a Siberian prison, documents and personal effects belonging to the Latvians who tried to maintain some semblance of normalcy during times of severe deprivations and attempts at explaining how all of this was possible. All of it is terribly sobering and moving, but none of it as much as watching an old woman who was part of our small group pointing and quietly mumbling at a photo of schoolchildren attending a Soviet rally. It quickly dawned on us she was naming the school children. It was her class that has been forced to stand outside waving to passing Soviet dignitaries. She turned to us and explained that the teachers had told them to cheer and applaud but, as was obvious from the dour faces displayed, they had refused. She was ready to continue her reminiscences but the guide, who was a young historian trying to lead a more "academic" presentation, sadly discouraged the woman from taking over the tour (something I feel that most of us participants would have happily allowed). It was tough to hold it against the guide, as this was most likely not something new for her. I got the feeling she was often confronted with people who had lived this recent period of history and had their own perspective to present, sometimes contradicting what she was trying to dispassionately present. To further highlight the balancing act she was trying to pull off, at one point she angrily turned to a young man who had been following us with a video camera and sharply snapped something in Russian. The man switched to English and told us he had been given permission to film before grudgingly leaving to another part of the museum. Noting our confused expressions, she explained that it was common for Russians to film part of the tours and edit the video to make it look like the guides were lying to make Russians look bad before posting it all on YouTube. It was a shockingly clear merger of the concept of history with the present day. Just to add to the theme, I ended the day by meeting some new friends from the free tour at a bar called Leningrad's which is decorated to look like an old Soviet home.
The third day, which I began by dropping the heavy lid of a floor locker directly onto my head and most likely giving myself a minor concussion, was spent with a map and a do-it-yourself walking tour booklet. I walked through the Art Nouveau district which has enough examples of stellar architecture to justify a visit to Riga, even if you did not see anything else on your visit. Every building you see is grander than the one before. I felt I could go back every day for a year and find some new overlooked detail each time. I took well over a hundred photos but the scale of the buildings and the richness of detail eluded me every time. Finding my way back to the old town, with my notorious lack of direction, compounded by some concussion-related dizziness proved pretty elusive as well, but somehow, I managed.
I don't know if it was my lack of expectation, the people I met, the lingering effects of a concussion or a combination of all three, but Riga turned out to be one of the most pleasant surprises I'd had in a while. I had gone in sans plan and completely without a clue as to what I would find and ended up dazzled by the beauty and humbled by the history I found. It is a jewel of a city, compact enough to walk through yet expansive enough to find a little bit of everything, a city that is not so precious as to seem fake, yet presents itself with elegance and charm at every turn. It's everything one could ask for when making a brilliant choice of destination.
I proudly went around proclaiming that I was heading to Latvia. Not surprisingly, this was usually followed by blank stares or questions as to why, exactly, I was going to what was it again? I had no good answer at the time (other than the obvious best answer: Because it's there). I did not even have any idea as to what I would find once I got there. I did know that there was a possibility to bungee jump from a cable car, but oddly, that was about the extent of my research.
Arriving at the fun to say Naughty Squirrel Hostel on a Monday afternoon, I was informed that the bungee jumping only took place on the weekend, a bit of a problem seeing as I was leaving on Thursday. This left me with a total list of 0 things to do. In response to my "now what?", I was handed a map, given a tourism brochure and pointed in the direction of the main square. The square, when I reached it, was not the historic, tourist-filled space found in most European cities. It was more off a giant bustling beer garden, full of fashionable yet funky locals listening to live music while socializing amongst beautiful,understated architecture. I began secretly congratulating myself on a brilliant choice of destination.
The following day, I joined something that was billed as an "Alternative" free tour . Essentially, it was a guided walk around the parts of Riga that tourists normally would not visit (ie. pretty much everything outside of the old town). Some of it, like the markets housed in abandoned zeppelin hangers, the old Stassi headquarters and the wooden construction prevalent in the "Little Moscow" neighborhood was fascinating. Some of it, like the flea market selling mainly used auto parts and cell phones of questionable origin, felt a bit forced. Overall, for a free tour purporting to show the "Real Riga" I felt they did a good job, although I would hesitate to recommend it to someone with limited time. I understand what they are trying to do, people should absolutely wander outside of the "tourist area" for a more comprehensive view but I feel that what they consider "fake Riga" or the old town which has been painstakingly restored also has an intrinsic worth that should not be discounted so easily. To get a different perspective, I followed the tour with a visit to the Museum of the Occupation which carefully documents the city's occupations by both the Nazis and the Soviets (who occupied the city both before and after the Nazis). There is a reconstruction of a Siberian prison, documents and personal effects belonging to the Latvians who tried to maintain some semblance of normalcy during times of severe deprivations and attempts at explaining how all of this was possible. All of it is terribly sobering and moving, but none of it as much as watching an old woman who was part of our small group pointing and quietly mumbling at a photo of schoolchildren attending a Soviet rally. It quickly dawned on us she was naming the school children. It was her class that has been forced to stand outside waving to passing Soviet dignitaries. She turned to us and explained that the teachers had told them to cheer and applaud but, as was obvious from the dour faces displayed, they had refused. She was ready to continue her reminiscences but the guide, who was a young historian trying to lead a more "academic" presentation, sadly discouraged the woman from taking over the tour (something I feel that most of us participants would have happily allowed). It was tough to hold it against the guide, as this was most likely not something new for her. I got the feeling she was often confronted with people who had lived this recent period of history and had their own perspective to present, sometimes contradicting what she was trying to dispassionately present. To further highlight the balancing act she was trying to pull off, at one point she angrily turned to a young man who had been following us with a video camera and sharply snapped something in Russian. The man switched to English and told us he had been given permission to film before grudgingly leaving to another part of the museum. Noting our confused expressions, she explained that it was common for Russians to film part of the tours and edit the video to make it look like the guides were lying to make Russians look bad before posting it all on YouTube. It was a shockingly clear merger of the concept of history with the present day. Just to add to the theme, I ended the day by meeting some new friends from the free tour at a bar called Leningrad's which is decorated to look like an old Soviet home.
The third day, which I began by dropping the heavy lid of a floor locker directly onto my head and most likely giving myself a minor concussion, was spent with a map and a do-it-yourself walking tour booklet. I walked through the Art Nouveau district which has enough examples of stellar architecture to justify a visit to Riga, even if you did not see anything else on your visit. Every building you see is grander than the one before. I felt I could go back every day for a year and find some new overlooked detail each time. I took well over a hundred photos but the scale of the buildings and the richness of detail eluded me every time. Finding my way back to the old town, with my notorious lack of direction, compounded by some concussion-related dizziness proved pretty elusive as well, but somehow, I managed.
I don't know if it was my lack of expectation, the people I met, the lingering effects of a concussion or a combination of all three, but Riga turned out to be one of the most pleasant surprises I'd had in a while. I had gone in sans plan and completely without a clue as to what I would find and ended up dazzled by the beauty and humbled by the history I found. It is a jewel of a city, compact enough to walk through yet expansive enough to find a little bit of everything, a city that is not so precious as to seem fake, yet presents itself with elegance and charm at every turn. It's everything one could ask for when making a brilliant choice of destination.
Wow, some discovery. Looks like a great place to visit. The architecture is superb, and appears well maintained. It's always great to be pleasantly surprised. Did you find out the reason for the name of the place where you stayed?
ReplyDeleteIt was one of those places that while there I was already planning my next visit. I can't recommend it enough. Now that you ask the question about the hostel's name is when it dawns on me that I really should have asked. It used to be called the Argonaut and had recently changed it name, but I was too wrapped up in the sightseeing to think to ask. I will put that on my list of things to do for my next visit.
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