As a Latvian, it is interesting to look at Riga through the eyes of a foreigner. Being in Old Riga like a local, you don't notice a lot of details. Thanks for this video.
I seen 2 foreigners from germany they asked for road and they said Riga is beutefool, also i have no idea how they got With Bikes from Germany...to Babīte and then they went uz Jūrmalu.
We really appreciate locals like yourselves watching our video! I am sure there is so much we missed, but we really enjoyed visiting Riga and taking in the beautiful old town! We definitely hope to return 😊
@@latvija4k335 In fact, Germany is not far, a slow week's ride by bike, you can get to Riga through Poland. There is nothing complicated on the way, and there are no mountains.
@@KP-pc2vx Oh, please 🙏look at the map where the Baltic states are. The Baltic states were occupied for some time by both Germany and Russia, but they were free and are free countries!💪
As a Latvian myself I do recomend not only visiting Riga, but also other cities in Latvia. The train system is very easy to understand, it runs thoughout the entire land of Latvia and in my opinion not the most expencive way of travel. The Baltic sea in my opinion is the best place to visit! There are many camping spots, my favorite is in a village called Košrags, I believe a bus even goes straight to there. Latvias nature is truly my favorite part of this country. There is so much forest and so little man made fields. Amazing country!
Thank you so much for the suggestions! We absolutely loved Riga, but we have no doubt that there is so much more to explore outside of the city. We will definitely come back to Latvia, such a beautiful country!
The train system does not run throughout the entire land. The train to liepaja until now was only on weekends and now there will be once a day. To ventspils there is no train. No train to bauska and rundale. To kuldiga too no train
@@dreamthedream8929 Alright, maybe I went a little off track with the whole "train going everywhere" thing. Still, you can make it to many places in Latvia with a bus! Of course, you do have to do your research before traveling anywhere! Paldies par atsauci!
What other places besides Riga do you find sightseeing worthy cause I've planned out a trip to Riga in September, and would (if enough time) like to explore Latvija and it's capital a bit more
Thanks, I really enjoyed the city, it is very beautiful and has lots of character. And good food and beer. Oh, and nice beaches. Will defenitely return. Greetings from Germany! @@destrojer124
About the roosters - apparently a long time ago, when someone tried to invade Riga (when it still was small) in the night, roosters made so much noise that they woke up the soldiers that were able to defend the city in time. It probably is a fake story, but it's the main explanation about why we have so many golden roosters in the old town.
@@MaxandSidneyHi! Just wanted to clarify, from what i have learned the roosters symbolise St. Peter and his disowning of christ. Jesus predicted that Peter will deny knowing him 3 times before the rooster sang. It’s a story from the bible and the rooster has become a symbol for protestant churches not only in old Riga! They are all over Europe, but it has definitely become a characteristic aspect of Old Riga!
@@linamarakrastina7710 it seems to be something connecting the Old Livonia, as one can see those roosters also in Southern Estonian churches, like in Tartu, but not in the Northern part.
Hi, I'm visiting Riga this year, and really enjoyed your video. Fun fact, I am from Austria, our National Flag is very similar tobthe Letvian, and also the backgroundstory is nearly the same😂
Funny fact? After the first war, Austria "stole" the Polish flag (Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth), while Poland "stole" the flag of Czechia- Bohemia (most similar to the traditional Polish flag). In the heraldic sense, the traditional colors of Austria are yellow and black.
There are a lot of art nuvo builidings in Riga, not just the old town, but all around Riga center. Alberta street is the most famous street coz every building on that street is art nuovo, but you will find impresive buildings all over the place. The best time to go see the architecture is during summer sunday mornings, coz half the population is in their summer home enjoying their gardens on the weekends, while party goers are still sleeping off their hangovers after saturday nights. The streets are completely empty with hardly any people during this tis time.... Except for tourists...
It sounds like we really missed out on Albert Street 😣 oh well, gives us a reason to come back! The Art Nouveau style is so interesting, we would definitely be interested in seeing more!
Loved this episode, especially the story about the origin of the Latvian flag and of the Christmas tree. Riga is on the top of my list of countries to be visited in the forthcoming future. Love from Poland.
So glad you enjoyed it! We really appreciate you watching and we are so excited to hear how much you enjoyed it! We have a lot of videos in the works, plenty to look forward to!
Yes, after World War 1 Latvia was officially an independent nation-state. The occupation in World War 2 by the Soviets and change of government was not constitutional. In 1991 Latvia "regained" independence after the fall of the Soviet Union. My grandparents, mother and the Latvian community in Australia celebrated. We deeply sorrow that we are not in the Fatherland and that we have lost the language and culture.
This seems to be a very interesting place, I hope I can visit sometime in the future. Seeing and sharing places like this is why I love traveling and make videos so much! And please keep up the great job! Subscribed!!
yees i really like this video :) this, but id also recommend visiting the country sides around bigger holidays (like for example Jani and Ligo evening, kind of like latvian midsummer), and the greater older nature parks too, theres plenty of older castles and stuff and lots of activities when one knows what and when and where to look for them :) I loved easter and Auto, Moto Velo and stuff like that when i grew up in Murmuiza (kauguru pag). There were so much new things and stuff and styles depending on when and where one visits latvia. Cesis and places like that are also often kind of charming in their way with the old nature trails and castles and stuff. Going there in summer or late summer in my opinion would bring the most from the travelling since the nature gets so beautiful and evertyhing really comes to life :)
There are a lot of art nouveau buildings in what usually is called the old town of riga. In fact one of the most well known buildings of the old Town is art nouveau, the cat house. Plus the old Town these days is simply a misnomer, not really accurate. It refers to the place within the walls where the oldest buildings of riga were built. Now those buildings and the wall no longer exist. Now essentially the old Town is all central part of riga plus agenskalns and so on. A lot of places. Maskavas forsete too is very much the old town part of riga
6:30 My History teacher once told me, what Roosters are a monument to real Rooster which once saved Rīga. The story goes with something like this: "Once in Riga (it was almost completely wooden at time) started fire in the night. But one Rooster on top of tower screamed even in the night and woke up whole city and humans were able to extinguish the arson. And in the name of saviour of Riga at that time, government built a Rooster's statue on top of Saint Somebody Cathedral. That statue was destroyed a lot of times, but was placed back" WARNING! This information is from my memory and may be not true at all! It was too much years ago for me to remember! The only detail in which I'm sure on 100% and what I totally remember is that this statue, is statue of Real Rooster and not rooster from some book or not statue of rooster of some rich farmer.
Great video, i love to see how you get facts straight. You should check out other city's in Latvia, they all look similar but there is something about them that makes every city different and unique.
The rooster’s voice can chase away the demons. There are some sayings and proverbs describing this: “When the cock crows, the devil falls”1 or “Temptations don’t mean a thing, when the rooster sings”2 . The rooster had the power to reverse evil, bad luck, and all the dangerous attempts of the unclean spirits (Kowzan 2007, 123). The rooster, which is crowing as the third guard announces the dawn, forcing dark forces and their allies to flee. It is interesting to add a story from the Jewish tradition. The Jews distinguished four types of guards: the beginning of the guard, the midnight guard, the cocks-crowing guard, and the mourning guard (Kowzan 2007, 123). The silhouette of a cock on churches was a kind of a warning to Christians to acknowledge their faith (Chadd 2016, 54)
Thank you for portraying my hometown exceptionally well, but one thing I need to mention: There is as “Art nouveau” district in Riga, that you haven’t shown here. And it is located not in old town.
Thank you for visiting our country. The one thing, however, that i keep noticing with foreigners visiting is that the only really visit our capital Riga and almost never any other city, which i would like to see more of. Either way, hopefully you guys had a great time here :)
Riga's local here. Rīga is definitely beautiful city. And deeper into the center you go, the more beautiful it is. I love our parks! I lived in The Center before, but now I live on other side of bridges. In Ziepniekalns. Here we have one (rennovated 4 weeks ago) park where I spent 1 hour of each day when I'm not at home. But Latvia has some dark sides too. For example hating Russians more than any other Baltic Country, even though 32% of ALL Latvian citizens (aproximatelly 450.000 thousands out of 1,5 million) are Russians. Government blocks Russian language in education buildings, in kindergartens, in governmental buildings, banks. And formerly 90% spoke Russian in Latvia. Here are less and less of us (Russian speakers)... Also in WW2 a LOT of Latvians willingly joined Germany when Latvia was captured. Other half of Latvians hated other half that betrayed USSR and willingly joined those, who rapd, tortured, and killed Slavens. But still, Architecture here is really beautiful. Story of Latvia is not long, but nice. From tribes, to people under rule of Medieval Germanic Kingdoms, to civilized people. And because Latvia during whole it's story spent time with Russia and German-speaking countries, Latvian is similliar to both of them. Even though Latvian is Latin alphabet language, it still has some similar to words to Russian. And minimum 70% of WHOLE Latvia, is trees. Nature here is really beautiful. We have no Mountains (highest point is 300 meters), but we have nice and big forests, and nice beaches, and wonderful sunsets and sunrises.
@@MaxandSidney no you are wrong, declaration of independence was on November 18th, 1918, in the Latvian National Theatre building, 1920 was the year that Latvia was Internationally recognized.. i appreciate your overwhelmingly positive video of my country, but please dont argue about things that you dont know or are misinformed in
i thought the roosters on churches was because like.... in countryside (in villages) roosters are like the alarm clock, they do their big annoying sound right at like 6 AM as the sun is rising, and that wakes the whole town up, but then in the big cities.... at 6-8 AM the church bell rings, which wakes up the whole city... but i guess not.
this looks so interesting to watch some1 visit Latvia and make a vid about it, cuz as a latvian it is interesting, and also my dad owns 1 apartment what u can book out and if i remember right it has 5 stars it is in brīvības iela.
We really enjoyed visiting your country! Next time, we hope to go when we have more time and the weather is a little warmer 😁 there is still so much that we missed!
So nice to see this post. My Grandmother came from Riga, and my Father had planned to visit the city in 1939. This never happened due to the machinations of a certain Corporal Hitler. Peace to All.
Thank you, we're so glad you enjoyed it! We would love to come to Liverpool, we always enjoy visiting England! We still have so much to see there, and Liverpool is definitely on the list! Thanks for watching, we truly appreciate it! 😊
There's a restaurant, I can't remember the name off, but you'd be able to spot its mascot right outside the door. A chef with a big pan in its hand. It is somewhere in the older part of Riga, in between of the many little coffee shops.
Helo you talked about the flags history. But you didn’t mention that later in history they war destroyed but later they were restored to their former glory. (Sorry if mistakes)
It was about a 4.5 hour bus ride, and the scenery was amazing! Estonia is full of dense forests, and we got a lot of views of the coast. We also stopped in the Estonian city of Parnü. It was great to see more of the country outside of Tallinn!
about the flag.... there's also explanation - white stripe is the Daugava river and the dark red ones symbolize the blood that that's has been spilled for it
The original written tale about our flag is they put him on a sheet and everywhere except we he lay became red from his blood and then the sheet was used as a flag in the next battle. Smal difrence but this is little more precise.
2:20 - LoL, NO! I presume it was classic or eclectic style, not the Art Noveau, which came right after eclectic and some neo-Gothic was in fashion in late XIX - early XX century.
Lets make clear: largest cities of Baltic by population in 2022-2023 are: 1.Rīga 605802 ppl (2022), 2.Vilnius 581475 ppl (2023), 3. Tallin 437 811 ppl (2022). Largest cities by size: Vilnius 401 km2, Riga 307 km2, Tallin 159 km2.
The architecture looks very interesting. I wonder about the social perspectives? Like nationalism and conservatism. Does everything in Latvia lean to the (far) right? Do Latvians still like nazis? Is Riga safe for gays, non-whites, and Russians? I have an American friend who plans a 2024 three week trip in Europe, including the Baltics. He's gay, I told him to better avoid the Baltics, and Poland.
It is totally safe to visit as a gay person. The nazi story is kept alive as part of russian propaganda to give reason to keep threatening Latvia with occupation (the same they did in Ukraine). We have a huge number of foreign non-white students in Riga (not so much in other smaller cities). There is no open racism or threats - the worst thing that could happen would be having some looks from grannies or some comment from less inteligent individuals of russian population that settled here after the war, but it is super rare for at least 10 or maybe 20 years already. Anyone younger than 40 will be able to help you in English and the youths are totally fluent most of the cases. Have a visit!
Latvia is pretty much the same as Belarus, Russia, Lithuania, Estonia, and other USSR countries. But in my Latvian-biased opinion, with a fancier flag than other post USSR countries( they also have good flags, I am just biased to Latvia)
It was part of the wonderland where yesterday means tomorrow for some time, but you can clearly see that these countries have completely different history, they were part of catholic western european culture before WWII, their historical cities don't look soviet at all. There is pretty noticable difference between red brick gothic church and some crazy orthodox church with golden onion roofs. 😀
The difference the Baltic states were like western europe before and were forcefully annexed into the ussr, even Finland was a Baltic state before 1940. There's no comparison between Baltics and the ussr countries
Riga is no tallinn or Bratislava. Full of Russian lovers and mafia. The city has a always on the edge. Going out at night solo is a no no. Police are constantly around. And the locals have a humour of a dead mouse. The positive is the parks and architecture. Apart from that its a poor version of other European cities.
@@hypnoex5282 would you say where and how then? I've been around Latvia and kuldiga, tukums, jurmala, sigulda, most of riga and so on are well kept, not much problem. Of course people also know well that ventspils is very well kept and clean
@@dreamthedream8929 are you a native? because from the outside latvia is beautiful and whatever people believe nowadays about this dump, but once you've lived in this shithole you realise that latvia only looks good, but living here is hell with the government ran by orangutans and piss poor salaries. not to mention there's really nothing fun to do in this country if you're outside of riga
The countryside is really worth visiting, not only Riga. Plan it ahead. There are beautiful restored manors and castles, the Open Air Museum, Gauja National Park, Sigulda, beautifully maintained farmsteads, rapid rivers in the spring for extreme sports, sandstone rock outcrops, the widest waterfall in Europe - the Ventas rumba, festivals such as the Sabile Wine Festival, the Tukuma Rose Festival , fishing opportunities... Handicrafts, amber products, folk costumes. Excellent national dishes. And you should enjoy a Latvian sauna with a sauna attendant who will clean you with the right sauna brooms and then take a little swim and lie down in the clover grass looking at the night stars...!
yes exactly, this is the legacy or the heritige left by the baltic germans, i think latvian land reform forced them out of their beautiful manors and palaces and most of them left for germany. but thats where they had their lives, in latvia in those places. it was their home. important things for them happened there. baltic germans were also a part of latvia for centuries. i read that there used to be over 2000 such palaces and manors in latvia all over the place. even now it seems so many when you drive around latvia. i guess many of them have not survived but the majority probably has although some may not be in a good condition or may be in ruins. many have been restored though and many probably soon will also be. would like to visit one day edoles palace and preilu palace is probably now under restoration and it looks great. durbes palace was really nice. yes of course horrors happened there during the second world war but the place itself with its surroundings is lovely
@paulk8072 yes, it's actually kind of weird that such a large population of local people that were there for centuries is so suddenly no longer there. Their heritage is all around us there where they lived their lives and important moments in their lives. That was their place, their birth place. Of course what happened with latvian jews is a horror story and a crime. The population of latvian jews now is low compared to what it once was. And sadly their heritage was not that well treated. In daugavpils there used to be 40 or more synagogues and now only a few of them remain. The great riga Choral synagogue didn't make it, it's now a heavy place, a site of a great crime and tragedy. It used to be an amazing building
In what usually is called the old town of riga there is plenty of art nouveau, a good place to go for that. One of the most famous buildings of the old town is art nouveau too, the cat house
