"Scandinavia with a Russian twist" a Riga Region Travel Page by bzh

When I arrived at Riga airport, my first thought was that it looked so much like Oslo airport, typically Scandinavian. The weather also reminded me of Norway: snow, crispy cold but sunny. This feeling ended when reaching passport control, where custom officials that look you up and down, verify that you seem as tall as what is marked on your passport, etc. invariably makes you think of the old USSR. Surely this should all change once Latvia is part of the European Union.

The same feeling of being in Scandinavia with a Russian twist remained throughout my stay. This is particularly visible in the town's architecture, which definitely reminded me of Stockholm and Oslo but where some monuments look like they wouldn't be out of place in Russia.

Riga is on the East bank of the Daugava river, a few kilometers from the coast. And I have to say, the Daugava is not a small stream. Although it is not as big as the large Russian rivers, it is definitely on a par with the Seine or the Thames. The locals are very proud of it and rightly so.

But, at the end of the day, the best about Riga are the people. Whether they are from Latvian or Russian origins (a third of the population of Latvia is Russian), they all speak very good English and are very friendly. Go to a bar for a drink and you will have no problem starting a conversation with anyone there. And you can even try to learn a bit of Latvian.