I got a call from my nephew Andy a few weeks ago asking if he could come to Riga for a visit. He was between jobs and wanted to do something fun. Hey, what a compliment that hanging out with his aunt is considered fun. He spent four days with me last week and we had a great time visiting the city. He's a history buff, especially WWI and WWII, so I took him to the KGB building, where interrogations of Latvian citizens was conducted during the multiple Soviet occupations. We were able to locate information about my great uncle and family that were deported in 1941. We also visited the Occupation Museum, dealing with the Soviet and German occupation during WWII. Lastly we visited the War Museum, which dealt with all periods of conflict within the borders of what is now the Republic of Latvia.
A good antidote to all that was a visit to the Lama(luck) chocolate factory and a self-guided tour through the museum and just about all the chocolate you could eat. The factory has been around since around 1875 and has evolved over the years. They still make their own chocolate from cacao beans imported from Ghana. How they managed that during wartime is a testament to the addictive properties of chocolate.😋😋
No visit would be complete without a taste of Latvian beers at a local brewpub called ALA Pagrabs, located in Old Riga in a basement resembling a cave. They served up a nice flight of beer and we each found one we especially liked.
View of Riga Cathedral from St Peters tower
Chocolate fountain--a bit rich
Even the labels reflected Soviet era
We even tried some hot beer--not bad
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