Tag Archives: Latvia

March 22, 2019 · 5:35 am

Fun Photo Friday — Riga Favorites 1

Riga Dragon

Time for some Riga fun:

Art Nouveau Façade

Mounds of Color

Tour Taking in the Sights

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Tagged as Fun Photo Friday, Latvia, photography, R. Doug Wicker, Riga, travel, travel photography, vacation, Vision of the Seas

March 20, 2019 · 5:35 am

Baltic Cruise — Riga, Latvia Part 2

Riga, Latvia

The outstanding architectural feature of Riga is its collection of Art Nouveau.

Riga, Latvia

We’ll be exploring this aspect of Riga architecture in the weeks ahead, but today we’ll look at the more traditional.

Riga, Latvia

Many of the streets in Riga are paved in cobblestone.

Riga, Latvia

There are some colorful buildings, but there is not nearly the explosion of color one experiences in the Nyhavn area of Copenhagen.

Riga, Latvia

That’s not to say that Riga is monochromatic. Being August, there were a lot of floral displays to be photographed.

Riga, Latvia

I’m not aware of the significance of the mural below, which depicts a glider about to be launched from a rooftop, but being an aviation buff I found it interesting:

Riga, Latvia

We’ll continue this photo-intensive travelogue of Riga on Fun Photo Friday and over the next two weeks. Until Friday, here are some more decorative examples of Riga’s Art Nouveau style:

Riga, Latvia

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Tagged as Latvia, photography, R. Doug Wicker, Riga, travel, travel photography, vacation, Vision of the Seas

March 18, 2019 · 5:13 am

Baltic Cruise — Riga, Latvia Part 1

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: