Tag Archives: Latvia
Euro 2020 Rest Day 3 – Non Qualifiers – The Baltic States
Now we know all the quarter-finalists with Italy v Belgium the first one to be played Friday. Continuing my non-qualifiers with the Baltic States. Latvia Riga is one of my favourite cities in Europe. It has a lovely old town, a magnificent Art Nouveau (Jugendstil) District and a fine river (Daugava) with impressive bridges. I […]
2020 Over, 2021 Beckons (what I did and what I hope to do)
This is a far briefer post than I could have imagined 12-months ago. I had some grand plans……. In September I should have been fulfilling a lifetime’s ambition to travel on the Trans-Siberian railway from St Petersburg to Moscow and on to Mongolia & China. The booking has been shunted to 2021 but I will […]
Monday Morning Blues – Art Nouveau Lion, Riga, Latvia
This week’s MMB comes from my first and last decent length trip of 2020 when I did a Riga/Tallinn combination with Mrs Wilbur and our friend Chris. The Art Nouveau (Jugendstil) district of the Latvian capital may well be the best such district in Europe – unless you know better that is? Why not take […]
Sunday Photo – House of Blackheads, Riga
The odd looking House of Blackheads building is named after an African missionary named Mauritius who refused to execute pagan locals who themselves refused to convert to Christianity. He paid the ultimate price for this disloyalty to the ruling Germans and was later canonised for his suffering and martyrdom.
Sunday Photo – Art Nouveau Decor, Riga
Riga has probably the best collection of Art Nouveau (or Jugendstil) buildings of any city in Europe. Unless you know better?
Baltic Greats – Riga to Tallinn, Part 2
Making Tracks Having seen much of Riga’s special charm, we decided on a little side trip to the Baltic Coast. The Jaumeri area has long been popular with the city’s inhabitants due to its proximity to the capital, the white sands of its blue flag beaches and the pine fresh air that invigorates visitors. Riga […]
Friday Photos – Art Nouveau Architecture, Riga
Riga is famous for its Art Nouveau (or Jugendstil) architecture, a form most popular from the 1890’s until around 1910. There are over 100 buildings of this style in Riga, with the best examples in Alberta Street. The excellent Art Nouveau Museum is also at the end of the same street.
Baltic Greats – Riga to Tallinn, Part 1
In 2019 we had a trip booked to two Baltic capitals but had to cancel at the last minute. We decided to rebook for 2020, following exactly the same itinerary that we had planned before flying Air Baltic, staying in central AirBNBs and taking a train between the two cities. All worked like clockwork, the […]
Monday Morning Blues – Orthodox Church, Majori, Latvia
Today’s blue coloured picture to help beat the Monday morning blues comes from this Saturday in the Latvian Baltic Coast town of Majori. Majori itself has lovely golden beaches and some ornate wooden villas which were built to accommodate the great and the good of the Soviet rulers, who favoured the resort as a bolt […]
Friday Photo – The House Of Blackheads, Riga
I am on my second visit to Latvia’s capital. This building is named after the African missionary (St Mauritius) who refused German orders to execute locals who refused to convert from paganism to Christianity. This saw him beheaded himself, hence the building name.
