Riga Out-Takes

It took a few days for me to remember that Riga was an important
stop on Wagner's career: he arrived to be a conductor in the late 1830s,
escaping his German creditors, hoping to re-unite with his errant
wife, Minna, but soon realizing that his musico-dramatic ambitions
could never be realized in provincial places such as Riga; and
within a year or so he set forth for Paris, the score of Rienzi in his
baggage, and the voyage across the Baltic and North Sea providing
material for The Flying Dutchman; but I digress...anyhow...

The concert hall where he conducted has been in a sad state for some
years--condemned and closed to visitors--but is now being restored; it
was not hard to find, but whatever interpretive signage was on it had
been removed

The Mikhail Chekhov Riga Russian Theater...

Wants you to know it condemns Russia's aggression in the
Ukraine and all violence and aggression

Numerous bachelor and bachelorette parties were in
evidence in Riga

Interesting chocolate shop

Hard to resist

Fortified downspout

On the steps behind the Riga cathedral

Adoration of the Mystic Armadillo

And not far away, homage to the Bremen musicians

Yes, there are tiki bars in Riga

Click to enlarge and read about this very interesting bar concept

One in every town

Near our hotel...Urban Van Glamping

A sort-of hostel where you sleep in vans and trailers
parked in an old warehouse...with facilities, amenities

Also in our neighborhood...the Russian Orthodox Church; interestingly,
when Russia invaded Ukraine, the Latvian parliament required all
such churches in Latvia to sever relations with the Moscow church;
public school instruction in Russian was eliminated nation-wide too

Today's fixer-upper

Can get in on this from the ground up...

Haven't seen one of these in years

Another culinary break-through from McDonald's

I did sample the local specialty, Riga Black Balsam,
a powerful bitter concoction; once in a lifetime...

Riga's Art Nouveau Synagogue

Riga's synagogue is one of the few in occupied Europe that the Germans didn't destroy. They feared that dynamiting it would set the entire old city ablaze. Two generations later, anti-semitic terrorists bombed it, but it was rebuilt through a national and EU campaign. The other surviving art nouveau synagogue I know of is in Paris, in the Marais, designed by none other than Hector Guimard. The Germans didn't hesitate to destroy it, but the French rebuilt it after the war. It is perennially closed and under heavy security, so I don't expect ever to see its interior. I was determined to see Riga's building, however, and am pleased to post a few pix below. It is said to be art nouveau with neo-Egyptian references and flourishes. The architect was Wilhelm Neumann.

Unrelated art decos across the street

Star of David drain pipe (click to enlarge)

Riga Art Nouveau Tour, 2

Barcelona, Paris, and Prague are still our favorites, but Riga is definitely
a must-see for the art nouveau enthusiast (also Nancy, Vienna, etc.)

Mint green

In an art nouveau store where Vicki stimulated the local
economy

Extreme wedding cake

One of the most famous and prolific of Riga's art nouveau architects;
father of the famous Soviet film director Sergei Eisenstein...Battleship
Potemkin, etc. 

Home, briefly, for a very young Sir Isaiah Berlin, famous Oxford philosopher,
born in Riga

Block of Accord

Lots of caryatids in Riga

Most striking of them all, back on Elizabeth St., #10

The large faces must be 6 feet in size

Abiding impression of Riga art nouveau