Latvia is More than Riga, Make the Most of Your Visit

Hello friends in PJs!

As some of you may know I work for a remote only company, which is what allows me to sit in my pjs all day long and practically live in my suitcase. I don't see my teammates very often outside of the virtual world, but we do aim to meet at least once a year for a little team building, or on-site as we like to call it (because we're mostly off-site, haha, oh little nerdy humour. Yes, I don't have many friends).  So to get to the point, what brings me to beautiful Latvia is our company meet up. The meet up took place in lovely Latvian country side, however, I took the opportunity to visit its capital city, Riga, as well. 

Now, Riga, is not worlds away from it's neighbour Tallinn, however, it's still considerably different and more Slavic and not very Scandinavian. Although, Latvia has its own language and its own culture, it felt more familiar to me and culturally closer. Most of the people in Latvia speak Russian very well, and English is spoken widely, as well. Unlike Tallinn, Riga is definitely more of a lively city. There's more hustle and bustle, more tourists, especially younger generation. My favourite part of Riga, was definitely the Old Town. Riga's Old Town, at least to me, not that I have any official data, appeared bigger and broader than Tallinn, in a way, in its appearance and atmosphere, it reminded my of Bratislava. The Old Town is packed with beautiful, colourful, two-storey buildings, cobble stone alleys, flowers and all kinds of greenery.  At every step you will find a cosy little coffee place, a nice restaurant, pub, which makes it very popular for bachelor and bachelorette parties. As always my fave activity is to wonder the little streets, explore, admire and take in the new culture and new surroundings. The thing I liked the most about Riga is that it just felt comfortable, it felt very welcoming and familiar which made me feel very at home. Not many places cause such a feeling in me, but this was one of them. It just felt natural and homey. 

So, on to practical advice, in Riga, just feel free to get an AirBnb, there's a wide choice of fantastic apartments, comfortable, stylish and affordable. I rented out a lovely studio for 50e per night, and this was a more expensive option. As for food portion, there are so many options out there, many different restaurants and coffee places that are affordable, and amazing quality. My personal favourite was Rigensis bakery that serves food coffee and amazing cakes for about 2e. I liked it so much, that I visited it 2 or 3 times. I also enjoyed Domini Canes restaurant a lot, all the meals looked like little works of art and were delicious. You can expect to pay between 10 and 15e for a meal which I think is more than fair. Finally, as for getting around, you can just rely on taxies which are very affordable here, most of our rides added up to 3e which is just great. 

Our company meet up took place in the country side in a lovely place surrounded by nature, Lilaste, right on the Lilaste Lake was our hotel. Now, the reason I say Latvia is more than Riga, is that I was amazed by Latvian nature, very green, untouched, wild and beautiful. In the midst of all the greenery there's a lot of water at every step you will find a lake or a river. It's just magnificent! Although Latvia is not rich in mountains, it's very rich in forests, this makes it an ideal location for those of you who enjoy walking but not necessarily climbing mountain peaks.
My biggest regret definitely is not having taken the time to explore the country and its nature. I feel that Riga, even though beautiful, is another European city, while, Latvia, and it's magnificent nature is just something special to experience and explore.
So, my visit to Latvia will definitely need to repeat itself, however this time, focused on exploring Latvian country side and its lovely nature. 

So friends in pjs, this concludes today's tour, my journey from Latvia continues North and visiting Sweden.

Thanks for reading this post! And have a good one! 

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