On our last day of our Baltic Sea cruise, we found ourselves in Riga, Latvia. Funny, I really never heard of Latvia let alone realizing it was once part of Russia, and now a country all on its own. The idea that we were vacationing in Russia, a part of the world that when I was growing up, was a very bad and dangerous place. Much has changed, and much has yet to change.

A variety of architecture.

By this time it was the fifth day of touring, and I’m not going to lie…I was exhausted. I knew I’d be over it by the end of the week, but I wanted to learn and see everything I could if we were going to take a trip to the Baltic.

Riga, Latvia

The architecture in the newer area of Riga was a mix of Soviet Blocks, and Art Deco.  There were beautiful parks, and lots of traffic!  The people were friendly, and seemed happy.  I’d be happy too if I had recently   gained independence from Russia!  They’re still struggling to build their economy, but it looked like they were winning the battle.

Riga, Latvia

The older part of town, or the Mediaeval  part was spectacular, and fun to see.  I’m sure part of that for tourist sake, but people actually lived there in many areas, and of course there were many business focused on tourism, and the money we could bring to their economy.

Cajon

As we walked the streets while others in our group shopped for Amber jewelry, we were taken by a group of three young musicians.  A bass guitar, an electric  guitar, and a cajon.  They played for it seemed an hour, or more, and it was interesting to hear the same music our youth plays here in the states.

This is how Cajons sound…

We were on our vacation when my son had his birthday, and he asked for donations for a Cajon. When we returned he had found what he wanted and everyone was happy!

The history of Cajons goes way back to the 16th century Peru.  I’ve read that Paco de Lucia brought the idea of the cajon back from Peru to use with his flamenco Guitar.

After a long day in Riga, with many things to see, we literally hobbled back to our ship, and finish our journey back to Stockholm, Sweden.

Thank you for stopping by to read about our vacation to the Baltic sea, I loved sharing our journey with you, and have to admit some of the pictures I wanted to show didn’t turn out, or I had inadvertently erased them from my phone.  Silly me!