On Day 1 of my brand-new retirement, we hot-footed it outta town to Riga, Latvia’s largest city. Houston is sweltering and overrun with World Cup fanatics and bloodthirsty mosquitos, so this is a great time to be … anywhere but there.
But Riga isn’t just anywhere.
Riga is a destination. It doesn’t have a global reputation as a tourist attraction, and to those in the know, that’s just fine. The prevailing sentiment is, “Let’s keep this hidden gem to ourselves“.
I get it!
I don’t really have a story as much as a perfect day in pictures. And the pictures don’t cover everything, just a few of the highlights.
I don’t even have good captions because our hosts planned everything and since I didn’t have to think about a thing, I don’t know the names of all the places. I just know that they were awesome.
The whole day was awesome.
Walk through it with me in pictures, and rest assured, I’ll do longer posts once I get home and ‘splain it all.
I will do a true travelogue-type post when this trip is over, but right now, I’m thoroughly enjoying being in the moment.
And NOT being in charge.
Y’all put Riga on your Must-Go List, but shhhhhh, don’t tell anyone!
©️ 2026, Glover Gardens
looks fabulous!
Riga, as the other Baltic republics might have something in store for the future of Europe. They lived 50 yrs under Soviet rule, and know how to deal with them.
Enjoy your trip.
Excellent point you make! We went to the KGB Museum this morning and the occupation felt very real.
It was very real indeed. R*ssia held a very dark hand on Eastern Europe for… half a century maybe?
Enjoy your trip.
Somewhere I’d definitely like to go! I haven’t been to any of the Baltic states. Looks fabulous!
We spent all of last year touring to support a new album resulting in her 10th Grammy. We have six shows this year and minute Huey and Dewey are out of school we are headed to the farm, not to be seen again until the next school year.
“It’s so nice to go traveling, and it’s oh, so nice to come home” – Sinatra tune