Riga walking tour

The title pretty much sums up our day today.

We woke to blue skies and sunshine, which has made for a really pleasant day for exploring.

Mr A picked up a map from the hotel reception and we've made really good use of that today.

We walked along the Daugava river (pictured), down to Riga's central market; that was something to see!
The market is set inside 5 old hangars (although there are also stalls outside too), each hangar housing a different market. It was incredible to see so many stalls all selling the same things but all equally busy.

In the meat market, I don't think I've ever seen so much pork; beef and chicken seemed a rarity.
The fruit and veg stalls were all packed with stuff that looked like it had just been dug up or picked this morning.
The fish market was a little unnerving though; on some of the stalls the fish were still alive!!! To see them gasping for air seemed really cruel, but I guess this keeps them fresher for longer?

From there, we had a look round a couple of the shopping malls, pretty standard really.

We needed a break and a brew, so stopped off in one of the parks at a little tea house we spotted last night. It was a quirky little place, like a little treehouse, with all manner of blends of tea.
We ordered drinks then made our way up a fab spiral staircase to sit on cushions on the floor and watch the world go by below. Ace!

There are quite a few parks in Riga, I think we've walked through most of them today!
We went to see 'The House of the Blackheads' which is a famous building here and although it's pretty, you can't go in so it seemed a bit pointless.

Lunch was at a Latvian restaurant chain called 'Lido' and was really tasty for less than €10 each.

We are both quite surprised with Riga; we imagined it would be more 'war torn' (that's the best way we can describe it) and scruffy but it's a lovely place, really clean and great architecture.
Most of the people seem to be sitting in traffic; the roads are busy but the streets and malls are really quiet.

We've learned not to hand money directly to cashiers; instead it has to be placed on a dish where they pick it up and replace it with your change.

We are back at the hotel now, recharging our batteries before we head back out tonight. If our feet can stand it!