Exploring Old Riga with Juris

Today was our last day of trip prep in Riga before we launch on the motorcycles tomorrow.  We woke this morning to grey skies and rain.  Although we've had intermittent rain for the last two days, we worried that the planned walking tour might be cancelled.

At breakfast we met some more of our fellow riders.  Ida Purwaningsih and Alex Lunardi-Tedjowinoto from Indonesia, Marilyn Makepeace, from California, Alain Gabriel from Switzerland, Andre Lacy from Indianapolis, and "Boz" Bozarth from California.  We also met our paramedic/guide, Mike Meyer.  At this point we were still missing only Tom and Mona Loftus, Geoffrey Smith, and Randy McClanahan.

Primary riding guides, John and Janis, were there as well and after some back and forth, confirmed that the walking tour was still on.  Several opted out, but the majority met in the lobby after breakfast to meet the local tour guide, Juris.

Juris is a member of the Conservation Society of Latvia and has permit # 001 for guides.  He also has very good English skills, unusual in Eastern Europe in our experience.

The following structures remain from the Swedish occupation, in various degrees of restoration

The Powder Tower

The old wall and Ramer Tower - almost a total restoration

The Swedish Gate - It was cut through a residential building in 1668 to facilitate access to the city from houses that were built between the city wall and the ramparts.

On the other side of the narrow street is a building that was used to house the infantry.

This house on the left is the last of the medieval homes.  Unlike most of western Europe, the Latvian homes only extended their second floors ever so slightly over the lane.

The Latvian government consists of a 100 member parliamentary body called the Saeima.  The oldest part of the building dating back to early 1900s is the part with the arched windows. 

We came across these street performers as we walked down the street.  They like to play songs from tourists' home countries.  Juris tried to stump them by asking them to play something from Alex and Ida's home country, Indonesia.  After thumbing through their music books for a couple of minutes, they found one.  They also played "America, The Beautiful" for the rest of us.

The building to the right is the oldest preserved dwelling in Riga.  It was built in at the end of the 15th century. It has a lean as bad as the tower of Pisa.  The one next to it was built in 1646, and the one on the left is of a slightly older date.  They all show the Dutch influence of their time.  Together, they are known as the "Three Brothers".

This building used to be the commodity stock exchange until the Soviets invaded.  Socialists had no use for financial houses and it now houses an art museum

Interior lobby of the art museum

This exhibit in the former stock exchange is a Venitian gondola that has been "exploded".  It represents order and chaos - at least that's what we're told.

The Dome Church is the largest and most significant of the churches in Riga.  It is the final resting place of Bishop Albert, who led the Northern Crusades to convert the barbarians of the Baltic area to christianity in the early 1200s.  Many of the landed gentry are buried there after contributing to the church to gain immortality for their names and coat of arms.  In 1561, the last grand master of the Order of Livonia Gotthard Kettler signed a treaty with Poland, converted to Lutheranism and sold the Dome Church to Riga.  

Usually, all churches in Riga have a golden rooster atop the steeple.  Currently it is under restoration. When it is finished, the lead architect will climb to the top of the steeple, sit astride the golden rooster and drink a toast to the newly renovated church.  Then he will toss the glass to the ground.  Legend has it that the church will stand for as many years as there are broken pieces of glass.

Two centuries ago when St. Peters steeple was replaced, the architect couldn't drop the glass directly to the ground because of the crowd of people.  He tossed it towards a nearby open area.  Unfortunately, the glass landed on a bale of hay, and only broke in two.  At first the town people thought this was a disaster, however, this time each piece represented a century and the St. Peter's steeple lasted two centuries until 1941.

St Peter's Church was established in 1209 and expanded throughout the years.  This facade is the newest, although sections of the original building remain.  The steeple was damaged by the 1941 friendly fire event that destroyed Town Hall Square.  It was subsequently replaced by the Soviets and now has an elevator that takes tourists to the top for the best panoramic views of the city.

Just outside the church is a sculpture to the Grimm Brothers.  It represents the Town Musicians of Bremen, and was a gift from the German town of Bremen to Riga.  The two cities have a long history of trade.  Notice the shiny noses - it's considered good luck if you rub all of them.

At last we get down to business.

We met this afternoon for a pre-tour meeting with the guides and participants.  Randy's flight was delayed, but he finally made it to Riga just before the start of our meeting.  Tom and Mona Loftus will meet us in Kazakhstan.

We discussed the necessary paperwork to be carried on the bikes, the daily morning schedule, border crossings, and reviewed the rules of the road in Russia and China (basically there really aren't any - stay alert).  We also attempted to figure out the paperwork for the Russian border crossing.  We think we got it right - ya never know with government paperwork.

After our meeting we walked down the street to have our first group dinner. 

We can already tell it's a fun group.  There are people of wide age spans, home locations, and backgrounds.  All have a lot of long distance motorcycle riding experience, with stories to tell as a result.  We previously rode with Marilyn Makepeace and John Jesson on a tour of eight countries in Africa two years ago, and some of the other riders have also ridden together.  John, Janis, Mike and Svetlana will be herding cats for the next 2 1/2 months.  We will always begin and end each day together, but the riders are on their own in terms of riding speed and style, so we expect some smaller groups will emerge.  Dave and I often take off on our own on these type of trips, but time will tell.  A complication in many of our destinations is purchasing fuel - more on that in a later post.

This is going to be fun!  Tomorrow we have a special permit to ride the motorcycles into Riga's old town pedestrian area for the official starting photos at 8:00 AM.  From there we will ride along the sea into Estonia, destination Tallin, the capital.

Solo Exploring Old Riga

We slept late this morning recovering from jet lag. We decided months ago to arrive two days early for the Epic Adventure so that we had plenty of time to rest and acclimate to the time change.  Good decision.  Each day our body clocks have become more attuned to the local time, but there's still time to take a nap before the adventure begins :)

There's a nice park just across the street from the hotel. The golden domes of the Orthodox Cathedral of the Birth of Christ are visible over the park trees.

It was built in 1876 and is one of the most important orthodox churches in the Baltic.

and then around the corner to a nearby coffee shop for a late breakfast and latte.

The afternoon was spent exploring Old Riga.

Liberty Monument

The Latvians have their own Statue of Liberty, symbolizing liberation from foreign power. It was dedicated in 1935 and stands 42 meters high, the lady herself is 9 meters.  The 3 stars symbolize the the unity of the 3 regions of Latvia.  When Latvia was occupied by the Soviet Union, the monument was a problem for them.  At one point, Moscow ordered the demolition of the statue, but a famous Russian sculptor, Vera Muhina, was instrumental in preventing the the ordered destruction.

 There's a beautiful park that runs along the whole western side of the old city.

Original Chapel founding St. John's in 1234

St. John's Church began as a small chapel dedicated to St John the Baptist in 1234.

It's gorgeous gothic rib vaults have a colorful history.

In the 14th century, the roof was removed and catapults installed when Riga was at war with the Livonia Society.  After the war the church roof was rebuilt with the gothic ribs.

In the 15th century, two monks wanted to become saints, so they enclosed themselves into the wall of the church with only a small grated window to the outside by which passers-by could give them food and water.  They both soon died, but the Pope refused to canonize them because they were only motivated by ambition.  As if that wasn't bad enough, the opening was closed up and the monks forgotten about until 1848 when the spire was damaged.  Workmen found the monks.  A decision was made to reseal the niche, leaving the monks undisturbed.  A small opening in the shape of the cross now commemorates the spot. So I guess the monks get some kind of recognition.

In 1523, when the monks left the church to lead a procession through town, the Lutherans locked the gates behind them and refused to let them back in.  The town council shut down all the convent churches.  They took the books left behind by the monks and established the city library.  The empty building were used for secular purposes until the Catholics later returned.

In the late 1600's a penitentiary was built next to the church. A door connecting the two buildings allowed the prisoners to be brought into the choir loft to participate in the service.

Next to St John's Church is an alley that leads through the old Convent Gate into

the inner courtyard of the first convent founded by Bishop Albert.  Part of the courtyard was formed by the oldest defensive walls in Riga.

Town Hall

Town Hall Square is home to several interesting buildings. The Museum of Latvian Occupation, House of Blackheads, Town Hall, and  St. Peter's Church can also be seen from the square.

In medieval times, peasants and cart drivers lined up in the square to have their loads weighed.  After registering the goods, monies were collected and inventory was stored in the upper floors of the House of Blackheads, and the square was covered in horse manure.  So at dawn, the police brought out the prostitutes arrested the night before, with brooms and pails to clean up the mess.  Some were dressed in rags, but others in silk gowns and fancy plumed hats.

Museum of Latvian Occupation

The Museum of Latvian Occupation houses memorabilia and papers documenting the violence carried out between 1941-1991 by the Germans and Soviets.

The House of Blackheads is one of Riga's main buildings.  In the middle ages the patron of infantry was a Moor named Maurice.  His curly head was added to their coat of arms and the fraternity became known as the Riga Blackheads.  I know, not very politically correct.  Anyway, the fraternity served the spiritual and social needs of the 13th century wealthy single (unmarried) merchants class.  They also provided the first line of defense for the city during times of war.  During more peaceful times they organized Shrovetide carnivals for the two weeks prior to Lent.

The steeple of St Peter's Church can be seen just beyond the corner of the square.

Having said all that, and shown you the pictures, I regret to inform our dear readers that it is all fake!

On June 28, 1941 Red Army was retreating from the town square.  However, a Russian artillery unit across the Daugava River mistook the retreating army for the enemy.  The resulting fierce firefight completely destroyed all the buildings around the square.  All of them are precise copies of the original - right down to the statue of Roland in the middle of the square.

We left the Town Square and headed toward the river and another "fake" monument.

Well, at least we know the original still exists.  Turns out they decided to put the original in the museum when some drunk university students took it for a joy ride around the city.

In the early 1300s the Castle of Riga was built.  It is now used as a government building, but is undergoing renovations.  Being an oblivious tourist, I thought there might be an exhibit inside and tried to enter a courtyard.  I was immediately and brusquely confronted by an armed military guard. Oops.  So sorry - don't shoot - I'm leaving.

On our way back to the hotel, we stopped to check out some local art made from stone and metal.

 

Dave commented that he thought this could sell for twice as much in the US.

The man next to us said, "No way".  Of course this led to the obligatory "American? Where are you from?"

Imagine our surprise when we found out the Jeff Foltskog (cousin to ABBA lead singer Agnetha Foltskog) graduated form our alma mater, Towson University.  Wow.  Travel halfway around the world and the first person we bump into is also from little ole Towson, MD!

On return to the hotel we found fellow riders arriving - Steve and Mary Jane Sheldon. The group is starting to gather.

Tomorrow, Janis has arranged for a group walking tour.  Stay tuned for more photos and information about Riga.

Travel to Riga, Latvia & Getting Acclimated

When we arrived at Dulles Airport, David checked into upgrading our economy seats to Business Class.  SCORE!  The second best decision of the trip.  (The first being to take the trip).  Why you ask?

Well, first because we got to use the the Lufthansa Lounge - plug in the electronics, relax and have a great local beer.  When they called us for our flight, we walked down a private hallway to enter the plane.  No rubbing shoulders with the economy class.  Wow, almost royalty.

Then there is the great three course meal on real china.  Sit back, prop my feet up and watch a selection of movies on our own private movie monitor. What's not to like?

But most importantly, and the real reason for the upgrade, we were able to stretch out and catch a few ZZZs.  It really helped with the jet lag at the other end, especially since David had a bad summer cold.

In the Frankfurt airport, we were happy to see John Jesson, our tour leader, who was on the same connecting flight to Riga, Latvia.  After landing, we helped him gather his five tons of luggage.

David, John and Janis

Our Riga Hotel

As we exited the Riga airport, Janis, our Latvian tour guide, met us, loaded our luggage into the support van and delivered us directly to our hotel, the Radisson Ridzene Hotel.  After a quick lunch we retired to our room for a nap.

Later in the evening, I wandered out in the evening to find an ATM for some local currency (Euros for Latvia and Estonia).  I also found Old Riga.  Lots of shops, restaurants and coffee bars.  The Latvians like their coffee.

There are quite a few public squares in Old Riga, the one pictured above is probably the most touristy.  I heard lots of   50's era American music as I walked around here.

There are many old churches and buildings.  But they were closed, so that exploration had to wait.  Tomorrow we will explore some more, acclimate to the 7-hour time difference.  On Friday, the group will gather for a city tour and prepare for the ride to Estonia on Saturday.