I have been in Riga three days now. I am missing human contact. The people are friendly but a little business like. Other than my guide on Saturday and one American I just met at the museum, I really haven't talked with anyone since my conversations on the train with Katya.
The young women in Riga are beautiful. Almost all have blond hair and a medium build, often tall and brown. The favored language seems to be Russian. I was told that the population is something like 60% Latvian 40% Russian. From the conversations I hear more speak Russian. Certainly there are some Russian tourists, but many young people who actually live here speak Russian and use it in their every day speech. The Latvian language has a lilt similar to Swedish but much softer. Latvian is related to Lithawainian and that language Germans used to speak around Kalinigrad (now extinct).
I find myself using Russian now instead of English to ask questions. At the market I was buying something and I said "It's for my wife." in Russian then "Skolka?" - or "How much?" I caught the "disat" which means 10 but I didn't catch the number next to it- It could have been 11 to 19- I said "da". Turns out it was 15 Lats or $30. Most people I have had minor contact with speak some English and on the whole, I think it is better to speak English. There is still some bitterness amongst some about the Russian occupation for 50 years.
That's another issue, the money. It is the highest value of all European money. But the prices are more reasonable than in England or France. I would say for the most part, comparable to the dollar, maybe a little less. For example, using this internet now I am paying only .80 Lat which is about $1.60. In France I paid two Euro for a half hour. That is about $6.00 an hour. One other thing I found I must watch out for is the coins. There is a 2 Lat coin- worth obviously $4. I received two Lithuanian "two's" as change instead of Lats. It turns out that those coins are worth about 20 cents. So I lost $3.60 without knowing it until I was informed by a woman in a store.
Today is Monday. In general for travelers, if you like museums it is a bad day. I had intended to go to the top of St. Peter's the highest point in the old city to get a view. But it was closed, along with most museums. I sat in the park for a bit then walked to get a cappicino then another. There are days I have no coffee. Today I have had one expresso and two cappicino's already. Look out! This may be a very long blog. My second cappicino was just an excuse to sit in the square and sketch.
In wandering around I came across the Riga Cathedral (or Duoma) and it was open. I had taken it for a Catholic Church by its interior- stainglass windows, holy water, altar facing the people and numerous images and icons. It was built in 1257 and survived Hiter's bombing but had several other casualties in its history as most buildings in the city. Attached to it is a midievil monastic courtyard that hold many artifacts from the past 500 years- probably 100 canons give by Catherine the Great to Riga, clock faces, decorative statues from the faces of torn down churches, iron work, tools, cannon balls and so on. The cathedral also contains the largest pipe organ in the Baltics.
Wouldn't luck have it. The museum that I looked for the first day was next to the cathedral and was open. The National Marine History of Riga. It is actually an archelogical and historical museum. Since Riga is near the Baltic, much of its history has to do with the sea, but it had many artifacts more than 3000 years old as well as pieces covering its formal history beginning in 1201 A.D.
And one more thing, the weather. It is changeable. Changeable means that it can be bright and sunny and in ten minutes a black cloud can move in and provide a downpour. The downpour may last ten minutes or an hour, but it usually clears. Last night it was pouring rain for maybe three hours. Today it is gorgeous, maybe 75 degrees F.
At this moment I am waiting out the time that I will take a bus to Warsaw. It leaves 10 PM and will arrive at Warsaw at 8 AM. I have a little pink pill set aside just for this purpose. On the train I was horozonal for the all nighter; for this one I will be semi vertical and I will make sure that I sleep. I stay in Warsaw just long enough to take a train to Krakow. My great regret is that I can only stay in Krakow for one night.
It is time to stop. I told you that the coffee would have a deliterious effect.
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