After a 4 hour bus trip from Estonia, we arrived in Riga, Latvia. It was a chilly 4 degrees with heavy fog. After checking into our hotel and dropping off our bags, we went exploring at the local markets. We spotted bargains galore, and purchased some yummy fresh fruit and veg using our Latvian lats that we'd just changed over from euros.

Next we went and had a wander around Riga's Old Town, famous for it's German Art Nouveau architecture, picturesque old buildings and cobblestone streets. We also walked down to the River Daugava, a huge river that was a stunning blue now that the fog had burned off and the sky was clear. We finished off the day by visiting the Museum of Occupation, a moving memorial to those who lost their lives during the Nazi and Soviet occupation in Latvia, followed by a sample of the local liquer, Baltic Balzam (said to have healing properties despite leaving us with a bit of a headache!).

The following morning we woke to bright blue skies and near freezing temperatures. After a hearty pancake breakfast we rugged up and went to see some of the famous buildings in Riga. We saw the House of Blackheads, the Cat House, the Freedom Monument and lots of churches. Our highlight was going to the top of St. Peter's Church (Jessie's favourite church in Europe as it has elevator access instead of winding staircases!). We enjoyed the view whilst chatting to a fellow Aussie who had heard our accent and came to say hello!

Next up we joined one of Riga's free tours, led by local students. The tour was unusual in that it took us away from the typical tourist attractions and instead showed us around local markets and not so well-off neighbourhoods. We got to chat with people from Spain, Norway and Germany and learnt alot about life in Latvia from our guide, a local dance student. We were also shown through the remains of Jewish ghettos from WW2 plus whole neighbourhoods of wooden houses designed as such so that they could be burned down at a moments notice should Riga be invaded by enemies. Our guide also solved a mystery that we had been trying to work out- the countless number of locks on bridge railings. Apparently it is a Latvian tradition that when couples marry they attach a padlock, often engraved with names or initials, to bridges and throw the key into the water below- the idea being that they are then 'locked together' into a happy marriage.

That evening, after a bowl full of Latvian dumpings, we went to Riga's Skyline Bar which sits at the 26th floor of a large hotel. The views of the city here are renowned for being some of the best in Riga. It certainly lived up to it's reputation as we sipped at Skyline's trademark cocktail, the '26th Floor' made from nothing less but the notorious Baltic Balzam.

The next morning, after one last visit to the markets we departed Riga, boarding a bus to Lithuania. To our surprise, we had accidentally booked the luxury tickets giving water, snacks and comfortable chairs behind a glass door seperating us from the rest of the bus! We could definitely get used to travelling like this!