Riga

Park in Riga

Cloudy square

It was nice to escape the heat to the pleasant temperatures of beautiful Riga. We arrived in early afternoon with the priority of finding our hotel and food. Caught a taxi to the hotel and from the first moment we were surprised at how similar Riga is to every other European city we have been to. So much must have happened in the last 16 years to repair, build and abolish signs of occupation. English is spoken by so many people in the city that even without John’s small grasp of the language, we would’ve been fine.

Hand-painted film ad for Woody Allen's Matchpoint

Very competitive chess tournaments in the park

Art Nouveau portal...

...and another

Being Sunday and a public holiday celebration as well, there was not a huge choice for places for a late lunch. We went into the Old Town and found a restaurant open offering traditional Latvian fare. Were so ripped off with our choices. We knew it was going to be expensive, but one expects quality when paying top prices. We so didn’t get it – dry and tough pork and some ordinary sauerkraut (Kerstin’s sauerkraut was so much better). From that point on we made much wiser choices and were rewarded with some inventive and very tasty international dishes at some bargain prices.

One of the many 'strong image' monuments around Riga

Funky 'Salt and Pepper' bar/restaurant (not the rip-off place)

The next morning we slept in as though jet-lagged and didn’t get out and about into the town until after 12pm. We timed it so that we just got to one of the main squares and the heavens opened and it bucketed down. We took refuge in the old Cathedral and waited for the rain to stop, taking the opportunity to check out the cloister and the planned restoration of the old gardens – so much was left to deteriorate under Soviet domination.

Heads and balls in Cathedral cloister

Cloister colonnade

Cannon butt

Once the rain eased we strolled around the Old Town some more and spent some time in the Occupation Museum – housing displays charting the history of the occupations of the Soviets and the Nazis. Such a wealth of information. Such an eye-opener for both of us. We really must talk more with Andy about the history of the Baltaks family and their flight in 1941.

Recreation of prison hut from Siberia in the Occupation Museum

Hand carved chess set made by a prisoner in a slave camp

In the evening we met with John’s cousin, Ivars, and his English-speaking friend, Ronalds. We went to dinner and then to the beach at Jurmala – a gorgeous, long stretch of coastline where the wealthy live and the masses go for summer holidays. Had a wonderful time and continued to marvel at the sun setting at 10:30pm!! It was great for John to have the chance to speak Latvian, which has improved each day.

Sunset at Jurmala

Bikes on beach

Spent the best part of the next day at the Ethnographic Museum, an open-air museum about 30min bus ride from the centre of town. It is located in a lovely wooded area on the shores of a lake and has many, many old buildings from farmhouses to windmills and churches that have been transported to this location since the early 1930’s and restored. Most of the buildings have come from villages and country areas in all four regions of Latvia (which are clustered in different sections of the museum). It gave us an amazing insight into the lifestyles of the rural communities of the country. It was also a wonderful opportunity to enjoy a bit of nature again. Walking in ‘bush’ so foreign to us was a unique experience.

Nic with old pump (that really worked!)

Very small, very old church

Bedroom in old farmhouse cottage

Our final full day began with a walk along Alberta iela – the Art Nouveau street of Riga (while there are many Art Nouveau buildings in Riga, this street has some masterpieces). The various stages of repair (and disrepair) were fascinating. Big bucks in the restoration of these buildings whose apartments then fetch very high prices on the booming property market (and who wouldn’t want to live in one of them – they are simply gorgeous!)

Gorgeous Art Nouveau facade...

...and another

Did some more wandering through the many lush and beautifully designed parks of the city, most of which were established in the first couple of decades of the 20th Century, when Riga was a thriving, ‘go-ahead’ place in Europe. This is evident in the design, statuary and landscaping of the park areas.

Dancing statues

Waterway in park. Paddle boats were an option, but we didn't get the opportunity...maybe next time

Riga's Opera House

Explored more cobbled streets in the Old Town and checked out the War Museum. Went looking for the Australian embassy (as we had seen quite a few impressive looking ones around) and were very surprised to discover that Australia no longer has an embassy in Latvia. Checking this out on the net, we found that enquiries were to be sent care of the Swedish Embassy (??). Hmmm.

Archway in old street

Mellow mini

Sexy Sphinx

Our next visit will include much more of the outlying areas of Riga as well as travels further into Latvia.

Final bike shot...for Riga, at least!

Warsaw

Nowy Swiat - a main shopping street near our hotel

Warzaw University Gates

There was something quite relaxed about Warsaw. There didn’t seem to be any sightseeing pressure there – no long list of ‘THINGS WE MUST DO OR WE WILL REGRET IT FOR THE REST OF OUR LIVES!’ kind of thing going on. Quite a relief, really. It could just be WE were very relaxed and went with the flow of ‘whatever happens, happens.’

Nowy Swiat

Nic and giant ice-cream

Stayed in a swish hotel/apartment complex called ‘Residence Diana’ in the main shopping district, which was surprisingly quiet – all the tourist, stag night yobs apparently hang out in the Old Town and party till dawn in the Old Town Square (seems to be a bit of a pattern emerging here in Eastern Europe for the old stag night scenario). We caught a bus into the city from the airport and have decided that Warsaw public buses are the best we have been on – such clear information and great signage, even for us non-Polish speakers, that it was impossible to get lost.

Zambowy Square on the edge of the Old Town

Old Town street

The narrowest house facade in Warsaw (only 1.4m wide!)

Did a walk of the Old Town on the first afternoon and enjoyed sitting on the main square with a beer listening to a young and extremely talented violin busker. He was working very hard and really deserved the money he was making. This main square was one of the most picturesque we have been to in all of Europe. It’s amazing to think that the entire city was razed to the ground by the Germans in WWII and has since been rebuilt, the Old Town re-created exactly as it was before being destroyed.

Watch out behind you!

Talented violinist

Pretty Old Town Square

Went back to our digs after our short exploration and checked out the local supermarket (which is always fun) to get some breakfast supplies for our 3 days in Warsaw (and also some cheese, bread and wine for the evenings).

Nowy Swiat at night

An 'eat street' near our hotel

The next day was a bit of a shock to the system weather-wise – we had got used to 33 degree maximum days and were plunged into a 15 degree max day with rain. It did make a pleasant change though. We did a bit of an exploration of the New Town, but when it got too cold (we were without jackets at this point) we went to a famous restaurant called ‘U Fukiera’ in the Old Town for lunch. It was quite an amazing place – a visual feast as well as a culinary one. We have not been anywhere like it before in terms of décor and ambience. The list of rich and famous who have eaten there was quite extensive – Tony Blair, Roman Polanski, the Princess of Denmark, Catherine Deneuve, Naomi Campbell, Henry Kissinger and Yoko Ono…the list goes on. If you want to check it out here is the website: www.ufukiera.pl. We had crumbed veal cutlets (minus the bones) with potatoes and cucumber salad as well as leg of deer in a lovely sauce with lightly grilled gnocchi and a half an apple with a beetroot mash on the side. Beginning with an aperitif of champagne is always the perfect way to start a meal, which we followed with a glass of the house red – a very fine Spanish wine. Highly enjoyable.

Puddle in Old Town

Uprising Memorial in New Town

Rainy Old Town Square

Nic in the very special restaurant 'U Fukiera'

Continued our wander through the New Town, but we didn’t get far when we were distracted by a film being shot in one of the town squares. It was a period piece – looked like WWII, and they had obviously prepared for summer, so it was a shame about the cloud. Although, that would’ve made it a dream for the continuity people with the 3 or 4 times they did the one big action shot – with running and screaming extras and 3 vintage cars tearing along. One highlight for Nic was the chance to chat to some big, gentle old draught horses waiting for their moment on camera. Magnificent, huge animals they were.

Extras ready for the next shot...except the one looking at John's camera

Vintage car used in filming

The cold drove us back towards our hotel for coats (and, of course, a rest). We then tried to see the Mucha Exhibit at the National Museum, only to discover on our arrival that they were only 20 minutes from closing, so we decided to come back the next day. This had the added bonus of giving us free admission to the permanent exhibits (on Saturdays) and a teacher discount on the Mucha. The exhibit was wonderful. We learnt so much about this amazingly talented man who was not only an artist, but an architect and interior designer as well. We were quite enthralled by the work they had on display.

Statue of De Gaulle...in Warsaw...we don't know why

The building that John has dubbed 'Joseph's Jellybean' (Stalin had it built after WWII)

The whole long daylight hours thing has thrown us a tad up north. It’s daylight at 4am and doesn’t get dark until about 10:30pm. We are lucky in Warsaw that our room has blackout curtains (which was not the case in Prague – which would explain why we kept waking so early thinking we had overslept!).

Funky jewellery tree

Mucha sketch

Mucha oil painting detail

In the afternoon of our final day we squeezed in a film (our first in 3 and a half months!). We had come close to seeing a couple of films other times (some cities, like Vienna, show English language films), but haven’t bothered elsewhere because the films are dubbed into the native language of that country. Were pleased to discover that in Poland (and also in Latvia) they just put subtitles in for the locals, so were able to watch it in English. Can’t believe how excited we were to be watching a light little film like Because I Said So. It did have Diane Keaton in it and that’s always a bonus (love what she does with non-verbal communication). The funny thing on entering the cinema was thinking we were in the wrong theatre – we were surrounded by young men (teens to 20’s) – we were sure we were in an action flick! But no, they were there to see the chick-flick. They were an exceptional audience, right into the plot and not carrying on like so many Australian male audience members have done when conversation between women are on the screen. In future, when a woman asks where all the decent men are, the answer will be obvious – they’re in Warsaw. The only problem was they all lit up their ciggies as soon as they left the cinema!

One of the two fabulous chocolate and pastry shops near our hotel

Yum

Film poster in Polish

Our last evening was spent enjoying each other’s company and having long, wonderful conversations about life, the universe and everything. Life is good.

Old Town markets