Latvia

One of the "Baltic Three", Latvia sits north of Lithuania and south of Estonia. It is a small country with a population of only a couple of million, and is one of the poorest in the EU, having joined in May 2004. It regained its independance in 1991 at the fall of the Soviet Union, and many of the residents (over 40%) are still Russian.

We arrived in Riga, the Latvian capital, on an overnight train from Moscow feeling not altogther bedraggled. Our hostel was called "Posh Hostel" and was next to the market area. We only stayed one night and it rained incessantly, but we had a good night out in a Latvian club with a new friend we found, in of all places, an Irish pub.

There has been a reasonable amount of urban renewal in the centre of Riga, such as the new station-shopping complex with its clock tower here. It says "Riga" at the top in gold letters. Prices within the shops were like prices in Britain in 1988, especially easy to determine as the Latvian currency (the Lat) has a 1:1 exchange rate with sterling. I bought a Mars bar for 20p.

This is the indoor market area, housed within old zeppelin hangers. They were acquired during the 1930s from Nazi Germany in prefabricated sections, allowing a budget market to be constructed. I had a belt-busting lunch inside for the sum total of 39 pence.

Here is a view of some of the buildings surrounding what we took to be the main square in the old town. The place had a German feel to it, and would have been much more pleasant had it not been continually raining. In the background you can see the spire of Rigas Doms, the cathedral.

This is the Blackhead's House, built in 1344 for Blackhead's Guild of unmarried merchants. It was damaged during the second world war, and flattened by the Soviets but rebuilt in 2000. The spire on the left is the Rigas Doms catherdal tower, a testimony to the centuries of German dominance in the region. Construction began in 1211.

The Freedom Monument is a potent symbol of Lativa, built in 1935 it is surprising that it was not destroyed by the Soviets. It is topped by the Statue of Liberty, Milda, holding three stars for the three regions of Latvia. During the Soviet regime the monument acted as a travel agency; anyone daring enough to lay flowers at its base would get a one-way ticket to Siberia.