Riga, Part II (a)

Riga after an elevator ride up a church spire.




































I was hoping to find Souvenir #3 in Riga's massive market. The zeppelin hangars in the above photo are part of the market (there are 2 more hangars linked to those two and one that stands alone, a series of other buildings, and between and surrounding all these are rows and alleyways jammed with stalls and kiosks). Everyone in town was there that day selling something, but nothing of the antique variety. The hangars are full of foodstuffs -- organized loosely according to fish, produce, meats, milk products, sweets and breads -- while the outdoor sellers deal largely with clothing, shoes, insoles, socks, hats, artificial flowers, housewares, cosmetics and bags.
















We had a true Latvian lunch at Staburags -- pork and more pork (smoked, roast), something called "grey beans with bacon" (recipe for this and other Latvian faves), Grandma's potatoes. Latvia is really into gambling and chain restaurants. Staburags was part of the "Lido" group of restaurants and bistros -- a handful of these were Latvian-style country buffets. Another chain was Cili pica -- a (pretty mediocre) pizza-in-many-styles restaurant. It's also popular to serve yourself -- there was "Blinoff," a Russian pancake place, where the various blinchikis, syrniki, salatiki and soups were all ready-made. Same thing with "Pelmeni XL," which offered up self-serve vats of already-boiled pelmeni (Russian-style dumplings) and toppings (horseradish, ketchup, parsley, sour cream, mayonnaise) -- fill your bowl and pay by the gram.

We took in one of the shows at the Saxophonia festival -- this one held in the ornate Grand Hall of the Small Guild. Saxophonist Mario Marzi and accordionist Simone Zanchini (Italy) put on a mindblowing show.