Tripping It Up: #5. Riga, Latvia

Latvia. It's one of those places most people have hardly ever heard of, if at all. Before going there, the case was much the same for me. Sure, I could find it on a map and tell you its capitol is Riga, but other than that, I really had no idea of what to expect to see there. Maybe part of it was because it was one of the only cities on the trip that I had never been to before, but it ended up being one of my favorite places we vistited. Riga's a beautiful city with cool bridges, an awesome old town, and gorgeous parks. I had wonderful time getting to explore it.

 We found this horse outside of a shop. I'm considering taking up a career as a jockey.

 Check out the mural on the side of this building. It's pretty awesome, but I still don't understand why there's a mural of the Wright Bro.'s first flight on a building all the way in Latvia.

 Hanging out and letting our feet rest in an alley in the Old Town.



The cat that turned its backside on a German guild and then rotated 180 degrees once its maker was allowed to join the German guild.

 A lady at a shop told us how to get on the roof of a big, fancy mall to see a view of the whole city. We followed her directions and it led to one of my very favorite things on the entire trip. It was the coolest view of a city that I've ever seen.

It was like Mary Poppins meets The Borne Ultimatum.

 A view of the bridge and the river.

A view from the bridge over the river.

The moral of the story is that if you ever have the chance to go to Latvia, even if it doesn't sound very cool or exciting, seize the opportunity to do so.