After breakfast an economist who works for the government talked to us about modern day Latvia’s economy, politics, and important world issues that are important to them. Then a knowledgable young woman guided us through the old town of Rica. The streets and walkways are paved with large rectangular cobblestones. She pointed out and explained the historical significance of the buildings. There are a lot of buildings built in the style of art nouveau that survived World War 2 because Riga was not bombed.
Art Nouveau Building…see the symmetry
Walking along the cobblestone streets of the old town
Buildings around a town square
There are four Zeppelin hangers here that are now being used as a market. Meat, fish, vegetables, baked goods, and other locally produced items are sold here. We even found a cannabis paste being sold here legally. The seller had samples for us to try where we put a little of the various flavored pastes on rye bread. It was quite tasty.
Sausage for sale at the market
Cannabis vendor
We ate another delicious lunch, then we were on our own for the rest of the day. Linda and I found a Laima Chocolate Shop where we both bought some gifts to take home. This is the premiere chocolate made in the Baltic countries. I bought two kinds of bars: Serenade with apricot, nuts, and dark chocolate and Sarkana Magone with caramel and dark chocolate.
Then we walked over to Rigas Doms, a cathedral that is holding an organ concert this evening. We bought 10 euro tickets for the 7:00 PM performance where we will hear one of the largest and best organs in Europe. We then took a 30-minute walk back to our hotel to take a break before we return for tonight’s concert.