Rolling around Riga…

I went to collect the Big Fella from the “Ritz Parking Lot”, where he had spent the night playing host to a pair of cats that were still crouched on the seat under the bike cover when I began taking it off… I am not sure what the attraction is, but cats have taken up residence on the bike on at least a dozen occasions on my journey so far…

This pair, were quite brazen, and rather than dash off as was usually the case, they slunk away slowly, giving me dirty looks over their shoulders as they did so… I’m thinking of turning a few of them in seat covers…

View from directly in front of the Centra Hotel... Normally, this scene would be packed with tourists, but after a hard night out on the town, many were still tucked up in bed...

The streets were deserted at 9.00am on this Saturday morning, so I took a detour back to the hotel, taking a few photos of buildings that I had missed the afternoon before…

Narrow cobblestoned streets with restaurants spilling over into them...

I rode down narrow alleyways, which would normally be crowded with tourists and locals going about their business, but on this morning, there were no such obstructions to concern ourselves with…

Wandering down these little alleyways brings you to into contact with the early history of Riga...

Some of the buildings have been restored on the sight of the original ones... The foundations and walls of this restaurant date back to 1221...!!

In the main square, just south of the cathedral, I squeezed the bike between a few poles erected to prevent cars from riding onto the square (and bikes perhaps…!!) and idled into its very centre, marveling at the buildings that surrounded me… The most impressive being the House of the Black Heads…

This was the second time I had come into contact with a building named in this way, and I discovered that the “Guild of the Blackheads” was formed by unmarried German Traders centuries ago, who sailed these waters exchanging goods with the Estonians and Latvians of the time…

Restoration of this, the most beautiful building in Riga, was begun in 1995, and completed in 1999, having been bombed by the Germans in World War ll, and then completely demolished  by the Soviets in 1948…

The sun was in the “wrong” place for me to get a decent photo of it, but I snapped away regardless, avoiding the icy stares of a group of early morning tourists who did not seem to think the Big Fella was an appropriate subject to include in their own photos of the building…

House of the Black Heads in Riga... In a word... "Stunning...!!"

I cruised slowly around a two or three block radius, keeping an eye out for patrolling policemen, as I did not have my helmet on… Naturally I received a few very strange looks from the few people I did come into contact with…

Some smiled, and other grimaced in consternation at the intrusion of the big bike in their narrow little streets…

Cowgirl waitresses make this establishment a very popular place to eat at...!!

I had been told that Vilnius in Lithuania would be a better place to spend an extra day, but looking around me at the streets of Riga’s old town, I could easily have spent the day walking around here and taking it easy…

Christmas Tree with a twist...!! Erected in the main square just off the river...

Tallinn, in Estonia, and Riga here in Latvia, being only 300 km apart, would be a great place to spend a week touring through, especially in the warmer summer months of June and July… In August, the weather is a bit iffy, warm and sunny one minute, and raining like hell the next, but for the most part, it is overcast and cool…

There was no plaque that I could see to explain this one...!! A chicken, on a cat, on a dog, on a donkey...!! Go figure...!!

If the attraction of all the usual European destinations have got you looking for new places to visit, then the former Baltic States of Estonia and Latvia are well worth a visit… Just remember to choose your seasons carefully… Apparently this area has very long, and bitterly cold winters…!!

GBWT 2010