Ramble On to Tomorrow's New Country

Jūrmala Latvia - Beach in Winter

 

Is that a white sandy beach? Well, the snow is white over a sandy beach, so technically it is a white sandy beach. Going to the beach is a popular activity in Latvia all year. Snow doesn't stop the strolling or sports. It's odd to dig your car out of the snow to go to the beach, but it's still a good way to get some socially distanced fresh air. Here's a previous Jūrmala post with warmer and more crowded times.

Latvian National Museum of Art - Symbolism

 

Almost everything in Riga is closed on the weekends while the pandemic continues. We were pleasantly surprised to see the art museums are one of the very few places allowed to open with masks and social distancing. The annual pass for the art museums is one of the many things we love about living in Riga.

We've been staying home a lot lately other than walks outside for fresh air. That's less appealing as it gets colder. I decided Sunday would be a good day to try a museum with the hope that it wouldn't be too crowded.

The basement exhibit hall has a limit of 16 people to spread everyone out. There was a short socially distanced waiting line to enter. The whole experience felt a little safer than visiting the grocery store, which is probably about as safe as it can get here with masks and social distancing.

Daugavgrīvas Cietoksnis - Star Fortress

Daugavgrīvas Cietoksnis is a fortress originally built in the Swedish Livonia in the 17th century. There's more history at the link but the current structure is newer.

"The fortifications of the fort were completely rebuilt before the outbreak of the First World War. During World War I, the fort was bombed by German air forces. Soon the Germans took over the fortress, and in 1917, the German Emperor Wilhelm II personally inspected it. In 1940, the Soviet navy took over the fortress."

It's only open on the weekends but it's an interesting space to walk around and explore in Riga. It's across the river from old town and near the mouth of the river.

Lavtian National Museum of Art

We've already been to the main building of the Latvian National Museum of Art (Latvijas Nacionālais mākslas muzejs) but I didn't blog about it then because the rooftop terrace wasn't open. There's several other buildings and you can get an annual pass to the whole museum system which is a great bargain if you're planning to see them all. Here's a look at this grand building in the summer with the view from the rooftop.

Rīga City Festival

"Is Riga ready?" is not supposed to be answered with yes (see below)

Bastejkalna Park Riga

Bastejkalna (Bastion Hill) Park is probably my favorite part of Riga. There's lots to love around here but the park along the canal is a wonderful place for a walk. It has the National Opera on one end, the Freedom Monument, an awesome water feature, and lots of other stuff to see as you stroll along winding paths under the trees. There's many more nice parks around the city but we're really fortunate to have this particular park so close to home.

Riga Art Nouveau Buildings

If you're ever in Riga then be sure to look up! Jūgendstils (Art Nouveau) architecture in Riga makes up roughly one third of all buildings in the center of Riga. The city boasts having the highest concentration of Art Nouveau architecture anywhere in the world.

Rīgas Sv. Pētera Baznīca

St Peter's Church is very close to where we live in Riga but we finally went up in the tower today after many months of living here. It's amazing some of things you miss right next door until an out-of-town guest shows up.

Jūrmala Latvia

The Majori train station in Jūrmala gets you to the heart of this Baltic beach town near Riga. Google says the drive from Old Town takes about half an hour which is the same as the train. The train costs €1.40 each way so we're happily living the public transit life here. We arrived in Jūrmala and stumbled upon a traditional Latvian dance festival so that was cool. This beach town looks like a fun place to hang out even without a special event. We've heard Jūrmala is the place to be during the summer here and we agree!

Celebrating Līgo and Jāņi at Dzegužkalns Park

We had a wonderful night celebrating a traditional Līgo and Jāņi at Dzegužkalns Park. This picture is as dark as it gets about half an hour after midnight. That glow on the horizon is the twilight of a sun that doesn't go to bed since we don't achieve full night this time of year. What do you do to celebrate the shortest night in a place like Latvia? You sing, dance, eat, and light stuff on fire. If you see one thing in this post then look for the video of the flaming wheel heading towards the bonfire below.

Victory Memorial and More Riga Parks

Riga is great for green spaces and parks. We have the most amazing park by Vecrīga (Old Riga or Old Town) along the canal circling Riga where the city walls used to be. There's lots of other city parks dotting around the map to check out so this is about a few of those near the Victory Memorial.

Meža Kapi - Forest Cemetery

We visited the forest cemetery in Riga on this May 1st holiday. It looks like a great place to rest after you die. It's a grand setting for a cemetery with each grave serving as its own little garden tended to by their loved ones. There's a big military memorial cemetery which was grand in a different way with the Mother Latvia monument and eternal flame.

Museum of Decorative Arts and Design

The Museum of Decorative Arts and Design (Dekoratīvās mākslas un dizaina muzejs) is another part of our annual pass to the Latvian National Museum of Art. There's a lot of goodness with this museum card.

The top 2 floors have the permanent collection of various textile, ceramics, metal, leather, decorative wood, and glass art. It's a decent size and there's some interesting pieces. The bottom floor has the changing exhibition. It currently contains The Weather Diaries with textiles and photography from Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands. It was also interesting to see on a cold dreary day in Riga.

Sutas and Belcovas Museum

The Romana Sutas un Aleksandras Beļcovas muzejs (museum) is an interesting little part of the Latvian National Art Museum system. It's a part of our annual pass but it's also a short diversion if you have a little time to kill and 2 EUR.

We went to catch the missing piece of the Latvian portrait series exhibits which are ending in a week. This museum had the caricatures and cartoons portion of the larger exhibit spread over two other museums. Those portions were massive meals of art compared to the tiny taster bite of this museum. It was interesting to see but quite small.

Arsenāls Art Museum

Arsenāls is a large exhibition hall for art and another part of the Latvian National Museum of Art. They don't have permanent exhibits in this building. The more modern years of the Latvian portraits exhibit are currently on display. It's a great space and I like how the overall art museum is broken up into more manageable chunks in different parts of town. They do charge for each chunk so it may not be so convenient for tourists, but we bought the yearly pass to all of them. We can come and go as we please throughout the year as exhibits change. Here's a look at what's in this one now.

Rīgas Birža Art Museum

We went to the Rīgas Birža art museum yesterday which is a part of the Latvian National Museum of Art. It's a nicely restored old building in the middle of old town with a good permanent collection and temporary exhibits with a variety of art. Riga has a lot to offer and we're fortunate to live here!

WinterCon in Riga

We went to WinterCon here in Riga presented by UniCon. It was an interesting break from the winter outside but not as good as other Comic Cons for me since it was too focused on anime and K-Pop dance. I'm not into those things at all. There wasn't enough of the things I like but it was still interesting.

Winter Solstice at Ethnographic Museum

We went to the Ethnographic Museum (Latvijas Etnogrāfiskais brīvdabas muzejs) to celebrate the Winter Solstice and the longer daylight growing on the way to the Summer Solstice. These seasonal changes are felt much more distinctly further north. It was an overcast day but there's an almost glowing beauty with the unspoiled snow in the woods. The lake at this open-air museum park was a snow covered frozen which made it look like a huge empty field.

Burning Yule Logs in Old Riga

Winter Solstice is the longest night of the year. Riga's sunset was 3:43PM and it rises at 9:00AM. It was snowing and 22F (-5C) but we had a great time celebrating local ancient traditions. There was the dragging of the yule log to gather last year's problems. We walked around town and through two of the Christmas Markets. Then we burned the logs and all of our problems with them. I made some videos this time which are at the bottom of this post.