Views I see every day

As the time draws close to me leaving Latvia, I am trying to get all the pictures taken and things done that I have put off.  Riga is actually a beautiful city when you can see it...i.e. the summer! LOL.

Riga is known for it's Art Nouveau.  This is the building right across the street from my apartment.

This is the view of the street that I walk down to go to the store or the central market.  Just like any other "large" city, there are cars, busses and pedestrians.

McDonald's is every where...the one major difference: no drive-up windows...there are walk-up windows instead!

Riga is a pretty "Westernized" city, there are malls all over the city.  Origo is the closest one to me and that is where I do a majority of my grocery shopping.  They have their grocery chains inside the malls.  This one is called Rimi.  The interesting thing is that you can't always find what you want or need.  Sometimes they run out of something and it is weeks or months before they get more!

A lot of people live outside the city and then take the train into work everyday because it is cheaper to live outside the city.  This is the Central Station.  It is by the mall that is just down the street from my house.  I haven't been adventurous enough to take a train yet, but I may have to come September...but we'll see.

Latvians love ice cream during summer.  Very few buildings have air conditioning because typically summers do not get above 75.  This summer is the hottest summer on record in something like 85 years!  I bet they wish they had it now!  But they try to keep cool with ice cream...although I don't think it works very well, but it tastes great!

These old zeplain hangers have been transformed into the central market.  Here you can find fish, meat, vegtables, fruits, tea...almost anything.  There is a lot more selection during the summer but hold your breath if you go into the fish section...it's really strong smelling!

This is where, during the summer, there are a lot of fruit and vegtable vendors.  There are some during the winter as well, but there are quite a few more during summer.  Walking ten feet you might find peaches for 10 centimi less...so I recommend looking around a bit before you actually purchase anything!

Inside the zeplain hangers there are more established vendors.  Here there is dried fruit and nuts, bread, cheese.  While the majority of vendors in a section are selling the same things, you'll find the various odd vendor...there was a vendor where you could buy underwear and socks right next to the fruit...a little funny, no? ;)

In the fish section, you can find fresh fish but you can also find a lot of dried fish.  Well, I'm not sure if they are dried or smoked...they could be smoked but I thought it was funny to see a "bucket o' fish"!