My journey into Northern Europe continues from Lithuania into Latvia with G Adventures. The previous post can be found here. 5 Weeks in Northern Europe: A Journey Through Latvia & Estonia

Journey to Riga

The bus ride from Klaipeda was pleasant as the roads here are excellent. We could have been driving the 401 (Ontario highway) as the views were similar. Trees, lakes and farmland line the highway but not a hill in sight which is why the hill we saw stood out.

We stopped along the way at the hill of crosses. It’s an fascinating place full of crosses that really shows Lithuanians determination to maintain their own faith and keep religious freedom. In fact, it was levelled by the Russians a few times but the locals just rebuilt it. Eventually the Russians gave up.

Read more about the history, legends and miracles that happened in this location here: https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20171026-lithuanias-miraculous-hill-of-100000-crosses

Thursday, Aug 23 was the 35th anniversary of the Baltic way. 2 million people joined hands across Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to protest the occupation of Soviet Russia. What an incredible organizational feat and how brave of those who participated which totalled about a third of the entire population! Remember, they were occupied by the Russians at that time and they were NOT kind, nor did they tolerate any kind of insurrection.

In a total of 2 full days in Riga I learned a lot doing a free walking tour, visiting the central market, the art nouveau district, former KGB prison, outdoor museum and the occupation museum

There’s a lot of history here and the Latvian people have been through much. Though many people speak Russian, Latvia has decided to phase it out as a language of instruction. By 2030 it will no longer be offered in schools

A tour through a KGB Prison museum

Below are pictures of the KGB museum. Our guide “questioned” Traci who succumbed to torture and was sentenced to Siberia. We made light of it but sometimes humour is a way to mitigate horrible circumstances. I can’t imagine what the people had to deal with. Being sentenced to Siberia was no laughing matter as entire families never returned.

Later a group of us took the local bus to the outdoor museum just outside Riga. It was drizzly so the park was practically empty. It was a really nice walk and some of the buildings were interesting.

That evening we sampled the local liquor, Black Balsam along with some yummy chocolates at a medieval bar. Black balsam comes in different flavours and is considered the Latvian national drink. Also. I had more pink soup. That stuff is addictive.

Next stop, Saaremaa, Estonia’s largest island