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Old Town Riga

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We actually allowed an entire day to wander around Old Town Riga.  At first, I assumed it would be way too much to see in a day, but once I saw the map put out by the city itself, I realized that it would make a delightful day.  After all, everything I read about Riga says the top-rated activity is to just wander the streets.  Okay, we were on.

Mark actually had class everyday until noon, so we started out after that.  We saw it all:  the Cat House, the Three Brothers, the House of the Blackheads, everything.  It was delightful.  Glo even got a few sketches in.  I'll let the pictures tell the story:

See the cat on the top of the building?  Check out Mark's post to find out why it's there.
The Swedish gate, also very cool, complete with cannons.
We stopped in a Latvian knitting store so Mark could check it all out.  Turns out there are authentic Latvian wools and patterns.  We're all hoping for something for Christmas :-)
Mark didn't have any idea who these animals were, but I dove into the deep recesses of my memory and remembered the Bremen musicians.  Yep, I'm not TOO old...yet....
Mark says the tradition is that the higher you can reach (or the higher the animal you can touch), the better luck you will have.  To Glo's credit, she DID jump and touch the top when my camera wasn't ready.
The House of the Blackheads.  It's all been rebuilt since being destroyed in WWII (as is most of Riga), but it's still impressive.

My favorite spot in Riga:  the Three Brothers.  Again, Mark wrote an excellent post for this that you can read HERE.  My three peeps choose which house they thought best represented them :-)
No joke, every street looked as beautiful as this one.  Hours felt like minutes as we walked all over Riga.

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