RIGA - Autuum short trip to the Baltic jewel

On Monday 28.10.19 lunch time we landed in RIGA with airBaltic. After a 30min bus ride with public bus 22 we arrived in Vecriga - the small old historic center of Riga.
We stayed in the friendly cheap and simple "Treehouse Hostel" on Kalku iela next to Liven place (Livu Laukums) and spent the cold afternoon sightseeing in Vecriga.

 Liven Place

 park at the Bastille

                                                                                                                                        "3 Brothers"

 Riga Castle

 "Schwarzhäupterhaus" House of Blackheads

 Central Market

Evening in Vecriga with delicious Latvian (Russian style) food: Pelmeni, Shuba salad, gey peas, bread pudding (in a restaurant of the Lido company)...and Black Balzam in the Black Magic Bar

The next day we first took the elevator to the lookout tower of Petri Church

 view over Vecriga, the river Daugava and to the National Library building

Afterwards we walked to the central station to take the (old communistic) train to JURMALA

30min later we arrived in Majori, the main center of the Jurmala beach area.

Beautiful old wooden houses

Chilly cold but beautiful walk along the Eastern sea

lookout platform in Dzintari park

Unfortunatly in began raining in the afternoon (with only 5°C) and we decided to take the train back to Riga.


In the evening we had another wonderful Latvian dinner in Vecriga near the Powder Tower (Jakobskaserne)

During the night we had snow fall and on the last day we explored the other parts of the city in -1°C snow fall:

The Art Nouveau district and the "New" City
                                                                   Laima clock (chocolate company) and Freedom Monument

The former KGB headquarter in the "Corner House"

the alternative district around Miera Iela

 the Latvian Academy of Science on the way to the "Maskava Forstate"

Last evening in RIGA with a wonderful Latvian dinner in another Lido restaurant

On 31.10.19 we left beautiful RIGA very early with airBaltic back to Vienna.