Riga ist die Hauptstadt Lettlands und mit 700 000 Einwohnern größte Stadt des Baltikums. Die Stadt liegt an der Düna. It was founded in 1201 by German traders and because of that Riga was a member of Hansa and that's why there are so many Jugendstil buildings in Riga.

What makes Riga special? Nothing really. Riga is no better than any other city in Europe. It's said that Riga is very clean and beautiful. Well, it is if it's a sunny day and you're mostly wandering around Old Town. It probably is cleaner than other highly populated cities such as Manchester in England but other than that I wouldn't call Riga "clean". Riga is notable for Jugendstil architecture and I must say some buildings are really beautiful but so is Budapest! And many other European capitals. I'd say the view of old town in Budapest is much more spectacular than in Riga. Foreigners often say that the most beautiful girls live in Riga and Latvia. Ha, I've heard tourists say the same about Poland, Hungary and Estonia. We kind of enjoy having beautiful women but we sure as hell don't want Riga to be famous for sex tourism and easy going girls.

Riga is pretty much the center of Latvia. All major stuff happens there. In fact, it's the only place where things happen. If I wanted to go to a concert it would take two hours to get to Riga and another two hours to get back. I'd prefer if there were many smaller Rigas like Tallinn and Tartu in Estonia.

You (sie) problably noticed that I don't like Riga much. Actually I don't like big cities in general and it's just that Riga is no exception.