Aurora entered the Daugava River, from the Baltic, at about 7 am to head upstream to Riga.
Our Baltic cruise on P&O Aurora would take us to Poland, Lithuania, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Germany, Denmark and Norway.
Day 10 was Monday 22nd May and we were now in Riga, Latvia
Going up the Daugava River to Riga
From our starboard side balcony I watched as we passed inlets with docked boats, light industry and abandoned buildings.Everywhere was very quiet.
Aurora was going so slowly that I could clearly hear birds singing and even the splashes as cormorants took off from the river.
As the ship followed the river I had glimpses of tall office blocks away in the distance.
Riga
The bridge in the distance came nearer and nearer and marked the place where Aurora would dock for the day. The ship was moored, with its bow still pointing upstream, at about 8.10am.
Breakfast was in the Medina Restaurant. There we learnt that as the ship had docked early there would be a short delay before disembarkation could begin.
We were moored close to the Vansu Bridge and we could see the traffic backed up, queueing to get into the city.
Once we left the secure area around the ship we were on a promenade that ran between the river and the road. In places there were wide lawns fringed with trees but in others the road ran alongside the promenade.
We knew that we had to walk upstream away from Aurora before crossing over the road into the UNESCO Old Town. Unlike other ports no-one from the local tourist office was at the security gates so we were having to use the rather vague P&O map of Riga and a map from the hop-on hop-off bus company.
This last map didn’t name a lot of the major sites nor give names to the roads. The P&O map was no better so by the time we were in the Old Town we felt lost before we had even started walking around.
Doms Square
We walked past the castle and turned right down Pils Iela (Pils Street) until we reached Doms Square.
The streets were cobbled just like some of the other ports that we’d visited. Unlike Tallinn it was not immediately obvious where the pedestrianised Old Town started and where it ended.
We walked to the Occupation Museum after we’d glimpsed it down a side a side street. Unfortunately it was closed for renovation. I took pictures of the House of the Blackheads as we walked back down to the river and continued our walk upstream from Aurora.
Our plan was to walk to the Central Market. This was a group of indoor markets housed in what were originally Zeppelin hangars.
The Central Market
There were five halls and four were grouped together. Each of the halls housed stalls group by their products and were all very busy with lots of people doing their shopping.
There was an outdoor market also around the halls. From there I could see the top stories of the Latvian Academy of Sciences.
We went into the last hall for a coffee break. Using the toilets was a reasonable 30 cents and the coffee only a further 40 cents more. But as lattes go it wasn’t great as it was made from powdered coffee with added powdered milk.
We couldn’t leave without buying some of the cakes on display nearby the cafe.
One last view of the outside market as we left.
Back to the Old Town
Rather then walk back from the market by the river we crossed the canal and the railway lines to walk back towards the Old Town down Valmu Street. Down Kalku Street we could see the Freedom Monument. Erected in 1935 when Latvia was originally independent.
Using the underpasses we noticed this arrangement for wheelchair users. I hope that users had help as the ramps looked very steep!
Valmu eventually lead us to the Powder Tower.
The Black Cats
Our lack of an accurate map was now clear as we stood and studied our two maps to decide which way to go next. We chose to walk down Meistaru Street towards the Great Guild’s building. This was where we hoped to see the famous cat statues.
We had been told the story about the cats. Junior merchants who had been refused entry into the Great Guild put the cats on top of their nearby building. The cats looked away from the Great Guild and demonstrated what the junior merchants felt about their rejection.
In Liva Square we found the Great Guild building but not the cats. As we walked away we met a couple off Aurora who had a better map and we were pointed to where we could see the cats. Back through the square, look for a colonnaded building and at the top of the steps look back and there were the cats. They also told us that the Three Brothers buildings were in scaffolds and perhaps not worth walking to this visit.
Doms Square for a break
It was time for a sit down and to have a drink after our failure with the coffees earlier. Back to Doms Square where we joined friends off the ship for a drink and a sit down.
Walking back to the House of the Blackheads
We sat for nearly an hour before we went looking for the tourist office. We did a lot of wandering in and around the streets until we noticed the small ‘i’ signs in the left hand side of the House of Blackheads! Now finally we had a map of Riga.
We stopped for lunch at an open air bar area. Lunch for me was a cheeseburger plus fries, not very traditional but delicious nevertheless.
Back to Aurora
Walking back along the river towards Aurora, these were the views of the castle and some tags under the bridge.
and a couple sitting on a bench enjoying the sunshine.
Back on board we watched a tug arrive as the Captain explained that Aurora would back off her berth and then spin so she could sail back down the river.
We passed a huge private yacht moored just downstream as well as a Baltic ferry.
The city side of the Daugava River was very different to one I had watched on the way up the river earlier. We passed quays with cranes busy with coal as well as a small container port. The industrial activity continued for many miles downstream.
I could now see one of the sights we hadn’t visited away in the distance. This was the golden dome of Nativity of Christ Cathedral.
These were the graffiti we passed further down stream in one of the industrial areas.
Aurora reached the mouth of the river after 6.30 pm. There we could see a beach that stretched away out of sight.
The Baltic had a swell for the first time this voyage.
Dinner was prawns in parcels, soup with chorizo sausage, sirloin steak and my favourite of honey and ginger ice cream.
The Headliners gave us a great show entitled ‘Stop! In the name of love” No surprise that this show featured the music of Tamla Motown. At the end of the show we learnt that this particular
The clocks changed overnight giving us another hour’s sleep.