Riga, Latvia

Riga, Latvia is a very cool city to visit.

It is easy to get around. The food is affordable. The summer weather is warm and sunny and the people are very friendly.

I would recommend shopping at the central market. You can buy flowers/herbs that have been hand picked out of wooden boxes (rather than the very common greenhouse plastic containers). You can get lots of fresh delicious fruit for very low prices.

I would recommend walking through the old town. Also, I would recommend taking a bus to Kipsala. There are some pretty restored wood buildings and the Zanis Lipke Memorial. This is a museum dedicated to the holocaust in Latvia and is located at a site of a particular family's bunker that was used to hide Jews on the island.  The building is designed incredibly and sets the tone for the very serious subject.

Important Practical Things to Know

1. Roaming data is EXTREMELY INSANELY EXPENSIVE. BUY A DATA SIM CARD RIGHT AWAY. Data with a Latvian Sim Card is practically free - around 1 or 2 euros/ GB. You can use skype to do all your calling. I bought my pay as you go sim card at a Narvesen convenience store. The stores are everywhere. I bought an activation code which I had to text to a number to get credit. The

2. transport is EASY. Take a tram/bus/taxify. Everything with usually cost 2 euros/trip. If you download the taxify app, you can always get a taxi quickly and for a very affordable price.

3. People take everything literally but most are very friendly if you start a conversation with them. It just takes a little bit of effort to start cracking jokes.

4. It's a bathroom friendly country. Establishments have bathrooms and you can use them. I hate trying to find washrooms in Paris and deserts.

Central Market, Riga