Walking in Old Town Riga

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.Læs mere