Riga Review

View from the upper city overlooking the lower city We had a chance to visit Tallinn on our Estonian trip two weeks ago. As the capital of Estonia, it is one of the oldest and most preserved cities in Europe. Today the wall around the city has almost 30 of its towers still standing. When you visit Tallinn, you almost feel like you're stepping back into history since the wall was first erected in the 13th Century. Government headquarters Tallinn is divided into two distinct areas, the upper city and the lower city. Historically, lower Tallinn was the site for merchants to live and work. Today it is the hub of tourism with shops and restaurants filling the cobbled streets. Orthodox Church built during Russian rule The upper city is the site of the government buildings, the Orthodox Church and Lutheran Cathedral. Historically, the ruling class lived up here - the governor, archbishops and city councilors. During the night, the gates between the upper and lower area

Splash pad in city  Last week we took some time for R & R in the country of Estonia. The first thing we noticed upon entering Estonia was the language difference with Latvia. Estonian has so many vowels in the words, as you can see by the name of the island. We sometimes saw four vowels together such as "hoiuala." We, of course, didn't know what the words mean, but couldn't even figure out how to pronounce them. Kuressaare Fortress Walls surrounding the fortres We spent some time on Saaremaa to the west of Estonia. Our main focus was on Kuressaare, the largest city on the island. The most important site to see here was the castle which was first built in early 14th Century. It was built for the protection of the bishops and monks living on the island. Later it became important to the government that was ruling over Saaremaa. With the surrounding walls and bastions, it was a remarkable structure. Today it is a museum.  St. Lawrence's Luth

Last fall when we visited Riga, we ate dinner at this restaurant. The interesting thing is that we now live across the street from this same restaurant. I wrote last week about the facelift of the building holding this place. Unfortunately, most of the painted murals were covered over by the new paint. We loved this restaurant last fall, so I'll reintroduce you to a gem from here. Tucked into a small alley in Riga, we discovered a tiny restaurant called Lasite.  The building housing the restaurant was actually build in 1454 as part of the ancient fortification of the Medieval city of Riga. In 1975, while Latvia was still under Soviet rule, the building was turned into a cafe. The architect tried to maintain the spirit of the Middle Ages with its arches and stained-glass windows. The paintings on the outside walls made the quaint cafe very eye-appealing and inviting. But once we entered the restaurant, we were transported back in time. People have to stoop throug

The new job completed Across the street from our apartment, we have witnessed the restoration of a building during the last several months. It's been interesting to see the process used in renewing the exterior plaster on it.  The picture below shows what a deteriorated exterior looks like. This picture was taken out of our back window of the courtyard surrounding our house. It's in very bad shape because of the age. Street-side walls don't look this bad, but it shows how the plaster chips away in old age. I'm sure that during Soviet times most exterior walls resembled this picture.  Peeling plaster off walls Scaffolding being assembled Teamwork We knew that the building across from us was going to be repaired when we heard the noise of the scaffolding being erected around it. We were amazed how fast the men threw that scaffolding together - three or four tiers tall. They handed up piece after piece from one tier to the next as if they were handling pencils.  Stripping