Riga, Latvia
Ursula and I had been wanting to do a cruise of the Baltic region for quite some time. Problem is, most Baltic cruises are on the short side, and tend to leave out several destinations as a result. Fortunately, waiting it out for the right cruise to appear paid off in dividends when, on Friday, August 11, 2017 out of Copenhagen, we boarded Royal Caribbean‘s ship Vision of the Seas for an eleven-night, twelve-day cruise. That journey included Riga, Latvia; Tallinn, Estonia; two days in St. Petersburg, Russia; Helsinki, Finland; Stockholm, Sweden; Klaipeda, Lithuania; and Gdansk, Poland before returning to Copenhagen on Tuesday, August 22.
Riga, Latvia
But our adventure on this trip neither began nor ended in Copenhagen. As you’ve already noted, we started in Amsterdam on August 3, 2017. Not included in this series was a side trip to Switzerland to visit with friends and relatives in Zurich and Glarus before continuing on to Copenhagen a week later. After this Baltic cruise, we would stay aboard Vision of the Seas for a transatlantic crossing that included three stops in Iceland before continuing on to St. John’s, Newfoundland and terminating in Bayonne, New Jersey.
Riga, Latvia
After a day at sea out of Copenhagen, we arrived at our first port of call on Sunday, August 13, 2017. This port was Riga, the capital city of Latvia. And one of our first sights in town was Riga Castle situated next to the Daugava River:
Riga Castle
We’ll continue our tour of Riga on Wednesday, and extending over the next two weeks. Until then, here’s a sample:
Decisions — Murder in Paradise
The Globe — Murder in Luxury