Riga is the fascinating Capital of Latvia. As in several of these Baltic countries Latvia has only regained its independence recently - in 1991 the dissolution of the Soviet Union occurred with Mikhail Gorbachev resigning his post as president of the Soviet Union, leaving Boris Yeltsin as president of the newly independent Russian state. Since that date Latvia has been rebuilding its identity. Many of the historic buildings have been restored - although most of the Cathedrals still lack any stained glass windows - the Russian occupying authorities smashed the religious images and boarded or bricked up the windows in order to use the buildings for various other purposes eg gymnasiums, storage, meeting rooms etc.
Good shot- I like the sky reflected in the windows. Jeff has a fellow contractor whose family is originally from Latvia- they are very proud of their heritage.
@mv_wolfie Hi Mariana - it was a wonderful city - and the surrounding countryside was also interesting. So many indicators of their sad history - but so many amazing achievements since their independence. As you say - an easy city to love.
@olivetreeann Hi Ann - we found the Latvian people that we met to be very positive. Although they were mainly of the younger generation - It seems that some of the older generation are still doing it pretty tough. A most interesting country.
