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We arrived in Riga, Latvia by a 5 hour bus journey. Thankfully, passing customs is not a problem between Latvia and Estonia. We saw a Estonian and Latvian countryside that could have been a mirror image of rural New England landscapes. However, the change between Latvia and Estonia is not subtle. Latvians have there own language that sounds much different to our ears than Estonian. Riga feels more like a city than Tallinn, not surprising since historically Riga has been a dominant industrial city of Eastern Europe. Although we've heard stories about environmental issues in Riga (we're not supposed to drink the tap water), the city is beautiful. We walk clean streets that reveal with each passing city block a historical building, church, or tower.
Saving face.
Riga has dubbed itself the City of Inspiration. The source of inspiration: Art Nouveau architecture by Russian architect Mikhail Eisenstein make Riga buildings unique.