Night location: Riga, Latvia

One of Riga's main claims to fame is that it has more examples of art nouveau buildings than any other European city. This style became popular at the end of the 19th century, which coincided with when the Russians lifted their ban against erecting masonry buildings outside the city walls (to prevent an invading army using them for shelter), and the city was also experiencing an unprecedented financial boom. Due to this, over a third of all the buildings in Riga are fine examples of this unique architectural style that features gargoyles with gaping mouths, floral motifs, dragons guarding entrances, sphinxes on parade, sun emblems and flamboyant naked maidens. We walked through the main art nouveau district known as the Quiet Centre and then stopped for a coffee at a trendy but unexpectedly expensive cafe.

The trees with their golden leaves are really putting on a show here. We walked back through a park known as the Esplanade before visiting the Russian Orthodox Cathedral which has stunning golden domes and a decorative brickwork exterior. In Russia last year we noted that almost every church that we visited was not actually in use anymore. In contrast to this, just about every other person in this church was there praying to the various saints or images of Mary and Jesus and lighting the small candles in front of the gilded icons. Women were asked to wear head scarves and there was a real sense of reverence in the light filled open space. The interior featured a beautiful painting of Mary against a pale blue backdrop in the main nave under the large dome.

From here we visited the Museum of Occupation of Latvia (1940-1991) which is in a temporary building next to our hotel while a new facility is being built with the planned opening due sometime in 2020. Police were guarding the entrance and there seemed to be many people milling about inside, but it wasn't until the first display room that we realised that we were witnessing a guided tour for some diplomats accompanied by their own photographer. We let them go through so that we could appreciate the simple but effective displays in peace.

On the 17th of June 1940 the Soviet Union occupied and annexed Latvia. The newly formed Soviet Latvian government appealed to be included in the Soviet Union so Latvia was declared as their 15th Soviet Republic. The largest action of terror was the mass deportation of people in June 1941. Carried out in one terrible night, 15,000 Latvians were rounded up and most of the men were sent to Gulags while women and children were 're-settled' in remote areas of the USSR, which really meant abandoned with basically no food or water. We watched a harrowing video of first hand accounts of the hardships experienced by the people who were able to survive.

Less than a month after these deportations, the Nazis occupied Latvia. Over two nights, 25,000 Jews were killed in the forests around Riga. Altogether, 70,000 Latvian Jews were killed with only about 1000 surviving this horrific regime.

In 1945 the Soviets 'liberated' Latvia and was to control the country until 1991. The largest post WWII terror action was in 1949 when 42,000 people were deported in order to squash those with nationalistic tendencies and also to prevent any resistance to the collectivisation of agriculture. The newly vacated farms and houses were repopulated with those coming from other areas of the USSR like Ukraine.

The most inspiring part of Latvia's history was their struggle for independence in the late 1980s. Joined by their neighbouring Baltic states Estonia and Lithuania, on the 23rd of August 1989, over two million people joined hands and formed an unbroken human chain of at least 600 kilometres from Tallinn via Riga to Vilnius. Known as the 'Baltic Way', this massive peaceful demonstration drew the attention of the international community and is seen as one of the most significant political events on the road to the eventual declaration of independence in 1991.

We walked back into the old town over the beautiful City Canal to a delightful bakery that we had spotted yesterday. After some refreshments we then completed our own walking tour of the northern side of the town by visiting the oldest houses still standing in Riga known as the 'Three Brothers', the narrowest street in Riga called Troksnu iela which led to the Swedish Gate built into the city walls in 1698, the custard coloured 16th century warehouse called Jacob's Barracks, and the 14th century Powder Tower which is the only survivor of the original 18 towers that used to protect the city wall. A small portion of the wall can be seen which was built between the 13th and 16th centuries, the main section however was restored by the Soviets and therefore looks reasonably new.

Our hotel has a brilliant spa area which features an indoor heated pool, a jacuzzi and various saunas and steam rooms which we visited in the late afternoon which was very relaxing. David in particular enjoyed this and even went so far as putting the supplied shaved ice on his head which created steam, and also tipping a whole bucket of cold water over himself using a mechanism set up in an open cubicle after he came out of the 100% humidity, 40-45 degree steam room. Very 'invigorating'!