Sue's purchases and travels

Latvian Lasses in Costume

Kittens for sale in the square

Beautiful old Architecture of Riga



The Farmer's Market had many stands selling funeral flowers...

We left St. Petersburg in the evening and headed to Riga Latvia.  I knew it was called the Paris of the Baltics and heard some refer to it as the most beautiful city in the Baltics.  Perhaps my connection to Estonia (married one and am mother to one!) colors my view but...given the choice of the two cities take Tallinn.  That said...I did, none the less, enjoy seeing this large Baltic capital.  It is known for its abundance of Art Nouveau buildings of which I saw a few (still somewhat sad from the soviet days of no upkeep) and shows itself as quite a cosmopolitan city.  We ventured, as we usually always do, to the farmer's market for a sense of the real country.  We saw the usual assortment of floral, food and general clothing stands but also noticed a busy market in the funeral flower business.  There was no denying that multiple stands were selling large cemetery wreaths on stands which were being purchased and carried away by somber clothed people. I hadn't seen that in any of the other Eastern European markets I've attended.   We also saw a woman selling kittens (we gave a donation) and hope that she does indeed sell them all and that they don't meet a sorry end.  The berries and peaches we bought at the market were fabulous. The meat market, though housed in a building, was in a very warm building and each stand had large pieces of meat hanging (not refrigerated) alongside the giant type of saws we use for Christmas trees.  Made me happy I don't eat meat...

Labels: farmers market, Latvia, Riga, Swedish Antiques, Swedish Antiques Bethesda, swedish travel