11th
Last city, Riga. A place that makes me think.
It’s the last night of my spring break journey and I am in the capital city of Riga in the country of Latvia, which is on the Baltic Sea. I flew from Tromsø to here because it was the best way to get back to Copenhagen. When booking my ticket, I asked myself, “heck, why not stay a night in Latvia if you’re going to land there?” and that is how I ended up here.
I had read that Riga had some beautiful architecture. That’s an understatement. My camera shutter was going like mad all day trying to capture all of the buildings. It’s amazing because you would think that a city occupied by both the Nazis and the Soviets would be just a shadow of its former self. Not true. The old town in Riga has buildings still intact dating back to the 15th century, maybe older. It’s quite a charming place. One aspect that truly defines the city (or at least the old town) is its striking contrasts. What I mean is that you will find a completely rehabilitated 18th century neoclassical building, complete with a lively café on the ground floor, with an abandoned and decayed building right next door. This makes you think about a few things. First, there’s the potential that you can then see in all of the severely run-down buildings. Second, you have to wonder if the rest of the city looked that poor during Soviet times. Third, it makes you think of what city life have occurred there long ago. There are countless examples of the contrasts. When walking by, the ghostly structures aren’t unsightly; instead they’re interesting. If the whole city was rehabilitated, the history just wouldn’t be there for you to examine. You’d have to go to a museum to see bits and pieces of the city’s former self.
It’s clear that capitalism has worked for many here in the city, seeing the many small businesses on the streets and the fancy cars. I was taken aback by the BMWs, Porsches, Audis and others. I suppose my pre-conceptions of a post-Communist state were off the mark. I visited one museum today, probably the country’s most significant—the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia. This was a little thriving democratic state until the communists bulleyed their way in. Then the Germans invaded. And then the Soviets came back. Latvia lost 550,000 people during the occupation from 1940-1991, one third of its pre-WWII population! Only 57% of the population today is ethnically Latvian. It makes me wonder what Latvia would look like (society, politics, and economy) had it been spared the rule of those totalitarian regimes. Perhaps it would be more like Denmark or the other Scandinavian states? Hmmm…
