Andrea and I traveled from Vilnius, Lithuania to Riga, Latvia by LUX bus, where we met up with Stephanie, a friend from Sweden. The LUX bus is highly recommended! It left from central Vilnius, and was exceptionally comfortable. It was so easy that I may consider this type of bus for future trips.
Steph traveled from Sweden a day earlier and had already explored much of the city and surroundings so it was quite manageable to see the highlights in the 2 days allotted to Riga. Its location, just a quick hop across the Baltic Sea from Sweden makes it a likely candidate for a future family weekend. I spotted several restaurants and places that I think Bryant would enjoy, so rather than try to see everything, I treated this stop as a preview.
We took a cruise around Riga at the mouth of the Daugava, walked across Akmens Stone Bridge to the Castle of Light (National Library) , toured the National History Museum and the Museum of Decorative Arts and Design porcelain exhibit, surprising good! I loved reading the history of many unique or extremely rare pieces such as a bidet on loan from Sweden. There was a very early collection featuring scenes of Malmo.
Enjoyed the story of the Cat House and feud with the Guilds of Riga and other sights in the Old Town, such as the mysterious stone head.
We took frequent stops for fika and even found time for some shopping. I found a vintage amber necklace and used the knowledge gained at the Vilnius museum to barter with the owner for what I think was a fair price.
I wanted to get some MAGA repellent (see photo above-genuine brand of insect repellent) just on principal, but I didn’t have any checked bags so it had to stay in Riga. So sad
Riga is a terrific city to explore and I left feeling like I’ve had a nice sample, but with much more to do in case the family would like to return. After all, with the eldest about to begin her studies in VISBIJA (the old name for Visby) we might well add a stop in Riga to the itinerary. More on the program in Gotland later!
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