SUP & The City: Riga - Latvia
Latvia has a young but positively developing stand-up paddling scene," says Normunds Barinovs when we meet in the evening at the trendy Kanape cultural centre north of Riga's old town. Normunds is the chairman of the Latvian Surfing and SUP Association and was only an Instagram acquaintance until then. He was keen to meet us, as it is still unusual for tourists to travel to Riga for stand-up paddling. So we sit down over a local beer and chat about Riga, the country and its people and, of course, stand-up paddling. Normunds gives us a few insider tips for our city trip and we arrange to meet up for the next day on the water.
Art Nouveau facades show the beauty of Riga
The next morning, however, we first take the bus to the city centre. Liga is already waiting for us outside the National Art Museum to show us the beauty of Riga. She takes us to the nearby streets of Elizabetes Iela and Alberta Iela, where it quickly becomes clear why Riga is also known as the "Pearl of the Baltic" or the "Paris of the North": The cityscape is characterised by over 700 charming Art Nouveau houses and historic wooden buildings. The most beautiful examples can be found in these two streets. We let our gaze wander over the lavishly decorated façades, which are strikingly adorned with ornaments, figural sculptures and colourful ceramic tiles. The façade of the building at number 10b in Elizabetes Iela, built in 1903, is an outstanding example of this architecture. Like many other Art Nouveau buildings in Riga, it was designed by the famous architect Mikhail Eisenstein. As we walk past the magnificent buildings, Liga tells us that Eisenstein's Art Nouveau architecture defied the neoclassical architecture that prevailed in Riga at the time and, looking back, created a real treasure in the Latvian capital.
Continuing towards the centre, we cross the small city canal on which we will paddle in the afternoon. We pass the Latvian National Opera House, which was built by the German architect Ludwig Bohnstedt between 1860 and 1863. The historical German-Latvian relationship is not only evident in the opera house: The Schwarzhäupterhaus, various churches and brick houses can be discovered on a tour of the city. These relations are based on the founding of Riga in 1201 by Albert, Bishop of Livonia, who came from Bremen. After several occupations, Latvia only regained its independence in 1991 and has since enjoyed a strong economic upturn, as Liga reports, which was mainly due to its accession to the European Union and the introduction of the euro as the national currency. We make a quick stop at the "Fat Cat", the name of the café serving delicious éclairs in a small street behind the cathedral. Over 200 sweet and 20 savoury varieties of the pastries known as "love bones" or "cat's paws" are on offer here.
Riga's culinary centre: the central market
After a short detour to the "Three Brothers" ensemble of buildings, with the oldest stone building in Riga dating back to the 15th century, we continue on to the culinary heart of Riga: the Central Market, which was considered the largest, best and most modern market in Europe when it opened in 1930. It is housed in five old Zeppelin hangars with huge arched roofs. A visit is not only worthwhile because of the architecture: local traders present local specialities. The aromas of Latvian products waft through the halls. Right at the start of our tour, Liga lets us try the Latvian speciality of the market, hemp butter. In the hustle and bustle of the meat and fish halls, we spot complete pig's heads, smoked bacon and dried trout. The regional products can also be ordered in small restaurants or eaten on the spot.
Our last stop on the city tour takes us to the Labietis brewery pub. The beer bottles are displayed in glass-fronted counters. From the 40 types of craft beer on offer, I opt for the "Gaismas Hagana", which has a slightly sweet flavour with eight per cent alcohol. In addition to beer, Riga is also famous for its "Black Balsam", a traditional Latvian liqueur. This bittersweet liqueur is made from various herbs and ingredients and is drunk by the locals as a remedy for numerous ailments. That's why you'll see the bottles in every restaurant and bar.
SUP exploration tour around Riga's Old Town
The Pilsetas Canal runs through the centre of the city, just wide and deep enough to explore the historic old town on a SUP board. North of the old town in the harbour of Andrejosta, there is a SUP rental shop and a good starting point for the city SUP tour. I brought my inflatable SUP board with me to Riga as normal checked baggage in my rucksack. There was also room for the paddle and pump in my rucksack so that I could be flexible and independent on site. Normunds, our SUP guide, who we met on the first evening, accompanied us on the tour.
From the small harbour, we pass under two bridges into the city canal. The canal is not very busy and we only come across one of the small canal boats with tourists on board. Stand-up paddlers are rare on the canal, so we are a popular photo opportunity for many tourists on this day. We paddle past the green areas that surround almost the entire length of the canal. We make a short stopover at the Basteiberg. This place used to be part of Riga's fortifications, consisting of earth ramparts, bastions and moats. Today, small excursion boats moor here and wait for passengers.
Directly behind it, we pass the Freedom Monument erected in 1935 and the National Opera House on the other side of the canal. The sights are located directly on the canal and therefore invite us to make a short photo stop.
The next highlight on our SUP tour is the central market, which is located directly on the canal. Shortly afterwards, the canal flows into the Daugava River, which flows into the Baltic Sea just beyond Riga. The mighty river has a width of over 500 metres in Riga, but there were hardly any larger ships on our tour. We paddle under the railway bridge, over which regional and goods trains rumble and make a lot of noise. On the left bank, we catch sight of the Latvian National Library. Opened in 2014, it is one of the most impressive cultural buildings in Europe and is well worth a visit, and not just for literature enthusiasts.
The sun slowly sets and we paddle towards a marvellous sunset. After a good 6.5 kilometres and two hours, we arrive back at the starting point. We enjoy the last rays of sunshine on the water, pack up our SUP boards again and decide to round off the evening by the water: The "Musuu Terase" restaurant is located directly in the harbour and offers delicious dishes with a modern twist on the menu.
Jurmala - Summer holiday and SUP tour on the Baltic Sea
The next day, we take the regional train to the "Baltic Riviera", as the Jurmala recreational area is also known. The elongated peninsula with its more than ten kilometres of sandy beach is the leisure and recreation area for many Latvians in summer. Surrounded by dense coniferous forest, Majori is characterised by imposing villas, souvenir shops, hotels, restaurants and cafés. It is considered the centre of Jurmala.
We roll our SUP boards the 700 metres from the train station to the Baltic Sea beach, where Normund's friend Valids is already waiting. "The tour across the Lielupe to the estuary and on the Baltic Sea back to Majori is a good 23 kilometres," says Valis as we pump up our boards in the sand. Unfortunately too long a distance for today, but certainly an option for an all-day stand-up paddling tour. We make do with a short trip along the coast. The Baltic Sea is at its most beautiful: few waves and hardly any wind make paddling easy and I can relax and watch the hustle and bustle on the beach from the water.
For a great end to your trip to Riga, head up high in the evening: the Skyline Bar in the Radis-son Blu Latvija north of the old town offers a magnificent view over the entire city. Enjoying a drink on the 26th floor at sunset is apparently also a tradition in Riga: in 2016, the bartenders mixed over 22,000 mojitos here.
Highly recommended
1 Café Miera:Furnished like grandma's, the chocolate cake is a poem.
2 Fazenda Bar: Close to the trendy cultural centre "Kanape". Home-baked bread and modern interpretations of Latvian dishes are tempting.
3 Musuu Terase:Chic restaurant in the harbour of Andrejosta. Delicious dishes in the sunset make for a successful end to the tour, then in the evening by torchlight.
