Thirty minues in Riga

On my flight from London to Beirut, I took the cheapest I could find on a small airlines called Baltic Air. Every flight detours through Riga, its headquarters, regardless of how out of the way this stop might be.


Riga, the yellow flag, is not exactly "on the way."


However, I befriended a very nice British pilot sitting next to me who had recently moved to Riga. He invited me to come see the city on my 2 hour layover... and I eventually caved after much back-and-forth. Was this guy safe? Did I really have time?
I decided I didn't want to regret not going, especially after we flew over Riga and I saw just how beautiful the Latvian countryside is: thick, tall evergreen forests cut by small streams and tiny village out croppings. It was stunning from the plane; I could only imagine what it was like from the ground.

After only a slight hesitation at customs, the Latvians let me in and we raced towards the city center in a beat-up 1950s Soviet clunker. The little car made a lot of noise and didn't have many features, but it was built like a tank and got us into town without any trouble. We parked and literally RAN through the square. I shot my photos while trying not to trip over my own feet on the uneven pavement.



It was definitely interesting.
Riga is where Christmas trees were invented, and they are very proud of this. They celebrate by always having a luxuriously decorated, gigantic tree in one of the squares.
They also have very good bread. And quaint cobbled streets. And strange Eastern ornamentation. And a very Sovient mentality when it comes to planning and building (ie. no planning, what so ever).





I would say it's definitely worth a visit longer than 30 minutes.

View more photos here: Riga, Lativa