Saturday finds us in Riga, Latvia.
Riga is the capital and largest city in Latvia and the 2nd largest city in the Baltics with a population of about 850,000 in the metro area. Riga was founded in 1201 and the entire old town city center, is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
We started off walking to the old city center for a guided walking tour
I tried to get someone to sit on the horse, but nobody would - they were all scared
Riga was full of beautiful architecture and history
Of course we made time for some danishes and pastries......every city we went, I personally ate enough of these for 3 people every day......they were so good everywhere! Yum!
This was another shop where we just pointed and guessed and hoped we got something good. Most of the time we did.
This non-descript building aka "The Corner House" aka "KGB House" was the headquarters of the KGB from 1940-1991. It was built in 1912 as apartments and even a music school. During the Soviet Occupation, the building was converted into the KGB headquarters, jail and torture house where many innocent people were jailed, treated inhumanely, and even killed. It was not a nice place with a dark history. We took a tour and learned about the history of the building as well as what went on inside during the interrogations and imprisonment of the mostly innocent people that were brought here.
We came away with a deep respect and sadness for those that had to go through this and a deep appreciation for where we live and the freedoms our country has provided for us.
The cells in the basement are pretty much untouched and as they were when people were forced to live here. Many did nothing wrong, other than the KGB Army didn't like them, they way they looked or the way they spoke.
The cell rooms were overcrowded to the point where it was standing room only. Those who were prisoned here even had to sleep standing up, or leaning against each other. It was hot. The lights were left on all day and all night. Food and water were given very sparingly. The bathroom consisted of a bucket that everyone shared and it was emptied once a day, sometimes.
After that tour, we needed to get back out into the outdoors and take a deep breath of fresh air and realize how good we have it in our lives
Steps walked: much less today at 13, 539 - about 6.52 miles
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