Latvia: Riga Independence Celbration

So, today when I met with my guide, I asked what the deal was with all the music on the streets, and it turns out I lucked into celebrating Independence Day with the Latvians. Except, it's not just a one-day jubilee here as the 4th of July is in the States, it's a weekend-long celebration. I don't know how I lucked into this, but I can't tell you how much fun it's been, and I highly suggest anyone who is planning on going to Riga, to coordinate it with this weekend affair. It's been a blast of folk music, dancing, and free music, public transportation, fairs, craft markets, etc etc. in other words, I couldn't think if a better time to visit!

So this morning, before things started to get crowded, we took a walking tour of the Old Town and Art Nouveau sections of town. In fact, it was so "early" that the only people we rabbi to for the first half of the tour were those who hadn't stumbled home yet from last night's festivities. We walked through the Old Town, visiting churches and buildings dating back as far as the 13th century. It was a great walk.

Then we headed to the newer part of town which had whole boulevards full of art nouveau architecture. I have to admit, I am a bit if a sucker for this style of buildings, as they have the clean lines and retro style that I find very attractive. After walking for a full three hours, we stopped for lunch, where I tried a local soup and main course. Absolutely delicious. After lunch, we were met by our driver, the guide's husband (they run a family tour business), and made out way to the ethnographic museum which was just out of town. We got caught in a parade of classic vehicles and watched the parade of old cars zoom past. It's one of those things that if you tried to catch the parade, you would have missed it. But because I had no idea it was happening, I was lucky enough to get caught up in the middle of it.

After the vehicles cleared out, we were able to make out way to the ethnographic museum, which was a HUGE outdoor, open air museum full of buildings from hundreds of years ago. Also, something completely unexpected, there was a wedding going on that we caught of locals. We saw them dancing and singing together in their old, local dress and it was magical. Like something out of a fairy tale. After walking and spending a couple of hours in the museum, we got back into our vehicle and made our way back to the old town.

I dropped off a few souvenirs at the hotel, then was out again to do some shopping, and then had a glass or two (or three) of wine while listening to more music. I eventually had some dinner and the. Walked around a vit more. I will be sad to leave tomorrow, but am glad I was fortunate enough to be here during the celebration of Latvia's independence...