This is Riga's Freedom Monument. On Saturday there was a ceremony celebrating Latvia's 10 years of NATO membership. We had celebrated a few weeks earlier in Lithuania.
The Blackheads' House is a reconstruction, but one based on the original 14th-century blueprints.
St. Peter's Lutheran Church is a landmark of the old town. Outside stands a sculpture by Krista Baumgaertel of the Town Musicians of Bremen, based on a Grimm Brothers tale. There are those who say that the animals are peering through the Iron Curtain during the waning days of international communism. The sculpture was a gift to Riga from the city of Bremen.
Riga's Nativity of Christ Cathedral is a landmark because of its location in the city of the city's park, a vestige of the fortifications and moat that once protected the city. Currently, there is scaffolding covering the main dome. During the Soviet period it served as a planetarium.
The Opera House is in the same park, a few blocks away from the Orthodox cathedral. It is a great looking facility, and a wonderfully intimate place to enjoy opera.
Riga is served by the full array of trams, electrified trolleys, and buses common to eastern Europe. This one looks brand new.
Here's the plaque on the gorgeous art nouveau apartment building that was home to the young Isaiah Berlin.
We had a truly superb meal at this restaurant, called Domini Canes, in the old city.
We wish we had a few more days to explore this wonderful vestige of the Hanseatic League!
No comments:
Post a Comment