LIVE from Scandinavia on the Voyager of the Seas July 31-August 10, 2022 with Dragon of the Seas

[DragonOfTheSeas]

3 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

Guessing internet is sub par for doing a Live.😪

 

Bummer

I have had random times I could not get it to work. But, it is ok. 

[John&LaLa]

Just now, DragonOfTheSeas said:

I have had random times I could not get it to work. But, it is ok. 

 

I was planning on doing one myself, but not sure I want to start until I'm onboard and happt with connections 

[DragonOfTheSeas]

The ship was cleared yesterday at around 8:30 am. I left the ship at 9:30 and there was no line. They were using 2 types of shuttle buses. One was a large transit style and a smaller city bus. 

 

 

The city trams seemed to be a very popular mode of transportation for the residents. It didn’t seem like all that many cars. They came frequently. I was sorry I had not picked using the tram by the end of the day. 

When we got to the Rico Palace we got off the shuttle bus and we were meant by lots of people representing hop on hop off bus. They were offering a 48 hour ticket for $25 and so I took that. (don’t do it-I’ll share why later)
 

I got on and rode for the first few stops. They have headphones and you dial number two for English and the commentary was fine it did the job. I got off at stop C and checked out the esplanade. It is a beautiful park in the center of Riga. In the location of the church of the nativity. It has five gold domes. It’s so beautiful. 
 

 

A word of caution here you have to wear modest dress if you’re gonna go to this church there is a sign at the door that talks about women can borrow skirts and head coverings at the gift shop. No shorts. I stopped and got head scarf because I wanted to be respectful.
 

Then I broke the rules. Please don’t judge me I didn’t see the sign that said no photography. I’m not sure how I missed it. But since I took a picture I’m gonna post it so you can see how beautiful the inside of the church is. No one ever said anything to me. It’s just that I saw the sign as I was leaving the church.

 

 

 

We passed the famous clock tower. This is really a funny location. When I was doing the research on Riga, if I had a general tourist site it never mentioned it as something to see. If I read comments by locals they always say you have to see the clock tower. Finally, I read the reason for that is that it is the location that if you’re going to meet someone in Riga you say I’ll meet you at the clock tower. I read comments like I got my first kiss at the clock tower. Or I met my husband there for the first time. 

 

it is owned by the candy company Laima. I guess it is the Hershey’s of Riga. 

 

This is the freedom monument. It’s Special place to the citizens of Riga and they often have events or ceremonies there.

Edited August 4, 2022 by DragonOfTheSeas

[DragonOfTheSeas]

28 minutes ago, DragonOfTheSeas said:

I have had random times I could not get it to work. But, it is ok. 

Please do one I’d love to read your take on the same ports. You may not go back to the same places and I suspect you’re a lot better at the technological aspect of it. Last night it was glitchy. That’s why I didn’t post anything at the end of the day. 

Edited August 4, 2022 by DragonOfTheSeas

[DragonOfTheSeas]

If you were fit and good with walking Riga is an easy city to get around. Most of it is a walkable distance. If you want to go to something like the KGB building you’re going to need transportation it’s too far.

 

DH and I are not able to do that anymore. We can walk but we can’t do distances.

 

We have a table for two at dinner. But you know how close those tables are from one to the other. So we all discussed our day with the table on either side of us. Both of them walked the city. 
 

One woman had over 18,000 steps on her Fitbit. I had 7,000 on mine if that gives you a comparison. Ha ha

both of them had walked the park along the river. That’s something that we might do today. They have canal boats available at two locations one is near the freedom monument and the other is near the train station.

 

[DragonOfTheSeas]

The church is in the esplanade. Here is a good map and a list of distances I saw there. 
 

 

 

This is also the location of the art museum.

 

it was a nice place to stop and rest for a few minutes.

 

 

 

 

Edited August 4, 2022 by DragonOfTheSeas

[DragonOfTheSeas]

I was able to get back on the bus after only a 10 minute wait and rode a few stops to the central market. This is an amazing place. It is five old Zepplin hangers. Each one is now a building housing a different type of item for purchase. The first one had fish. Kind of stinky, so I didn’t stay there long.

 

The second one was candy, cheese and nuts. I thought that was kind of an odd combination but it worked.
 

 

There was another one that was devoted to clothing.

 

 

I walked outside before the next one and in that interior space was an entire farmers market with fruit and vegetables and flowers they were doing a lively business.
 

 

The last one had a lot of gifts and things. I stopped at a little kiosk that was selling lunch. I had cabbage soup and a strawberry parfait. My soup was €2.8 and my dessert was the same. It was delicious and I felt like I was eating like a local. It was a win-win.

 

Edited August 4, 2022 by DragonOfTheSeas

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Then my transit troubles started. You see the brick building I forgot to label above. These used to be warehouses for the market but now there hipster restaurants and other businesses. It was also my view for about an hour and 20 minutes as I waited for the next hop on hop off bus to arrive.

 

I knew I was in the correct place because there’s only really one place they can drop you off. And after about 20 minutes a couple from Australia came and waited too. 
 

at that point I said forget this I’m wasting my whole day. So I looked on the map and saw that if I walked over to the next street and straight down that I would get to old town and there was another hop on hop off bus stop there. in fact it is their main spot.

 

it was fine, there was a sidewalk the whole way. And then I entered the old town area. you could tell immediately because the streets were almost too narrow for cars and they were all cobblestones.  It was so beautiful. 

[DragonOfTheSeas]

There are two city employees that man The shuttle bus at the pier and two next to the Riga Castle where you get off. I mentioned my issue with the hop on hop off while I was waiting to reboard the shuttle to the ship.
 

Both women told me that when people ask them about two hop on hop off bus companies that operate in the city they discourage them from taking it. Of course I didn’t know that before I bought the ticket. (€25 for two days ) Here is their information. 

 

 

 

[DragonOfTheSeas]

First I enjoyed walking around the streets of old town In Riga. It’s actually very compact.

 

this was along the main street as I entered. 
 

The next two are building surrounding the Town Square. 
 

 

 

 

This is the house of the Black Heads. It was the historical home of a guild of young tradesmen who had migrated to this area. There is a house of blackheads in Tallin, Estonia, also.

 

i’d love to have gone back into the city in the evening to take pictures of this in the dark. I have seen pictures with all the lights around the exterior of the building. It’s pretty impressive.
 

But it doesn’t get fully dark around here until after 10 o’clock and the last bus comes back from the city at 11. That’s just too close of a call for me. 

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Then I went to Saint Peter’s Church. It is not on the square. But you can’t miss it with its tall steeple. There’s a three euro admission to the church and then another small fee to go up in the tower. But I don’t do steps. Ha ha ha. I’ve been told that it’s one of the best views of the city.

 

pictures are allowed in this church. I asked at the ticket booth before I took any pictures.😇

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

while it is very nice inside this is church is nowhere near as impressive as the cathedral.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Then I returned  to the ship.Here is yesterday’s Dailey Planner. 

 

Someone asked for me to post a pic of the Whistle and the Pig:The above is the promenade seating and the one below shows the interior.

We sat on the promenade for a while and listened to Beatriz on the classic guitar and had a drink.

 

she was very good and it was very relaxing.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

I tried to take out the second copy of the daily planner. But whatever issue I had with the picture of the men in the zodiac I still have that same issue. In this case I know it’s operator error.

[DELTABLUE]

As always, enjoying your beautiful pictures.  Most would make wonderful jigsaw puzzles.  The deep blue skies were amazing!  Love following along on your adventure!

[DragonOfTheSeas]

2 hours ago, DELTABLUE said:

As always, enjoying your beautiful pictures.  Most would make wonderful jigsaw puzzles.  The deep blue skies were amazing!  Love following along on your adventure!

Thank you. We have had the best weather so far. I have my fingers crossed for the rest of our trip. 

[DragonOfTheSeas]

There is all sorts of traffic on this river. It’s not as busy as the Mississippi River but there is ample traffic.

 

 

 

 

 

So imagine my surprise When we saw these people Using jet skis out in the middle of the river. 🙄

 

 

You know how in the US the Coast Guard doesn’t let any ship really close to a cruise ship? In Stockholm and here pleasure boats come almost right up to the ship.

 

This boat got so close that the children on the boat could wave to us and see us wave back. Ha ha

 

 

yes, I enlarged the picture for you. But not by much they were very close. 

[DragonOfTheSeas]

We went back into Riga today to see a few more sites. 
 

I walked along the river Esplanade. in addition to the canal boats that you can ride there are river tour boats on the Daugava River. 

this one is located directly across from the spot the shuttle bus drops you off. The boat wasn’t there when I took this picture but you can see their timetable and a route map.

 

 

Here are a few views from along the river.

 

 

 

here is the legend of Riga. 

 

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Yesterday I didn’t get any pictures of the Riga Castle. Which is the home of the president. Here it is. 

 

 

On the front side facing the canal they have earthworks that were originally a defense for the castle and for the city. I think it’s interesting they’ve built some things including a parking garage into these. 

[DragonOfTheSeas]

This building began life devoted to collective farming. It was built by the Russians. But after their freedom they turned this into the science building. On the top floor there’s an observation deck that has great views of the city.

 

 

sorry it’s not a better picture. I wasn’t really far enough away to get the whole building. 

[DragonOfTheSeas]

 

We came back to the ship for a late lunch and to chill for a while. We’re going to go to the top-tier party in the star lounge at 4:30. That’s a half an hour after we set sail.
 

It’ll be interesting to see whether the captain makes an appearance. I would think he would need to be on the bridge. Not that we’re that far from the mouth of the river but I doubt the ship will get there in a half an hour.

 

. 

[John&LaLa]

7 hours ago, DragonOfTheSeas said:

There are two city employees that man The shuttle bus at the pier and two next to the Riga Castle where you get off. I mentioned my issue with the hop on hop off while I was waiting to reboard the shuttle to the ship.
 

Both women told me that when people ask them about two hop on hop off bus companies that operate in the city they discourage them from taking it. Of course I didn’t know that before I bought the ticket. (€25 for two days ) Here is their information. 

 

 

 

 

Yep, multiple HoHo companies can be a challenge

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Goodbye to Riga, Latvia. Here We are leaving the mouth of the Daugava River. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were actually still in Las Vegas. We had to exit the Riga bay.

Edited August 4, 2022 by DragonOfTheSeas

[Oceansaway17]

thanks for sharing, now Riga is on my list for the future.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

2 hours ago, DragonOfTheSeas said:

Goodbye to Riga, Latvia. Here We are leaving the mouth of the Daugava River. 

 

We were actually still in Las Vegas. We had to exit the Riga Bay.

HahaHa that is what happens when you use voice to text on an I-phone.  You get Las Vegas rather than Latvia.  

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Tonight we had the Top Tier Party.  I already wrote a post for this event--so, if it shows up later you will know why there is a duplicate.

 

Also, I am not going to try to load the pictures.  That is where I think I had the issue. The internet is glitchy again. ugh! 

 

They did not announce the total number of guests, but I got that from guest services. [1368]

 

There are 558 Crown and Anchor members:

 

247 gold

96 platinum

60 emerald

104 diamond

37 diamond +

14 pinnacle

 

The top cruiser had 2,256 points and was on the 5th cruise in a row and was top cruiser on all of them.  

 

There seem to be many newbies.  The Guest Services manager [Tim] has been with Royal only a few weeks. 

 

The Loyalty Ambassador was new to Voyager but had been with Royal for more than 4 years. 

 

Etc. However, the service has been very good.  Our cabin attendant, Irene, may be the best we have ever had. It has been a good cruise and we are at the halfway mark.