Ravishing Riga!
31st March :
I still aspire to be a globetrotter. As a kid, my favorite reply to the question 'What do you want to be when you grow up?' was 'A vagabond'. I don't remember clearly but it might have been inspired to some extent from the celebrated poem by Sir Robert Louis Stevenson of the same name.
Childhood fantasies die hard. I am trying my hand at travel writing now. Someday when I shall apply for such a job, all this stuff would go into that CV!
Anyway, there I was at Riga, Latvia, tucked away on the shores of the Baltic sea, with that particular feature that enthralls me foremost about any place - a quaint old-world charm. We had about five hours to roam about Riga before getting back to the ship for the return sail.
I had done a bit of homework and armed with maps picked up from the reception desk of the ship (the helpful guy even marking some of the tourist spots), was all set to take a walking tour. And as in Stockholm, the Old Town was the focal point of the it. Let me make an effort to chronologically list all that I managed to visit in Riga.
1. I will call it the wish fulfillment bridge - Akin to some I have seen in movies or read about. Locks of all shapes,sizes,colors and makes tied all along the railings of a little bridge in the midst of a big open park. Sadly there were no plaques or signs with any legend or lore of any kind.
2. Freedom Monument - A beautiful and imposing sight in the centre of the city. It is a memorial honoring the fallen heroes in the Latvian War of Independence. Flowers and wreaths were laid down at the foot of the monument where regally dressed guards stood in solemn attendance.
3. Laima Clock Tower - Just a stone's throw away from the Freedom Monument is the Laima Clock Tower, a very popular meeting point for the citizens of Riga.
4. Riga Opera House - A grand and magnificent building. How I wish I could watch an opera there. For now I had to be content with posing in front of the building. The other thing which caught my attention were the colorful posters of the ongoing show - though I couldn't figure out the Latvian messages, but it was kind of evident that it had an Indian connection. The landscape depicted in the posters had a great resemblance to the desert villages of Rajasthan and to make the connection even more prominent there was also the figure of a village belle with the colorful clothes and bangles that are such a distinctive feature of those areas.
5. Riga Galleria - Fashionable building by the city promenade. Looked kind of like the NK stores at Kungstragarden, Stockholm.
6. St.Peter's Church : Just like one of those old, old churches which are standing witnesses to ages of history.
Standing in the shadow of the church, it is quite a task to arch back one's head to take in the full view of this landmark of Riga.
7. Riga Cathedral : Another famous Rigan landmark, with a special mention to be made of the century-old organ that is in place here. At the time of my visit, there were extensive renovation work being carried out.
8. Riga Castle : With lush green lawns in front, the Riga Castle is another magnificent building. It is the official residence of the President of Latvia. Manned by tough, stern looking armed guards, parading down the driveway, one of whom gladly consented to help with directions and suggest some other must-see spots.
9. Children's Memorial : At the edge of the presidential lawns, almost obscured by the tall buildings all around, is the beautiful stone figurine of a little girl. A plaque at the site reads 'Dedicated to children deported to Siberia 1941-1949'. The busy, time-bound traveler pauses for a moment to ponder here.
A poignant memorial to lost childhood.
10. House of the Blackheads : Beautifully ornate, seemed almost like a fairytale house. Little does it point to the historical scars. The reconstructions doing justice to this centuries-old building, battered,destroyed and buried at different stages. Located at the Town Hall Square, it now serves as a museum (astonishingly beautiful display of dolls, doll houses and other artworks) and sometimes concert hall.
11. The Three Brothers - A trio of adjacent buildings, quite non-remarkable in appearance, but with a significant history of being the oldest residential establishment of Riga.
12. Big Christopher : Encased in a glass box overlooking the Daugava river is the statue of a sturdy, giant of a man carrying a little boy on his shoulders. An endearing piece of folklore is associated to Big Christopher [Lielais Kristaps]. Legend has it that he carried the child-Christ on his shoulders across the river and received a pile of gold in return of his humble services and he used this wealth to build the city of Riga. Big Christopher is considered the city's protector from natural disaster and in the olden days, seafarers used to seek his blessings before embarking on a long voyage.
13. The Museum of the Occupation of Latvia : The highlight of the Riga tour. Even if I had seen none of the places listed above and had come back with having visited only this museum, I doubt that I would have complained.
The Latvian Museum of Occupation jolts you from being a happy-go-lucky tourist, busily clicking away photos of every nook and cranny without a care in the world, and brings you face to face with life at Latvia during the war.
Scenes from all the Holocaust movies that I have watched flitted before my eyes as I made the rounds of this museum. Never knew before that Latvia too had its own Auschwitz-like horror story - 'Rumbula'.
Fraught with years of a brutal Soviet regime of terror and oppression, where all protests and rebellions were stifled by an iron fist and the free voices mercilessly silenced by deportations to Siberia, the German troops were actually greeted as liberators by the Latvian masses. What a tragic irony then, that these thought-to-be liberators would be responsible for the greatest tragedy in Latvian history.
It would be a futile attempt to try and pen all the emotions passing through my mind as I wandered about the museum, a proof of the abominable cruelty of man towards man and then again,a testament to the undying human spirit. Who knows, Latvia might have had its very own Anne Frank too!
Riga was immensely memorable. It was just the type of experience I treasure. Places steeped in legends,lore,myths and history. Walking down streets which might have looked just the same hundreds of years back. Getting lost in musings of the past, a past that lives,breathes and speaks to us across the curtains of ages - stories of pain, of loss, of oppression, of triumph, of victory, of noble deeds, of survival of the indomitable human spirit.
Ravishing Riga indeed!
I still aspire to be a globetrotter. As a kid, my favorite reply to the question 'What do you want to be when you grow up?' was 'A vagabond'. I don't remember clearly but it might have been inspired to some extent from the celebrated poem by Sir Robert Louis Stevenson of the same name.
Childhood fantasies die hard. I am trying my hand at travel writing now. Someday when I shall apply for such a job, all this stuff would go into that CV!
Anyway, there I was at Riga, Latvia, tucked away on the shores of the Baltic sea, with that particular feature that enthralls me foremost about any place - a quaint old-world charm. We had about five hours to roam about Riga before getting back to the ship for the return sail.
I had done a bit of homework and armed with maps picked up from the reception desk of the ship (the helpful guy even marking some of the tourist spots), was all set to take a walking tour. And as in Stockholm, the Old Town was the focal point of the it. Let me make an effort to chronologically list all that I managed to visit in Riga.
1. I will call it the wish fulfillment bridge - Akin to some I have seen in movies or read about. Locks of all shapes,sizes,colors and makes tied all along the railings of a little bridge in the midst of a big open park. Sadly there were no plaques or signs with any legend or lore of any kind.
2. Freedom Monument - A beautiful and imposing sight in the centre of the city. It is a memorial honoring the fallen heroes in the Latvian War of Independence. Flowers and wreaths were laid down at the foot of the monument where regally dressed guards stood in solemn attendance.
3. Laima Clock Tower - Just a stone's throw away from the Freedom Monument is the Laima Clock Tower, a very popular meeting point for the citizens of Riga.
4. Riga Opera House - A grand and magnificent building. How I wish I could watch an opera there. For now I had to be content with posing in front of the building. The other thing which caught my attention were the colorful posters of the ongoing show - though I couldn't figure out the Latvian messages, but it was kind of evident that it had an Indian connection. The landscape depicted in the posters had a great resemblance to the desert villages of Rajasthan and to make the connection even more prominent there was also the figure of a village belle with the colorful clothes and bangles that are such a distinctive feature of those areas.
5. Riga Galleria - Fashionable building by the city promenade. Looked kind of like the NK stores at Kungstragarden, Stockholm.
6. St.Peter's Church : Just like one of those old, old churches which are standing witnesses to ages of history.
Standing in the shadow of the church, it is quite a task to arch back one's head to take in the full view of this landmark of Riga.
7. Riga Cathedral : Another famous Rigan landmark, with a special mention to be made of the century-old organ that is in place here. At the time of my visit, there were extensive renovation work being carried out.
8. Riga Castle : With lush green lawns in front, the Riga Castle is another magnificent building. It is the official residence of the President of Latvia. Manned by tough, stern looking armed guards, parading down the driveway, one of whom gladly consented to help with directions and suggest some other must-see spots.
9. Children's Memorial : At the edge of the presidential lawns, almost obscured by the tall buildings all around, is the beautiful stone figurine of a little girl. A plaque at the site reads 'Dedicated to children deported to Siberia 1941-1949'. The busy, time-bound traveler pauses for a moment to ponder here.
A poignant memorial to lost childhood.
10. House of the Blackheads : Beautifully ornate, seemed almost like a fairytale house. Little does it point to the historical scars. The reconstructions doing justice to this centuries-old building, battered,destroyed and buried at different stages. Located at the Town Hall Square, it now serves as a museum (astonishingly beautiful display of dolls, doll houses and other artworks) and sometimes concert hall.
11. The Three Brothers - A trio of adjacent buildings, quite non-remarkable in appearance, but with a significant history of being the oldest residential establishment of Riga.
12. Big Christopher : Encased in a glass box overlooking the Daugava river is the statue of a sturdy, giant of a man carrying a little boy on his shoulders. An endearing piece of folklore is associated to Big Christopher [Lielais Kristaps]. Legend has it that he carried the child-Christ on his shoulders across the river and received a pile of gold in return of his humble services and he used this wealth to build the city of Riga. Big Christopher is considered the city's protector from natural disaster and in the olden days, seafarers used to seek his blessings before embarking on a long voyage.
13. The Museum of the Occupation of Latvia : The highlight of the Riga tour. Even if I had seen none of the places listed above and had come back with having visited only this museum, I doubt that I would have complained.
The Latvian Museum of Occupation jolts you from being a happy-go-lucky tourist, busily clicking away photos of every nook and cranny without a care in the world, and brings you face to face with life at Latvia during the war.
Scenes from all the Holocaust movies that I have watched flitted before my eyes as I made the rounds of this museum. Never knew before that Latvia too had its own Auschwitz-like horror story - 'Rumbula'.
Fraught with years of a brutal Soviet regime of terror and oppression, where all protests and rebellions were stifled by an iron fist and the free voices mercilessly silenced by deportations to Siberia, the German troops were actually greeted as liberators by the Latvian masses. What a tragic irony then, that these thought-to-be liberators would be responsible for the greatest tragedy in Latvian history.
It would be a futile attempt to try and pen all the emotions passing through my mind as I wandered about the museum, a proof of the abominable cruelty of man towards man and then again,a testament to the undying human spirit. Who knows, Latvia might have had its very own Anne Frank too!
Riga was immensely memorable. It was just the type of experience I treasure. Places steeped in legends,lore,myths and history. Walking down streets which might have looked just the same hundreds of years back. Getting lost in musings of the past, a past that lives,breathes and speaks to us across the curtains of ages - stories of pain, of loss, of oppression, of triumph, of victory, of noble deeds, of survival of the indomitable human spirit.
Ravishing Riga indeed!
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