We arrived in Riga, the capital of Latvia, at noon today (Tuesday). After we crossed a cool new bridge to enter the city from the south, the first few miles of the city we biked through were terribly depressing: buildings in near-ruinous states that should have been condemned, but many of which had occupants living in them. We began to wonder what it was going to be like staying in the city for two days, since we had scheduled a rest day here.
A few blocks before reaching our hotel, things changed dramatically. The historic town center, where we are staying, is in marvelous shape. It is on UNESCO's World Heritage List for its architecture, in part due to its plethora of Art Nouveau buildings, a style of art and architecture dating to 1890-1914. The UNESCO listing states that "it is generally recognized that Riga has the finest collection of art nouveau buildings in Europe".
Not surprisingly, the town center is bustling with tourists and has a thriving night life. In all likelihood, the tourists arrive at the town center on major roads, not the smaller bikable roads on which we entered, so that they have no idea about the horrendous neighborhoods very close by.
The following pictures (after the one of the bridge into Riga) include 4 from the dilapidated parts we first biked through (though the actual buildings looked even worse than they do in these pictures) followed by 4 from the historic town center.
A few blocks before reaching our hotel, things changed dramatically. The historic town center, where we are staying, is in marvelous shape. It is on UNESCO's World Heritage List for its architecture, in part due to its plethora of Art Nouveau buildings, a style of art and architecture dating to 1890-1914. The UNESCO listing states that "it is generally recognized that Riga has the finest collection of art nouveau buildings in Europe".
Not surprisingly, the town center is bustling with tourists and has a thriving night life. In all likelihood, the tourists arrive at the town center on major roads, not the smaller bikable roads on which we entered, so that they have no idea about the horrendous neighborhoods very close by.
The following pictures (after the one of the bridge into Riga) include 4 from the dilapidated parts we first biked through (though the actual buildings looked even worse than they do in these pictures) followed by 4 from the historic town center.
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| Crossing the new Southern Bridge into Riga |
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| Our hotel |
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