• Helsinki & the Baltics
    In a nod to their Pagan heritage, these folks put faces of God's around the doors
    The Black Heads Guild in Riga. It appears that the statues of patron St Maurice are black2Roland (Song of) was a popular figure for the public squareThis street appeared in every Russian movie about fictional Europe4Riga town square. Used to be full of blogs. Torn down ca. 19002St Jakubs Church in Riga. You know where this goes!View of St Jim's2The cat on top originally had it's posterior facing the Germans across the street2Richard Wagner St. He lived here 1837-39 & wrote Flying Dutchman after a harrowing escapeA Mespils on the square!1The movie "Flow" written by 3 Rigans. Saw it on the plane. Unusual.Freedom Monument. Only guarded during day & in nice weax.Recital of organ music at the Dome. Once largest organ in the world. Takes 2 to play.House of 3 Brothers. Band played Amer. the Beautiful when we came by. Gave 'em €5

    Walking in Old Town Riga

    July 17 in Latvia ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    Wednesday centered on four activities: a lecture on Latvian politics & economics, et al; a history walk; an Art Nouveau walk; and an organ recital at the Dome Cathedral.
    During the talk there was a lot of data presented quite quickly but here are a few things I thought were of interest: *the biggest political party of Russophiles recd 18% of the vote but was kept out of govt by the next four parties forming a coalition.
    *Riga was founded on the river in 1201 by German bishop Albert (who built the cathedral) and became prosperous as an continental connector. They called their river the path from "the Vikings to the Greeks". It seems not to be as navigable today.
    *One-third of the bldgs were destroyed in WW2.
    We learned that the locals call the cobblestone streets "foot massagers". One way to look at it.
    Lastly, bldg heights are limited so that in winter the city is not totally in shadow!
    I put more commentary on the pix.    Read more