break/Riga #1

I have had a restful break, even though I've done a little bit of work almost every day. I watched a lot of movies, slept in, and read several books to pass the time during Christmas and New Years.

 On New Year's Eve, I got together with some friends, and we celebrated by making our own sushi and watching fireworks. (This is Bethany with all the sushi rolls we made!)

Earlier this week, I got to take several days off and traveled to Riga, Latvia with another friend from LCC. We saw a lot of things, and were also able to read, relax and recharge.

 We had some awesome food - first meal - INDIAN!!!

 Another meal - the "Garlic Pub"! Almost everything on their menu had garlic in it! For dessert, I had ice cream with honey-garlic sauce - YUM!

Another day we went to a tea house and had fancy tea and cookies while sitting on cushions and reading/talking.

We also saw many different sights...

This is the freedom monument, which honors soldiers killed in the Latvian War of Independence (1918-1920). Latvia's history is similar to Lithuania's in that it was occupied by the Soviet Union beginning in 1940, but the Soviets could not take away this symbol from the Latvians - it remained standing all through the occupation.

Riga has several different types of architecture which can be seen all around the city. This building is medieval style (small, rounded windows) from the 15th century. 

Other buildings were influenced by the Swedes when Riga was part of the Swedish Kingdom in the 17th century. (The shutters are painted on - it looks like a fairy tale house to me!)

Riga is famous for its Art Nouveau architecture (19th century), which is characterized by floral motifs, gargoyles, and naked figures all around the outside of the buildings.

We really enjoyed exploring the city... Tomorrow I will post about all the Christmas trees we saw!