Riga

Some pictures from this month's trip to the Baltic. Our first stop was Riga, the capital of Latvia.

Riga from the top of the Lutheran Cathedral. The city is a mixture of old and new.

There is some beautiful Art Deco architecture.

Old and new exist side by side. Fortunately, the centre of the city is largely free from Soviet-era architectural monstrosity, although the Museum of the Occupation documents some of the less visible scars that were left by Soviet and Nazi occupiers.

A monument to the Soviet "liberation" of Latvia. There are still many ethnic Russians living in Riga, but tensions exist between Latvia and Russia.

There are also memorials to the victims of the Soviets.

The canal that runs through the city is set in a beautiful park...

...with with sculpture and trees and paths and benches.

A businessman who was refused admission to the Big Guild by German businessmen had sculptures of cats on the roof of his building with their backsides to the Guild House, showing his disrespect. The Guild sued, and made him reverse the cats!

Our hotel was up several flights of stairs - any idea who these guys are?