Fred's foster-parent: | Name: | MS National Geographic Explorer Crew | Profession: | Seamen | Nationality: | various | Fred's vessel: | Vesselname: | MS National Geographic Explorer | Callsign: | C6WR2 | Flag: | Bahamas | IMO No.: | 8019356 | Vesseltype: | Expedition Passenger Ship | Length: | 112 m | Beam: | 16,5 m |
| Fred-Report:
Riga, Latvias capital, is not only the largest city of Latvia, but of all the Baltic States.
The Livs, an ancient Finnic tribe, found a sheltered natural harbor only 9,3 nm up the Daugava River. They settled at the site of today’s Riga in the second century. During the early middle age Riga developed to a center of the Viking trade. By the 12th Riga had long been a trading center.
Riga’s historical center is particularly notable for its extensive Art Nouveau (Jugendstil) architecture. UNESCO considers it unique in the whole world and declared Rigas historic center a World Heritage Site.
Captain Oliver Krüß and Esther took me for a walk around Riga today. I was impressed by the beautiful houses lining up along the cobblestone roads.
We found a nice open-air restaurant on one of the market places, where we enjoyed a light lunch and a beer before exploring the side streets a bit more.
Esther was surprised to find something reminding her of home: we stumbled across a modern version of the Bremen Town Musicians.
Back on board our agent told us that Bremen is a twin town of Riga.
Photos
|