Tuesday, September 29, 2009

A shopper's paradise and Latvia's Switzerland

Lest you think Latvia is just a bunch of old Soviet prisons, here are some pictures showing a little bit of the rest of the country.

Riga, the capital, is the largest city we've been to so far. It has an Old Town section with cathedrals dating back to the 13th century and cobblestone roads lined with little kafejnikas (cafes) where people sit and visit.
Riga also has the largest market in the Baltic region--housed mainly in 5 converted Zeppelin hangars in the heart of the city. It started in 1930 and is still going strong. Each of the hangars has a different theme: dairy/cheeses, meat, fish, breads/pastries, and veggies.
This is me, clearly in paradise. :)

Outside of the hangars are hundreds of individual stalls selling anything your heart could desire. For all of you Bostonians, it's like Haymarket on steroids.
This is Rob, also in paradise (sampling a delicious Latvian pastry from Hangar #2).

After we'd had enough of the hustle and bustle of the city, we took a day trip to Sigulda, a little town known as "The Switzerland of Latvia."
It was a beautiful fall day and all of the leaves were changing colors. We hiked around, took a gondola ride over the river, and saw some cool old castles (we still can't believe we're really doing all of this!).
**More pictures below:

4 comments:

Camille said...

what a trip! i want to go there, too!

Unknown said...

You guys take so many artistic pictures! Enjoy the changing leaves for those of us stuck in places that only have one season.

Katie said...

All of your Baltic adventures look so fun. I miss you guys!

Janelle said...

If you go to church in Latvia say hi to Lisa Busby for me! She's a friend from Virginia whose husband is in the Foriegn Service there.