When visiting the Baltic nation of Latvia, it's not long before you learn their history, meet their people, and also how they celebrate their lives.
A common hallmark is that their pride and resilience are brilliantly apparent.
Having survived Polish, Lithuanian, Imperial German, Swedish, Russian, Nazi, and Soviet rule, their citizens of all ages make a special effort to support strengthen their unique heritage.
You might even say, "Latvia First."
Latvian is now the primary language taught in its schools.
The city of Riga has phenomenal variety of architecture, from preserved Middle Ages buildings through the Baroque period, some even on the same street.
The country's hundreds of gorgeous Art Nouveau buildings are said to be the largest collection globally.
Though early examples had Russian, German and Finnish influences, Latvian styles emerged. These have a more folksy, rustic look than their predecessors.
The Riga Art Nouveau Centre has painstakingly recreated a well-to-do apartment, after being chopped up and stripped down by the Soviets.
Being an ancient city, Riga’s streets follow a hub and spoke pattern off various town squares. So many cafes and pubs have outdoor seating, which I learned serve mostly tourists during weekends: Latvians love outdoor exercise and sports in the country.
Hotel Neiburg is on one of those spokes, with a restaurant serving both dinner and a breakfast buffet with a cornucopia of Latvian and British treats. Americans will appreciate their generously sized beds and bathtubs.
In the shadow of Sigulda’s Castle, or "Sigulda's New Castle" (erected in 1878) are various outbuildings repurposed to host arts workshops.
A truly interesting jewelry workshop: Baltu Rotas. Their whole focus is on preserving ancient symbols and talismans of the ancient tribes in Latvia. We in the U.S. are unfamiliar with their individual symbols, peoples and tribes, but they’re proud of them.
Just as Navajo tribes, Celts, Vikings natives have their own jewelry styles with deep meaning, so does Latvia.
Latvia was the last part of Europe to join Christendom after invasion by Teutonic knights and Crusaders in the early 1200’s. Though Latvia has stunning Gothic churches both Catholic and Protestant, they hold onto their heritage, too.
Latvians’ favorite holiday is summer solstice.
I hear it’s a national party and sounds like a great time to visit.
Accordingly, sun shapes are a popular and very old jewelry design.
While early Baltic tribes rebuffed Jewish settlements, they arrived in the later part of the 16th century after the country came under the control of Denmark, Poland, and Lithuania.
It’s said that 90% of Latvian Jews were killed by the Nazis.
Salaspils Memorial Ensemble is a haunting collection of monuments on the site of a Nazi labor prison camp, about a half hour from downtown Riga.
With the large expanse of meadow and tree groves, there’s enough space to be contemplative.
The Museum of the Riga Ghetto and Holocaust in Latvia is a free museum in a vintage warehouse near where the ghetto was.
One interesting exhibit is filled with hanging paper lanterns covered in photos and letters (along with translations) of some of the last days of local victims.
It’s uplifting to learn what is happening with the Jewish population of Latvia today: the Jews in Latvia museum has a collection of rare photos and items, as well as a gorgeous performance space.
There are remnants of the painful Soviet occupation, including pockets of Brutalist architecture, as well as adults mandated to be fluent in Russian.
Having only thrown off the Soviet yoke in 1991, there are older people who remember out-of-Communist-favor relatives who never got travel permits.
You’ll have a new appreciation of your freedoms after visiting The Museum of the Occupation. The focus is on the Nazi and Soviet occupations from 1940 to 1991.
Between deportation maps, identity cards, photos, tales of betrayal, one could lose hope.
But you don’t: the exhibits end with the fight for independence through civil resistance. Latvia joined its fellow Baltic nations, Estonia, and Lithuania, in declaring its own laws, to which the USSR capitulated.
There wasn’t a bad meal to be had.
One restaurant takes you back to 1454, but without the kitsch that often comes with themed restaurants: Lasite. Located in the cellar of a historic building in Old Town Riga, it’s decorated with Middle Ages type artifacts and everyone dines under candlelight.
The extensive menu features beautiful salads, wild game, cocktails and mocktails.
3 Pavari ("3 Chefs"), also in Old Town, is a local Michelin-affiliated spot.
It’s laidback and youthful, but festive. They’re into hyperlocal ingredients and drinks, including an off-dry raspberry wine, hemp hummus, lamb, seafood and wild strawberries.
Fitting in with the surrounding natural beauty of Sigulda, Aparjods is a hotel and restaurant with a rustic flare.
The restaurant has a good mix of local comfort food and game along with sophisticated offerings. Think hearty breads, unique and tasty fried venison patties, lingonberries.
Tamar Alexia Fleishman was the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's youngest female solo violinist. She travels globally, providing readers with international flavor and culture. She's debated Bill Maher, Greta Van Susteren and Dr. Phil. She practices law in Maryland with a J.D. from the University of Baltimore and a B.A. in Political Science from Goucher College. Read Tamar Alexia Fleishman's Reports — More Here.