RISEBA Riga, Latvia

During a semester abroad, especially if you only have lectures in the evenings like me, you have a lot of time to get to know the city and the surrounding area, especially the pubs, museums and parks. Luckily, there are plenty of them in Riga and I would like to share my best finds with you today.

So welcome to digital postcard no. 4 from Riga!

I've been in Riga for about two and a half months now and have already maneuvered my way through quite a few restaurant menus and tasted the best cheeses and croissants. At the same time, I still have two and a half months to spend in Riga, so consider this list more of a snapshot. If I discover a few more gastronomic or cultural gems, I'll let you know.

Cafés:

My favorite café, which serves very tasty and cheap kaffee and good croissants, is Troubadour (Krišjāņa Barona iela 52). You'll find me here at least once a week, preferably to recharge my batteries before university. If you also like to sip kaffee or other hot drinks while doing something for university, Moltto (Ģertrūdes iela 20) or Miit (Lāčplēša iela 10) are the places to go. Both cafés also have lots of vegan specialties that you should definitely try.

If you have visitors and want to go out for a drink together, Buberts (Dzirnavu iela 15) is the place to go. From there, it's just a stone's throw to the Art Nouveau center, where you can digest your breakfast while taking a walk.

Restaurants:

For a complete package of Latvian culture, from food and drink to Latvian folk music and dance, head to Ala Pagrabs (Peldu iela 19), a very cozy pub with extremely tasty food. You have to try the garlic bread here!

It's also interesting to note that Latvians love Neapolitan pizza. In my opinion, the best is at Rione (Krišjāņa Barona iela 21) and Street Pizza (Meža iela 4a).

Another classic is the food hall of the Central Market, which extends behind the train station over several zeppelin hangars. Here you can feast on typical pelmeni & co. and drink cheap beer.

Museums & Co:

If you need a little time to digest after all that food, you can stretch your legs in Latvia's many museums. My favorites so far are the Zuzeum, a museum of contemporary art (Lāčplēša iela 101) and the Art Nouveau Museum, whose name says it all (Alberta iela 12). For students, the entrance fees to most museums are usually less than €5.

Bars, pubs, clubs:

In Riga, you can find a place to have a cold drink or two on almost every corner. My favorites are the Čē pub (Dzirnavu iela 82), which is a bit rustic, quirky and very cool. And if you get homesick, you can satisfy it here with German beer, mate and even Spezi.

The Gauja (Stabu iela 32) is also a cozy place, a café during the day that also serves delicious lunches and turns into a bar in the evening. Here you can pass the time with Latvian Alus (beer) or Kvass (similar to Karamalz).

Another recommendation is Tallinas kvartāls (Tallinas iela 10), a cool backyard with graffiti, fairy lights and several bars.

If you like to dance, you should download the RA Guide app. Here you can see where and when which events are taking place and can buy tickets directly via the app, which are usually cheaper than at the ticket office.

Stores:

To be honest, I only have one very warm recommendation on this point: Humana. If you like buying second-hand, you'll probably already be familiar with Humana. In Riga, especially in the new town, there is a Humana on practically every corner. The special thing about these second-hand stores is that they get cheaper and cheaper at the end of the month, starting at 30%, then 50%, then every item is available for €5 until you reach 50 cents on the last day. Admittedly, my closet has doubled here, which is more bad than good, because you have to bring all the clothes home again.

Parks & Co:

Apart from coffee, food and second-hand stores, there is of course much more to see in Riga. A good place to escape the city for a while is Mežaparks, a large park to the north-east of the city center, which can be easily reached by streetcar no. 11. The park borders the lake Kišezera, where you can also swim in summer.

If you only fancy a short walk in the city, you can walk through Kronvalda Park, which lies between the old town and the Art Nouveau district and is criss-crossed by small canals on which the tourist boats sail in the summer.

Anyone who has made it this far realizes that there really is so much to see and experience in Riga. In short: it's hard to get bored here. But how the city changes as it gets colder here remains exciting. More on this in the next posts. Čau!