All Around Riga

Trip date: January 2017

After being in Riga for two full days we decided to take a day trip out to Jurmala. This pretty beach resort is just 30-minutes from the city and during the summer I could imagine it is a haven on the Gulf of Riga which connects to the Baltic Sea. During the winter it is a bit different!

We drove thru the small town and found parking near the beach so we could take a short walk around. It was a bit drizzly as we got out of the car, and it was cold! The old soviet-style buildings and hotels were interesting and we even found the bronze turtle statue that stares out to the gulf. 

From here we made a circle walking through more of the town. Some of the beach houses were very old and in need of repair while others were new and quite modern in their architecture. 

The main street is really cute and filled with shops; there was even a small Christmas Market going on. 

It was getting colder and it was also time for lunch so we drove to another part of the town, past very large mansions, to a fantastic little restaurant that sits right on the beach- 36.Line.

I had traditional veal pelmeni (dumplings) served in mushroom broth and sour cream to start, followed by a ridiculously huge pork shank. Everything was delicious and we had a front row seat to watch the snow as it started falling!

The snow continued to fall as we headed back to town, the city was so pretty! We walked past the Laima Chocolate clock (which was suppose to be some big deal but I wasn't impressed), and over the river past the Freedom Monument. We'd mostly been in the old town and now were in City Center.  We made our way to the Corner House, the former headquarters of the KGB where you can walk thru an exhibit which explains the power and activity of this secret organization. There are also tours of the cellars, interrogation rooms, etc. which unfortunately were sold out when we arrived. I had gone to a similar museum in Vilnius. 

The next day we drove out of town again to Birini Palace. It was snowing quite hard when we left town and at one point as I drove through a very thick forested area it was so dark and snowing so hard that I couldn't see a damn thing! Finally it cleared as we neared the palace and we were rewarded with absolutely stunning views of the palace grounds!

The palace, which also is a hotel now, was built in 1860 and has lakes, parks, horses, a restaurant, etc. 

We were shown around a bit by one of the "castle keepers" and then were turned loose to explore on our own. It is very pretty; I wouldn't put it in your "not-to-miss" list but if you are in the area the pink castle is a beautiful site!

We had an average lunch at the on-site restaurant and then got back on the road. Our plan was to hit a few more castles before the end of the day as there were four in the nearby national park. But the snow started falling really hard again and we just didn't want to risk the roads so we headed back home and had a couple of cocktails!

On our last day in Riga we woke up to an actual snow storm! We had booked an Art Nouveau Architectural walking tour and spent 3 hours walking around the city which was freezing but so beautiful!

The buildings in Riga are so interesting, I highly recommend one of these walks which cost us 15 Euro each and included a coffee break (where I chose mulled wine and an apple caramel tart!). 

We all had early flights the next morning and shared a 5:30am taxi to the airport. Ugh. Forest, Thibault and I had an Air Baltic flight to Paris where we said goodbye after traveling around together for 2 weeks. I had a 3 hour layover before my flight to Seattle, so I spent some time duty free shopping before hitting the Delta lounge which is just ok at CdG. Then I had a very nice flight home in business class with multi-course meals, wine pairings, and a lay-flat bed. 

Another wonderful New Year's Eve trip was in the books! I was so charmed by Riga and the surrounding countryside. If you get the chance to visit I would absolutely go. And if you happen to be there during the holidays when there is snow and Christmas markets, then all the better!

Latvia photos are here.

You can also find photos of our trip on Instagram using the hashtag #BalticBash2016

Other posts from this trip:
36 Hour Parisian Birthday Party
Christmas in Beaujolais
Baltic Bash Kick Off
Out and About in Lithuania
Baltic Road Trip
A Very Baltic New Year
Latvian Eats & Drinks

Latvian Eats & Drinks

Trip date: January 2017

We arrived in Riga from Lithuania and spent a very fun New Years Eve celebrating along the banks of the Daugava. We spent a total of six nights in this gorgeous city so we got to do a fair amount of exploring. It's such a beautiful place, I highly recommend the Baltic countries for their scenery, history, and even the food!

On our first night in town we needed a restaurant that was open late. We ended up picking Rozengrals which is medieval-style in a building that dates back to 1293! It was very fun for our first night and the food was quite good despite there not being electricity, real silverware, etc. There were dishes like rabbit stew with prunes, duck with cherry sauce, and a big pork shank served on a skewer meant for two!

We were all moving a bit slow on New Years Day so I cooked up a big brunch of potatoes and eggs for everyone, which took entirely too long as the stove had only 2 burners which barely got hot. Luckily we also had mimosas!

Later that evening a friend of Thibault's, who happened to be in town from Paris, came over and we all headed out to Peter's Brewhouse. This brewery serves three beers (light, dark, and red) all made on-site. We had some typical pub grub to go with our beers, including some really good bacon buns!

That night we did as the locals do and went to the buffet at Lido for dinner. Multiple friends with Latvian roots recommended the buffet so we were curious! Sunday night and the place was packed! We squeezed ourselves onto a small table and took turns at the different stations all with traditional Latvian food.

There were so many salads, and kabobs, and roasts, etc. And your meal started at about $10. It was all pretty good too! There are a few of them around the city, check it out!

We just happened upon a random whiskey bar as we left the restaurant so stopped in for a nightcap. Mine was a hot toddy; it's cold in Latvia in January!

One night we met our friend Sarah, who was also visiting, at Mute, an adorable little wine and cocktail bar. Unfortunately the night we came by they didn't have a bartender working (?!?) so only wine was available. I had a lovely glass of rosé champagne served in a gorgeous coup and also these amazing peppery cookies called Piparkukas, similar to gingersnaps.

From here we walked thru the snow to Valmiermuiza, a very cool brewery serving excellent food. We had their charcuterie platter, traditional garlic bread with sour cream sauce, and not so traditional buttermilk fried chicken nuggets. I was coming down with a cold so I tried a couple of their hot mulled beers before ditching my friends and grabbing an uber home to get some rest.

Another very well known and highly recommended tavern that we went to for lunch was Folkklubs. They are known for their traditional live folk music and they have the largest selection of beers in Riga. The subterranean space is really cool, with brick archways and lots of big wooden tables, perfect for having a group of friends trading toasts.

We had a very filling lunch of fried potatoes with a garlicky dipping sauce, a platter of cheeses and toasted bread, and then potato pancakes with bacon and sour cream! Traditional food is definitely a bit heavy!

We also had a chance to check out two restaurants doing modern Lativan cuisine in Riga. The first was Restaurant Forest and it was both beautiful and delicious!

We had a very nice dinner here and really liked how they used traditional ingredients like herring, mushrooms, and game in updated expressions. Dishes were plated artistically and the ingredients were very seasonal.

On our last evening in town Forest, Caitlin, and I went to 3 Pavari Restaurant. The decor is slick and modern and the menu read very well, lots of delicious things like rabbit, foie gras, elk, and lamb. Our cocktails had a lot of ingredients and garnishes in them; they were just ok and unfortunately the meal would echo the cocktails.

Our bread service came á la Jackson Pollock; each of us had a placemat of parchment paper which the server squirted various spreads in an abstract style. It was fun if a bit precious.

The food here was good but it felt like there was more thought put into how many ingredients could be used and how cool the presentation could be vs. the development of flavor. And it was the most expensive of our trip. But it also shows that the chefs in Latvia are exploring new trends and pushing some boundaries which I like.

We had a great time exploring the many food options in Riga!


Latvia photos are here.

You can also find photos of our trip on Instagram using the hashtag #BalticBash2016

Other posts from this trip:
36 Hour Parisian Birthday Party
Christmas in Beaujolais
Baltic Bash Kick Off
Out and About in Lithuania
Baltic Road Trip
A Very Baltic New Year

Baltic Road Trip

Trip date: December 2016

We were leaving Vilnius, heading towards our New Year's Eve destination of Riga, Latvia. With no trains between the two cities we decided to risk the weather and drive. For the most part the roads were good and we all enjoyed the road trip.

Wanting to take advantage of the car we decided to do a little sightseeing along the way. Our first stop, an hour and 30 minutes outside of Vilnius, was the interesting Bistrampolis Manor in the tiny village of Kuciai. The plantation style building was built in 1850 and is now a hotel, restaurant, and conference center. But the history of the land and original buildings goes back 500 years. 

We were definitely in rural Lithuania as we drove 5 miles on a dirt road past nothing but fields to get there. We had a good lunch in the restaurant and as it was really cold, didn't spend a lot of time walking around the grounds, but they were very pretty. 

From here we had another hour and 30-minute drive to the Hill of Crosses. Situated in the middle of nowhere in northern Lithuania, this has been a site of pilgrimage since the mid-1800s. 

Approaching the hill is so strange as there are over 100,000 crosses! There are paths around and through the crosses, in some sections hundreds had toppled over (a cross-slide?) and the paths were blocked. 

There are crosses of all sizes, and many made of non-traditional materials like airplane propellers. Some are basic and others are quite artistic. There are very, very old ones and others brand new. If you didn't carry one on your pilgrimage you can buy one in the gift shop or parking lot. 

It's quite a sight!

Back in the car, we drove another hour and a half, crossing into Latvia, on route to Rundale Palace. As we crossed the boarder we noticed that most houses had one or more of the trees in their yard decorated for Christmas. It is said that the tradition of Christmas trees started in Latvia in 1510!

Unfortunately, we arrived just as the palace was closing for the night. We walked around the exterior a bit but weren't able to see much. I was disappointed not to get a chance to explore but it's not my first time being locked out of a palace; there was this one time in Russia...

We had another hour and a half drive before reaching Riga. The road was fine but it was very dark with no streetlights and a two-lane highway for most of the time. 

When we arrived in the city we were all just about speechless! Riga, modern on one side of the river, with an incredible old town on the other, and stunning bridges spanning the two sections, was absolutely beautiful!!

We couldn't wait to see it in the daylight!


All Lithuania photos are here and Latvia photos are here.
You can also find photos of our trip on Instagram using the hashtag #BalticBash2016

Other posts from this trip:
36 Hour Parisian Birthday Party
Christmas in Beaujolais
Baltic Bash Kick Off
Out and About in Lithuania
A Very Baltic New Year
Latvian Eats & Drinks

A Very Baltic New Year

Trip date: January 2017

We had driven from Vilnius, Lithuania on the 30th of December to Riga, Latvia and found our Airbnb for the next five days to be in an absolutely perfect location. We were across the street from the President's palace, right in Old Town. Most importantly as this was our New Year's Eve trip (the 12th!), we were 2 blocks from where the festivities would be.

The morning of the 31st Caitlin, Sharon, Forest, and I left Thibault to sleep in a bit and walked to Riga's Central Market. Along the way we passed through the over-the-top charming Town Hall Square which has the beautiful Blackheads House (originally an association for unmarried men). The Christmas Tree was reportedly "invented" at one of the Blackheads gatherings (men got drunk, cut down a tree, put a bunch of stuff on it, then tossed it out the window aflame; really no different that today) Riga really knows how to decorate their city. Every square had gorgeous trees and festive light displays.

We continued through Old Town, crossing into a much more industrial feeling part of town. Here was the main bus terminal as well as the very limited train station (we were told by locals that even now overnight bus between the main cities in the Baltics is how people get around), and the huge Central Market which is housed inside old zeppelin hangars.

Each hangar was dedicated to a different type of product; vegetables, meats, pickles, fish, household goods. The fish market in particular was incredible with hundreds of types of smoked, dried, and fresh fish along with so many different caviars!

And the pickle market was an array of amazing colors with all sorts of produce pickling in huge jars and crocks!

As many people are Orthodox in the Baltic countries, Christmas would be celebrated on Jan 7th. Many people were buying their Christmas trees on New Year's Eve from market vendors. If you love Christmas, Latvia is the place to be as it lasts for many more weeks than we get!

After our market shopping, we headed to Apsara Tea House located in the picturesque Vermanes Garden which a friend had recommended. The entire upstairs was meant for lounging on the pillow covered floor while gazing out onto the park, Japanese style. The building was round so there were views of the outside in every direction. We grabbed a table downstairs since upstairs was full and enjoyed a variety plate of cookies with our tea and wine.

It was time to meet Thibault and time for lunch. We had reservations at Domini Canes which was a very cute little spot right next to St. Peter's Cathedral. As we would just be having light apps later we had a proper lunch of what Riga calls (and loves) modern takes on Latvian food.

From here Forest and Thibault led us on a walking tour of the Old Town. This is one of the nicest Old Towns I have been in and the Christmas decorations just added to that. We started at St. Peters and did a complete circle using one of our guide books, stopping for a bit of shopping along the way.

 About half way through we happened upon a Christmas market, this one mainly arts/crafts oriented in a picturesque square.

We continued our tour until we hit the next Christmas market, this one having the additions of food and drinks. After tasting some locally made brandy & liquors we got wines mulled over this open flame served by two good looking men. Have I mentioned that I really liked Riga?

Back at our Airbnb we had a little party with champagne and apps made from things we had purchased throughout the trip; pate & cheese brought from France, sausage & sugared nuts from Lithuania, sardines, olives, and strange flavored potato chips from Latvia.

The New Year's Eve festivities were starting in Riga so we headed out all of two blocks to join the crowds for the live concert that was set up next to the river at 11 November Place. Latvian pop/rock bands played and the crowd danced and sang. Super fun!

We grabbed a bit more mulled wine from the market and then found a good spot on the quay where the fireworks would go off. Right before midnight the live bands gave way to some pre-recorded music set to the pyrotechnics, we popped the bottles of bubbles we were toting in our backpack, and had great views of the really well done fireworks show!

I absolutely loved it! It was one of the best choreographed to music shows I have seen. The crowd was small and well behaved which reminded me of Vienna and our house was so close we just walked 3 blocks after it was done.

As you can guess, there were some nightcap martinis at home after.

Happy New Year 2017!!! I've got my sights set on this being a good year. I hope you all have the same!

Laimīgu Jauno Gadu!!!

Other posts from this trip:
36 Hour Parisian Birthday Party
Christmas in Beaujolais
Baltic Bash Kick Off
Out and About in Lithuania
Baltic Road Trip
A Very Baltic New Year
Latvian Eats & Drinks