September 13, 2006
In between our stops at the Hill of Crosses, and the Rundale Palace our group saw stunning countryside full of tall pines and birch tress, small towns with and even a medieval castle. A relaxing drive which in between my working on organizing pictures, allowed me to doze off while listening to music and looking at a beautiful countryside.
We arrive in Riga around 5:00 PM local time and we checked into the Gutenbergs Hotel http://www.gutenbergs.lv/. Our tour guide would explain the next morning that the hotel was formerly a printing-house. I guess that explains why the heavy key chains are in the form of small books.
After check in, Allan and I went for a walk. The first thing I realized is that this city is aesthetically breathtaking and is going to be hard to capture in pictures. It was called the “New Paris” and like other European cities it has small narrow winding streets and squares with beer gardens and cafes.
Riga was founded in 1201 and is the capital city of Latvia. The population is about 750,000 and a major difference between here and other Europe destinations is that although there is plenty to see, there aren’t people selling books and postcards outside of every attractions or scores of tour buses lining up. As you will see from the pictures, the places aren’t packed with people.
I could resist posting this picture, have you ever seen a men’s restroom with these colors?
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