24-AUG—Riga, Latvia

Latvian flag

Today we arrived in Riga (Ree ga) Latvia.  We were on our own again today, so we let everyone crowd the breakfast venues, and then followed them.  Departing the ship, we walked to the city center to find one of the stores that sold bus passes.  Once we found one, it seemed there was another around every corner!  Although it was sort of fast, we did get to see some of the sights, and the classic buildings, as we headed to the bus stop.  Sitting at the bus stop, we watched about two dozen busses stop by us before finally seeing our #271 speed pass without pulling over!  So, Theresa threw away the Google Maps directions and got on “Moovit”, the app she has been using to get us around all of these cities, and found another bus. 

Old Town Riga

The iconic tower amidst a few typical facades.

A square near city hall.

We got to our stop and wondered where we were going!  It was a wooded area with nothing apparently around.  But after almost a half mile, and crossing a large road, we found the Motor Museum.  They had a very good exposition for the development of the motorized vehicles, from two wheeled carts to steam engines up to the internal combustion engine, and so forth.  It was actually very well done.  The first zone went up to about 1940, covering many nations.  In fact, Riga was manufacturing cars under license from Ford in the 30s, as well as the Russo-Balt company that made busses, fire trucks, limousines, etc.

A replica of Benz's first "automobile" in 1886.

Renault (left) and FIAT, right.  Uh, what are you thinking Renault???

After WWII, Latvia was under Soviet occupation, so their production was stunted.  But the museum had a large display of all of the cars Leonid Brezhnev (first Soviet leader I recall) owned.  Although the Communist message was moderation and only having what one needed, that did not apparently apply to the leadership class.  They were known to accept lavish gifts from other nations or people.  Mr. Brezhnev had quite a collection, including a Rolls Royce.  Apparently in 1980 he crashed it.  They never restored it, and the museum got a hold of it and put it on display (with a rather unflattering mock up of him!).

"Chaika" by the Gorky Automobile Factory (GAZ)

ZIS Stalin Automotive Factory)

Rolls Royce crashed by Brezhnev.

Riga made radios, so the museum had a lot of them. 
They had a LOT of frequency bands,, but no actual choices!

On the top floor, they had a selection of “unique” cars, including Cooper Mini, Trabant, and such.  Of the whole display, there was not one Renault that was good looking.  Yikes!! 

A lot of weird little cars.

An East German "Trabant" with body panels of plastic.

A "Latvija" (Latvia) bus.

Beer and beer plate.

After the displays, we stopped at the cafe and found some very resasonably priced treats, including a local/Latvian beer, and a "beer plate" complete with garlic topped fried bread (apparently a Baltic treat), chips and nuts.  It went very well with the beer!

We hopped an electric bus (like the old style electric trolleys), and headed to the main terminal for a connection.  We got to within a stop or two before the terminal, and, well, the bus stopped.  There were sirens and flashing lights, and all sorts of things going on.  So, we hopped off of the bus, and noticed we were stopped cold, and they were hooking up a tow line to the front of the bus... and a block ahead they were working on the overhead lines.  Yeah, we aren’t going anywhere!! (And for those who like to blame me, I had NOTHING to do with it!  You know who you are…KJH, DDG.)  Moovit again to the rescue!  We walked 2 blocks, and hopped a tram that took us to the Old City, and headed back to the ship. 

We wrapped up the evening with another Trivia contest, a piano concert, dinner, and a singing show after dinner.