Riga, capital of Latvia (Sept. 15, 2003)

The capital of Latvia is a beautiful city, an on a sunny day you might find yourself spending the whole day marvelling at the intricate details in the art nouveau architecture which abounds here, the amazingly crafted and now carefully renovated buildings that spill out of the old town into the new city. I've never been there, but they remind me of New Orleans. There's something upbeat and positive about the people, too, with smiles and with apparent harmony between the Latvian and Russian halves of the population. Everyone seems dressed up spiffy, in the words of the Swedish boy, "It's like Milano or something." The Norwegian girls in Vilnius remarked about it too. Riga is an upbeat place. (La Vita Latvia 2003-09-17)

These old Zeppelin hangars form the Riga public market. It's enormous! Lots of good food, too. (-: It was also quite convenient. My first day in Riga, my well-worm corduroy pants simultaneously burst apart at all the seams.. I bought a new pair of bluejeans at the market.

( more pictures )

mile 99333

i think autumn arrived today
there was a sharp chill in the air
it was brilliant and clear

gustav declared, "det är första hösten." or something to that effect.

i explored the central library.
(i now have library cards in five cities in three states and two countries)
i found a book, "secret places":

"a guide to twenty-five little-known scenic treasures of the New York's Niagra-Allegany Region, Including the Beautiful, the Bizarre, the Spectacular, and the Sublime."

as if it were written just for me.

it described a place, "the bizarre badlands of new york state" ("an unforgettable tour of a sculpted fantasy of rock chimneys, spires, dragon backs, knife-edge ridges, vistas and odd rock formations overlooking a wild shore of lake ontario")

i drove there
with the windows down and the sunroof open and the stereo playing

and saw a bright orange sun
setting on a deep blue sea
over dragon backs and knife-edges
and a bright crescent moon

and hiked back through the dark woods