We ran the streets during our four days in Riga, Latvia, with friends who hosted us at their Airbnb. Planes, trains and automobiles doesn’t even begin to describe it, because there was also the walking.
Tons of walking. And stairs — a plethora of stairs. Just as you can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs, you can’t get to the tops of towers or medieval castle sites without doing some climbing.
Our feet grumbled a little, but every step was worth it. Our friends are repeat Riga visitors who know how to live like locals, and they had curated a long list of experiences and cool locations to share. Even with four full days, we didn’t come anywhere near exhausting the possibilities of interesting things to see, do and taste.
There will have to be a next time.
When I get home and upload all the photos from my new “fancy camera,” I’ll create some specific posts about the fabulous things our friends guided us to. But for today, I’m sharing our last-night dinner.
We were all ready for a quiet evening, because full-on sightseeing takes a toll. So we decided to do a simple smorgasbord using what was already in the refrigerator, supplemented by a few goodies from the corner grocery. It was fun shopping at a Latvian grocery store and seeing the different ways food is packaged and presented. I can turn almost any trip into a foodie tourism adventure.
There was an easy camaraderie as we assembled and arranged our feast, that relaxed collaboration that happens naturally with long-time friends. Creating and sharing the meal was as enjoyable as any of the sightseeing we did. For me, preparing food with others is an art form, the culinary equivalent of comedy improv. Everyone contributes something: a suggestion, a garnish, a knife skill, a perfectly timed joke, an instinct to add basil or refill the wine. The result is a one-time creation that can never be duplicated exactly, because it belongs to that kitchen, that evening, that place and those people.
A smorgasbord doesn’t have to be fancy to be fabulous. It just needs to be prepared with care and intentionality. We were happy with the results of our creation. We had four kinds of cheese — brie, blue, tilsit and cheddar — along with nuts, carrots, olives, parmesan dip, breadsticks, crackers, salami and cherries. Fresh basil made a glorious, bright garnish, and of course we enjoyed wine with our meal.
Not pictured: lemon spaghetti, a simple, rich and extraordinarily satisfying first course, dished up at the stove as soon as it was ready and eaten immediately, with no thought or time for photos as we consumed creamy bites of lemony pasta heaven.
Laughter and stories abounded, wine was refilled, and we reflected on how lucky we were to be together in that place and time.
This simple meal with friends was a reminder that good times come in all shapes and sizes. It was the perfect last-night send-off before retiring early ahead of a 4:00 a.m. wake-up call to catch a flight to Germany.
It’s the little things.
Thank you to our hosts, Ted and Amy!
© 2026, Glover Gardens
A fine last touch for a great holiday.
Wait, you mean they didn’t build those medieval castles with elevators? Well that was stupid of them. I ain’t going. And how do they make lemon spaghetti? Add lemon zest to regular spaghetti dough?