Peterstravels Leave nothing but footprints take nothing but photos and remember that souvenir is being carried for over 10000 miles!!

This is another city that has surprised me, with again a long and complex history, this city has been the largest city in Sweden, occupied by Germans and Russians with the polish having a go as well. Today it is a growing cosmopolitan city which is shaking off the past and developing its future. There is an old tale he that on every New Years Eve a monster comes from the sea and asks “is Riga finished yet”, to which the answer since 1201, has been “No, not yet but soon”!! The city has over 750 Art Nouveau buildings in various stages of repair but the results of the finished ones are great. There is of course still some evidence of the Russian occupation years with large monstrosities that are yet to be redeveloped but some of these are worth seeing like the Academy of Science building that is more commonly known as Stalin’s birthday cake. The Old Town is a delight, many of the central buildings which were destroyed by occupational forces, have been rebuilt from original plans to stunning effect! The huge central market is a throwback in time, housed in 4 huge recycled ex Zeppelin hangers over 200000 people visit each day to buy everyday good as well as food, the quality of which is very good. Whilst Latvia may be a comparatively poor nation there are flowers everywhere, and to add to usual statues and monument there are art installations all over the place, there are even cows grazing in the central city, but the milk is a bit chewy!