Jumble

The recent (last 100 years) history of the Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) is largely the same: Long awaited independence and national pride is crushed by Soviet invasion, followed by Nazi oppression, and then handed back to the Soviets where they remained behind the Iron Curtain for over 45 years.

Riga also has a Museum of Occupation, housed in one of the few remaining Soviet structures (Latvians tore down the rest) – a kind of fitting house for the horrors chronicled inside. Needless to say, I am becoming extremely familiar with history of this region (including Finland). Learning history first-hand (so to speak) is one of my goals in traveling, and hitting almost the whole region this time has made that a lot easier.

Riga itself is an interesting jumble of medieval, modern, Art Nouveau, Art Deco and numerous other kinds of architecture. The old town was not preserved as well as in Tallinn, and here you have modern shopping malls next to 16th century buildings. The Art Nouveau district is the most celebrated, and I took heaps of photos of the various nymphs, ghouls and dragons adorning them.

I am happy to report that the weather is warming even more, and today is the first day I didn’t have to wear hat and scarf (and gloves for the second half of the day). Tomorrow, my last day, is supposed to get into the 50’s!

I’m not sure if anyone is reading this, but I’ll do a couple more installments before I draw this episode to a close. I hope you have enjoyed coming along with me!


Left: Soviet-era bunker houses Museum of Occupation in Riga