Lovely Latvia

Hello Wonderful People!

It's now been just over a week since I returned from my Easter trip to Latvia, and I've just about got over the post-holiday blues. We stayed in Riga, the capital city and had THE best time. I don't quite know what I was expecting Riga to be like, but it well surpassed my expectations; the city is awesome. Before I went away, I'd done a bit of research and roughly planned out what I'd like to see and do while I was there. There were a few things we didn't get round to doing, but we managed to squeeze in a lot of sightseeing, eating and drinking into the 3 days.

What to do
Explore! Unfortunately, due to our bad timing and organisation, we missed the walking tour. Instead we paid 15 Euro for a bus tour of the city with running commentary. I'm sure this would have been super interesting, but I fell asleep around 10 minutes into the journey for the whole tour. So I basically paid 15 Euro to nap on a bus. Not my finest moment. The Old Town is lovely and relatively small, so it's easy to wander round and explore. We spent hours wandering round the tiny little streets, admiring the buildings and small alley ways. I'd also recommend heading up the church tower at St Peter's Church in the old town, as you get to admire impressive views of the whole city. There are loads of museums in Riga, but I'd recommend the KGB museum, if you're interested in European history and the history of Latvia under Soviet Rule.

Where to eat
We went to the most amazing restaurant Folkklubs; the food was delicious and the prices were crazy cheap. We each had 2 courses and shared 2 bottles of prosecco, and the whole bill (for 3 people) came to 47 euros, which works out at about £12 each. Bargain. I'd also recommend going to Big Bad Bagels for lunch. There's every kind of filling you can imagine and several different types of bagel bread to choose from. I went for the brie, caremelised red onion and rocket in a cheese and jalapeño bagel. They're delicious and around 3 euros each.

Something different
On our final day in the city, after a rather heavy night out (we didn't get in till 7am), we headed out of the city to Sigulda to partake in a little bit of bobsleighing! You can go with an organised tour, or just head to the main bus station in Riga and it will cost you around 3 Euro to get there. The journey takes around an hour 20 and the bobsleigh track is a 5 minute walk from the bus station. I don't think I've ever been so terrified in my whole life, and I would not recommend doing this on a hangover. Despite this, the bobsleigh was awesome in an 'I might die doing this' kind of way. We all suffered slight whip-lash to the neck, thanks to forces of 4g when you hurtle round the corners at 100 mph, but it's all part of the fun! If this sounds like your kind of thing, then I would definitely recommend it! You can go with an organised tour, or just head to the main bus station in Riga and it will cost you around 3 Euro to get there. The journey takes around an hour 20 and the bobsleigh track is a 5 minute walk from the bus station. It costs 50 Euros for one ride down the track - slightly pricey, but it's a once in a life time kind of opportunity.

 

Have you ever been to Riga? What did you think? Would you go again?