Riga, Latvia

We wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfillment. ~Hilaire Belloc

In August, Michal & I fulfilled an item on our bucket list: we traveled for a whole month.  

We booked a trip to Russia, but our flight had an 16 hour layover in Riga.  It was through a super, super low budget airline called Air Baltic.  I guess it's their way of strengthening the economy in Latvia.  A lot of travelers come through this airport in the early evening, hit the city that night and leave the next morning for their final destination.  It was absolutely perfect because this was really only a one night city.  We walked about 3 hours and felt like we saw everything the tour books recommend.  However, downtown is overly charming and so we just wandered the streets for another 2-3 hours so that we could really capture the essence of this beautiful, captivating pocket-sized city.

 On the left is a cool church renovated to look like a castle.  The right shows St. Mary's Dome Cathedral covered in scaffolding. Beautiful organ music was flowing from within the walls as we walked by, but we couldn't enter the Cathedral.  We later found out that this historic building boasts of having one of the largest organs in the world with 6,768 pipes.

 Michal & I sought out the Powder Tower of the Latvian War Museum on the right... but we stumbled upon this house on the left.  We loved the architecture of it and the color.  We loved the way it looked so picturesque.  Then we looked up and noticed large cats atop of the pointy rooftops.  We were intrigued... took a picture... and decided to look it up later.  Come to find out that this structure is called, "The Cat House."  It gathers its nickname from the cats which are found placed as a part of the silhouette of the facade.  The story goes that the owner of this house was denied membership in the local Guild, so to show his displeasure he built two cat sculptures on his roof with their backsides facing the guild and their tails up to finish the insult.  Glad we stumbled upon it because it is actually a quite popular attraction in Riga.

 Riga's Freedom Monument.  This is a very symbolic and important monument to the country of Latvia and holds many revered meanings.  It is the most photographed monument in Latvia and is comparable to the Brandenburg Gate of Berlin or the Big Ben of London or the Eiffel Tower in Paris. From the importance of this monument to this city, this monument will debut on the Euro Coin (which represents Latvia) once Latvia accepts the Euro currency.

The statue holds three stars which symbolize the 3 regions of Latvia.  During Soviet occupation Latvians told the Soviets that the monument depicted "Mother Russia" and the 3 stars she was holding represented the 3 Baltic Republics: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.  This is the main reason that this monument was honored and not removed during Soviet occupation.  Another reason is because occupation authorities knew how sacred and symbolic the monument is for the people - and fearing protests - didn't remove it.  However, the Russians opened up the street passing the monument in hope that the monument would eventually crumble.  Luckily this monument survived as did the hope and spirit of this country.  One interesting fact about this monument about that the woman atop (a symbol of freedom) faces the west, while the monument of Lenin, located down the street during occupation, faced east.  With their backs to each other it shows how Latvians looked to the West for help and resisted the East. 

 Colorful and picturesque streets.

These 3 houses are nicknamed "The Three Brothers" and represent a superior example of medieval architecture.  These houses are the oldest stone houses which are still standing in Riga and were built between the 15th Century (White Brother) and the 18th Century (Yellow Brother).  The "White Brother" also houses the Latvian Museum of Architecture.

The Banks of the Daugava River in Riga is absolutely stunning and breathtaking.  The light shimmers off the water creating a glistening city in its reflection.  Upon the rivers banks can be found the Statue of St. Christopher - the Founder of Latvia.

According to legend...

In ancient times, before Riga was built, a very large man named Kristaphs (Latvian form of Christopher) built himself a hut on the right bank of the Daugava River.  He earned his living by carrying people across the river on his back.  They disembarked at the spot where Riga now stands. One night Kristaps awoke to the sound of a child crying on the left bank of the river.  He waded over, picked up the babe and began to carry him back across the river to the hut.  With each step, Kristaps found that the child became heavier and heavier until by midstream only with the greatest of effort Kristaps made it to shore.  (Legend goes that the babe was really the Christ Child in disguise, but he was bearing the weight of the sins of the world.)  With his last ounce of strength, Kristaps laid the child on the rug in front of the hearth in his hut and dropped off into an exhausted slumber. In the morning Kristaps awoke to discover that the child had disappeared, leaving behind gold.  Kristaps was a humble man and never spent the gold during his lifetime by gave all the money to build Riga near the sport where his hut once stood. 

In about 1510 a large wooden sculpture appeared in Riga on banks of the Daugava River.  The statue was nicknamed "Big Christopher."  The people of Riga loved this statue and adorned him with ribbons, floral wreaths, and candles and begged for his protection against the city.  It is remarkable that this statue still stands, but iconic images of this statue with a child on his shoulder can be seen throughout the whole city of Riga and even on some old Latvian coinage.

 On the left is the Town Hall Square; the right - St. Peters Church.  A fun fact about this church is that it has been destroyed... A LOT.  So once the tower was rebuilt they took a piece of glass to the top and threw it off the top.  Superstition was that the more pieces that the glass broke into - the longer the church would stand.  Alas, a pile of straw cushioned the glass and it only broke into two.... and as luck would have it... the tower burnt to the down the following year.  The last time the tower was rebuilt they performed the glass ritual again and the glass shattered... or shall I say... there were "smashing results."

More charming streets in Riga.

 This statue is unusual a Rooster standing atop a cat standing atop a dog standing atop a donkey. Why are they standing on each others backs?  That's the whole story behind the interesting sculpture.  While traveling these 4 animals passed a cottage and when they looked inside they realized that it was being robbed.  They decided to stand on each others backs to give the robbers a musical performance and get food in return.  Instead the robbers were scared away by this "strange animal" and the animals were able to therefore enter the house and enjoy a great meal. 

This statue is based on a fairy tale by the Brothers Grim and represents the Town Musicians of Bremen.  The statue was a piece of art that was a gift from Bremen (Riga's twin city) in 1990.  In fact, the sculpture is an exact replica of the one in Bremen City Hall located in Bremen, Germany.

 This is one of Michal's masterpiece pictures.  He has decided to start taking pictures of me because I am so curious at what others are doing and always join the "crowd" trying to figure out what is going on.  Michal often teases me that one of these days there are going to be gunshots somewhere and instead of us running, I will want to "go see what happened."  Here they were giving free archery lessons.  I missed out on the lessons, but didn't miss out on what was going on.

And this was Michal's most artistic picture of the day.  We decided to head home around 9:45pm - and it was STILL light outside!  We were so happy that it was because it let us do more exploring of the city that we never would have been able to see without it staying light outside for so long.  I guess that's a benefit of traveling in the North, but not fun if you have to live here and wake up early in the morning from the sun coming up early.

Next city, coming soon...

Not missing out on Warsaw

William Feather once said, "One way to get the most out of life is to look upon it as an adventure."  Therefore, Michal and I decided to go out and embrace Warsaw.  We decided to head out and make sure that we see all the museums and sites which gives Warsaw its character.

Our first stop: Muzeum Powstania Warszawskiego.

(The Warsaw Rising Museum)

This museum was put together to show what WWII was like from a Warszawian's perspective.  It doesn't take sides - just gives facts on how the Germans AND the Russians invaded Poland.  Poles wanted to preserve their culture so the museum teaches how Poles resisted, silently and publicly, the invasion of their city.

The Museum isn't organized very well, but it has some incredible artifacts!  Not only that but it puts you in the middle of the action with sounds of bombs and sirens constantly going off.  It also is very interactive as you can pick up various calendar-page-pamphlets which teach you about what historic "uprising movement" happened on that date.  The pamphlets are all in Polish - luckily I had my own private translator with me!

Michal loved this motorcycle with the attached seat at the side (like in Indiana Jones).

Within the Museum, you can wander the sewers of Warsaw.  It helps you to have a feeling of what those who ran through the sewers and were a part of the Warsaw underground experienced as they tried to pass information along to rid the city of the invaders.

 While in this Museum, Michal became like a little boy when he saw this old Radio.  I learned, this day, that his grandpa had one just like it when he was growing up.  Going over to dzadek's house was one of his favorite past times as they sat together and listened to this radio and Michal was able to hear war stories from his Grandpa.

This museum does a great job of showing how much Poles loved Warsaw and even when the population was reduced to less than a 1,000 people - it was still rebuilt and now remains as an amazing city full of adventures and things to explore.

In fact - The Warsaw Rising is so important to Warszawians that every year on August 1st - at 5pm - a siren goes off.  The siren lasts for one whole minute and the whole city stops to pay its respects for those who fought valiantly to keep the culture, traditions, heritage, and language a part of Poland.  This single act defines so much of Warsaw's history and explains how passionate Polish people are about who they are and where they come from.

Sites in this video: from the first slide to the last - The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, The Palma (The Palm Tree at a Major intersection in Warsaw), Zloty Terasy (The Downtown Mall), Plac Defilad (by the pala, Centrum Metro Station, Kolumna Zygmunta (Zygmunts Column), The Hard Rock Cafe at Zloty Terasy, Palma (On the building in the background it says: The Nation is Building it's Capital), Centrum Metro, Plac Konstitucji, The National Opera House, Charles de Gaulle Statue, The Piłsudski Square, Near Centrum, Palac Kultury i Nauki (The Palace of Culture & Science), Centrum Metro, The Piłsudski Square.  

I absolutely love this video and I absolutely love Warsaw.  This video makes me feel a sense of Polish Pride to have lived there and experienced such an amazing place.

After leaving the Museum, I realized that remnants of the Warsaw Ghetto wall weren't far away and Michal had never seen this during his tenure here.  I felt a little proud to be his tour guide... but truly - my favorite part of this picture is the fact that Michal is carrying my purse.  He is such a gentleman and in many pictures can often be found carrying my stuff for me!

 On the way home, that wasn't the ONLY cool thing that we came across.  I can't believe that I have missed these accents in Warsaw.  I loved them and always wanted to remember them - so - I took a picture of them.

#1.  I love it how when you pull into a MALL parking lot - it tells you how many parking spots are left in the whole lot.  Since it was a Sunday evening, and the mall was closed, this lot was very empty.  But as you proceed to the entrance it tells you how many spots are on each level so you don't have to waste time driving around looking for one.  Once in the parking garage there are little lights located above the spots - green if they are open - red if they are taken.

(I stole this picture from a friends blog, so hopefully you can see what I was talking about.  Red means the spot is taken - and green - off in the distance - means a free spot.)

My favorite find of the day: the Piano crosswalk between the Palace of Culture & Science and the Zloty Terasy square.  I LOVE these crosswalks.  I can't tell you how many times I've crossed here and never noticed this piano keyboard.  Maybe it is the crowds, or me not paying any attention - but it was my happy moment of the day.  Admit it - you like it too! 

 My second favorite happy spot of the day - this lady's outrageously colored hair.  I believe that I have seen every shade from carrot orange, to magenta, to purple on someone's head who lives here.  I don't know if it's on purpose, or accidental - but it brings a smile to my face every time I see it.  The only requirement is that you have to be a short Pole between the ages of 50 and 65.  I haven't seen this extreme color on anyone else - but trust me - if you were to visit this city... it would be one of the first things that you notice immediately.  The bright, uncomfortable, hair colors you see on older lades.  Well, that and Men between the ages of 30 and 50 who wear fanny packs... and teenagers who wear American flag paraphernalia. Unfortunately, I didn't get any photographs of the latter two.

 I believe you have heard me talk about how Poles idolize Chopin.  He is so important to Poland and Warsaw.  Thus, we had to visit the Chopin Museum.  I don't have anything positive to say about the museum and therefore won't be writing much about it here.  The other sites (Zelazowa Wola & Lazienki Park, and the Chopin benches downtown) are much, much, MUCH better!

I love, love, love Warsaw and am so happy it has such a rich culture and history that I can explore with Michal... (and that he can translate everything for me that I don't understand!)

A Traditional Polish Wedding

Ever since moving to Poland, I had always wanted to experience a traditional Polish wedding.   Luckily, Michal had a childhood friend who was getting married in Warsaw and invited us to attend this special event. 

It was my first time attending a Catholic Wedding... and my first time at a Polish Catholic Wedding.  I had no idea what was going on... I was actually surprised at how long it lasted.  Normally in the movies it seems like the ceremony is 5 or 10 minutes... but in reality they take about an hour.  In addition to the ceremony, the Catholic Priest invites the congregation to have Holy Communion. I have to admit, my favorite part of the whole process was watching the couple and seeing them just beam.  It was so worth it.

 After the wedding the couple stands aside the church and greets everyone who came.  Similar to the typical lines you can see in Mormon receptions... including mine.  Here the couples hug and chat with everyone who came and this is the time when you give your gift to the couple.  It is not common to give an "item" to the bride & groom... however, it is expected to give cash.  So as the greet everyone the best man and maid of honor stand with baskets to collect the envelopes.

After greeting everyone they hop in their car and head to the reception. 

However, BLOKADA is very traditional... and so Michal (and some of his friends) set up a blockade. The car must stop and is not allowed to pass until they hand out a bottle of Vodka to those who are setting up the blockade.  In other words, this is when the drinking officially starts - 5pm... but not when it ends!

 After the couple arrives at the reception they are greeted by their parents who bring a plate of bread and salt.  The couple participates in eating some of the bread and taking a shot of vodka in the small little glasses.  Then - they throw the glasses over their shoulders.  If the glasses break it's good luck... if not - well - they always break.

 The wedding continued with a formal sit down dinner.  Except that the first meal starts at 7, the next meal is at 9, then at 11 and at 2 (am) the last "little" snack is served.  It is a LOT of food.

But the best part about the wedding celebrations are all the songs that they sing and customs that they have - which ALL include drinking a shot of vodka.  Michal and I had to be real tricky with this.  My excuse was easy: "I am pregnant."  Michal's was a little trickier.  He started out by telling others that he doesn't drink because he is Mormon - but after 4 shots - they all forgot... so we ended up either filling his little shot glass up with Sprite or Gazowana (gas water) to fool those who were taking lots and lots of shots.  Michal's friend - Marcin - had the most... I believe.  I started counting at 11pm how many he had.  From 11pm - 2am he had 14 shots of Vodka.... and he could still dance and sing coherently.  I was amazed.

After this point, my camera didn't cooperate with me and politely decided to go to sleep for the night (or run out of juice)... but I still want to talk about the Polish traditions that happen at the reception.

In America when you want the couple to kiss, you tap the glass with a knife.  In Poland to have the couple kiss they sing: "Sto Lat" and then after the song continue with "Gozko, Gozko" which means "sour, sour" - the idea behind this is to encourage the couple to kiss because kisses are sweet and do away with the "sour." However, if they want the kiss to be longer, drunk guys will continue singing "Gozko, Gozko, Gozko" until they give a kiss that is "long enough" or "acceptable" to their drunk liking.

Other than that they drink and dance and eat and repeat the process over and over and over again.  The celebrations went until 5am - and the next day they start at 1pm to finish the celebrations from the night before.  We got home at 4:30 am (thanks to the Metro being closed - FYI it closes at 3am and opens again at 5am.... so we sure stunk at timing our departure).  The next day was really hard to push through... but I am so glad and happy we went.  It was QUITE the experience and one that helps me feel "a little more Polish" for taking part in this traditional celebration.  Thanks Lukasz & Karolina for a great wedding!

Special Guests

Bailey Gray left the United States for the first time - EVER!  And her first stop (minus layover) was POLAND!  She came to visit her cousins - the Armstrongs - a super-awesome family in our Branch in Warsaw.  Of course, when Michal and I found out that this was Bailey's first adventure overseas, we definitely wanted to be a part of it!

Before she returned back home, we decided to make history and introduce Bailey to 'jumping pictures' - so that she can start her tradition early on in life.

Along the way we saw a million roller-bladers (if you look closely in the pictures you can find them in the background).  There must have been some "roller-blading convention" or race going on downtown.

We also explained the Chopin Benches to Bailey.  She was stumped as to why these Benches never had anyone sitting on them and had strange maps.  We explained that there are 15 benches which are placed all over Warsaw.  Each represents a place significant to Chopin's historical ties to Warsaw.  On each black stoned bench is engraved the reason why the particular area is tied to Chopin.  In addition, you can push a button and it plays one of Chopin's melodies.  It is beautiful.  I think that walking all over Warsaw, I only found 12 of them; three remain for me to find.

 We finished out our time in the old city by grabbing a quick waffle to eat.  We all voted - Michal enjoyed his more than anyone else!

The Old Town is an impressive site, but it is even more stunning when there is a dazzling sunset in the background. I feel so lucky to live in this incredible city.

Special thanks to Bailey & Jake for coming to hang out with us in the city and simply letting loose and having a wonderful time.  So lucky to call you guys friends!