Riga: Day 3

Nearby St. Gertrude's was another
arresting Art Nouveau face

St Gertrude's! 

Today started with a walk up to St. Gertrude's church.  As Peter's grandmother, Emma, was born in Riga and named her first child Gertrude, Peter went into flights of fancy about the chances of them living on that street...

The church was turn of the century, brick built with a lot of warm brown woodwork inside and some decorative friezes.   Opposite was another elaborately decorated Art Nouveau building.

Coffee stop

Russian Orthodox Church

From the church it was a short walk to the National Art Museum and the elegant cafe was our first port of call for coffee.
After we had left our coats in the cloakroom (compulsory, but they don't charge) we went up first to the top floor roof terrance and got another view of the Russian Orthodox Church.  The art gallery is housed in an elegant building and was interesting but not stunning.  The troubled history of Latvia has made a significant impact on the art which has followed the prevailing politics, some of it hard on the eye.  However, there were some wonderful sculptures.

This I liked! 

Central hallway

Restoration of Independence
Day ceremony

Onion soup - nice bowl! 

Folded clay form

Simple bowl from rolled clay

Back to the museum restaurant for lunch (onion soup followed by chicken Caesar salad) and then a walk through the city to our next destination, which took us past the freedom monument.  At this point we realised why it was so quiet and so many shops were closed.  Today was a Latvian holiday - Restoration of Independence Day - and there was a flower laying ceremony complete with band, dignitaries, police and security men.   We stopped for a while and then went on to find the Decorative Arts Museum - another interesting building with a good display of ceramics, fabrics, weaving and furniture and downstairs some displays of inventions to solve everyday problems.   I got a few ideas for my pottery class.   The sun was warm by the time we got out of the museum so we stopped for a lemon tea before heading to the station in a fruitless search for a newspaper, then back to the flat for a restoring glass of wine.

We had intended to try an Armenian restaurant in our street but when we approached there was a crowd of men outside and as the door opened we heard deafening music and saw flashing lights.  We turned on our heels and opted for the gastropub round the corner where we found a quiet table and had pizza!   Not quite what we had planned but at least we could hear each other!