HomeDiagramsDatabaseMapsForum About
     

Go Back   SkyscraperPage Forum > Photography Forums > My City Photos


Reply

 
Thread Tools Display Modes
     
     
  #1  
Old Posted Dec 12, 2014, 6:32 PM
Kingofthehill's Avatar
Kingofthehill Kingofthehill is offline
International
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Oslo
Posts: 4,052
Arrow \\\\\\ Looking East: Riga and Vilnius //////

I had the pleasure of an 5-day visit to the Baltics back in late October. A French friend and ex.colleague visited me here in Oslo, and not wanting to spend an outlandish sum of money not doing anything (Scandinavia for you!), we decided to explore to possibility of visiting one of the nearby, cheaper Baltic countries. After a few days of searching, we came across $50.00 Ryanair tickets to Riga. With little hesistation, we decided to book the said tickets. Shortly after, we decided we would be better off combining our trip to Riga with a short detour to Vilnius, of which is only four hours away by bus. As international relations majors, the former USSR has always been of keen interest and focus to my friend and I.

Both are charming, magical cities that are very easy on the wallet, and offer lots of interest to fans of architecture and history, such as ourselves. As cliché as it is, the whole mantra of cheap drinks, hot girls, cute historic town centers, easy to navigate on foot, etc., is very true. The Baltics are a gem, and being not only the most European part of the former USSR, but also emerging relatively unscathed from WW2, the two cities are fairly intact - the same of which cannot be said for, say, Minsk, or Kiev.

Riga was a stunner, and is notable for its large Russian-speaking population and impeccable collection of Art-Nouveau architecture. I wrote more about my impressions of Riga here. I also wrote a few notes and reflections about my time in my admittedly brief time Vilnius. Even in spite of my all-too-short visit to Vilnius, I definitely preferred it to Riga, of which I found had a very materialistic and pretentious air in many parts. Vilnius is not only slightly cheaper and rougher, I also felt it was more organic (young kids opening breweries, art collectives, coffee shops, etc.), and almost Latin American with its rootsy youth culture and imposing Catholic churches. That said, I enjoyed both immensely, and look forward to future exploration in this still somewhat off-the-beaten-path part of Europe. In the coming year, I am hoping to visit Bosnia for my yearly "exotic" Europe fix, and I will soon post my pictures from Tbilisi, Georgia. Cheers, all!

Here are a few photos from both.

Riga, Latvia

P1470291 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470255 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470270 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470306 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470323 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470330 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470333 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470356 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470363 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470370 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470375 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470380 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470391 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470412 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470426 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470429 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470441 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470463 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470487 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470499 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470517 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470519 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470527 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470533 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470549 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470559 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470569 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470570 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470578 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470584 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470590 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470596 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470614 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470618 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470636 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470646 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470647 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470650 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470664 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470674 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470684 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr


Vilnius, Lithuania

P1470783 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470731 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470741 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470749 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470758 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470789 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470798 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470808 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470820 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470830 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470833 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470841 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470858 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470863 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470869 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470872 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470879 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470881 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470888 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

P1470885 by KingoftheHill., on Flickr

Last edited by Kingofthehill; Dec 13, 2014 at 3:16 PM.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #2  
Old Posted Dec 12, 2014, 9:36 PM
mousquet's Avatar
mousquet mousquet is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Greater Paris, France
Posts: 4,548
Great, you've got a tiger eye and feeling. We all knew on here.



I'm loving this too. History yet.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #3  
Old Posted Dec 12, 2014, 11:03 PM
fflint's Avatar
fflint fflint is offline
Triptastic Gen X Snoozer
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: San Francisco
Posts: 22,207
Two fascinating cities with really beautiful architecture. Thanks for the pics.
__________________
"You need both a public and a private position." --Hillary Clinton, speaking behind closed doors to the National Multi-Family Housing Council, 2013
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #4  
Old Posted Dec 12, 2014, 11:04 PM
mSeattle's Avatar
mSeattle mSeattle is offline
Socialism 4 Extreme Rich?
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: here
Posts: 10,073
Very nice-looking cities.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #5  
Old Posted Dec 12, 2014, 11:45 PM
Bedhead's Avatar
Bedhead Bedhead is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Wiltshire, England
Posts: 1,938
Great feast of different styles - superb
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #6  
Old Posted Dec 12, 2014, 11:48 PM
LSyd's Avatar
LSyd LSyd is offline
Red October standing by
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Columbia/Sumter, SC
Posts: 16,913
interesting, thanks for the pics

-
__________________
"The vapors! The fainting couch! Those heartless elitists are burning down the plantation with their logic and arithmetic!"

-fflint
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #7  
Old Posted Dec 13, 2014, 5:18 AM
ColDayMan's Avatar
ColDayMan ColDayMan is offline
B!tchslapping Since 1998
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Columbus
Posts: 19,877
Stunning cities.
__________________
Click the x: _ _ X _ _!
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #8  
Old Posted Dec 13, 2014, 6:28 AM
giallo's Avatar
giallo giallo is offline
be nice to the crackheads
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Vancouver
Posts: 11,445
Perfect tour.

How are the people there? Friendly?
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #9  
Old Posted Dec 13, 2014, 5:26 PM
Danny's Avatar
Danny Danny is offline
Universal Traveler
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Madrid
Posts: 2,165
Smile

Riga and Vilnius are very charming. I´ve liked to see the architecture in both cities. I´ve specially liked your pictures about Riga. The facades of the classic buildings are amazing.

Thanks for sharing and greetings from Madrid, Spain.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #10  
Old Posted Dec 13, 2014, 11:32 PM
mrnyc mrnyc is offline
cle/west village/shaolin
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 11,529
how interesting to see these cities. i have a helsinki, tallinn & st. petersburg trip in the hopper for someday, but it would be nice to pop down here as well.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #11  
Old Posted Dec 14, 2014, 2:58 AM
Yorkie Yorkie is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: May 2012
Location: York PA
Posts: 275
Riga is a special part of the world and a time period of architecture never to be repeated again, "unique" is the word. Thanx for posting, it is a favorite of mine, and I too hope too see her myself someday.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #12  
Old Posted Dec 14, 2014, 3:23 PM
montréaliste montréaliste is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Chambly, Quebec
Posts: 1,995
Excellent job as always KOTH.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #13  
Old Posted Dec 14, 2014, 9:57 PM
thomas_zul's Avatar
thomas_zul thomas_zul is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Gdynia
Posts: 77
Excellent job sir!

I was waiting for your next (this) thread for quite some time now!

As I remember pretty much all of your SSP threads it was different to see your european pics back in the day and now it's even more interesting when you're so close to my place. Vilnius (Wilno) is pretty close to Poland. I know it's not about Poland but I really hope to see you one day here. If not Gdansk, Sopot and Gdynia then maybe Poznan, Krakow, Warsaw or Lodz? I know you were in Szczecin

And I must say Baltic cities are really interesting architecture-wise and photography-wise as well as geography-wise. I know it of course Nice to see you in our part of Europe. I think that Riga and Vilnius both have outstanding architecture and they're really original and quite different than "regular" main cities (or capitals fot that matter) of Germany or France etc. To be honest I don't know Riga or Vilnius much better than guys from USA on this forum, which is a shame, because I live "nearby". But I knew that they are interesting and in your pics we can see all that interesting and original architecture. Of course there is stalinist socrealist architecture, there are hated commieblocks, classic buildings like that opera but also some different buildings that you pretty don't have in Warsaw, Berlin, Copenhagen etc.

So it's good to see Baltics on this forum
__________________
Gdynia - My debut thread about modernist city in Poland. Come and see!

All my photos/pictures are taken by me. Please do not post any of them without my written permission. All rights reserved.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #14  
Old Posted Dec 15, 2014, 6:14 AM
Jeff's Avatar
Jeff Jeff is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Winnipeg|MB
Posts: 2,220
that was absolutely spectacular! thanks for sharing!!
__________________
instagram: @jeff_vernaus
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #15  
Old Posted Dec 16, 2014, 6:39 PM
Nineties Flava's Avatar
Nineties Flava Nineties Flava is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: San Francisco USA
Posts: 1,201
Never heard of either of these cities, I like the architecture in Riga.
__________________
New Flickr Page
http://www.flickr.com/photos/88823378@N05/
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #16  
Old Posted Dec 17, 2014, 5:16 AM
Urban Zombie's Avatar
Urban Zombie Urban Zombie is offline
Crisp and Squishy
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Kailua-Kona
Posts: 7,822
Another masterful set.
__________________
As a staunch Marxist, I don't want to belong to any club that would accept me as a member. Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well I have others.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #17  
Old Posted Dec 18, 2014, 9:19 PM
pdxtraveler pdxtraveler is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Portland, OR
Posts: 731
Great thread! Riga was on my list, but haven't seen much of Vilnius until now! Added to the list, unfortunately, a VERY long list! lol! Thanks for posting!
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #18  
Old Posted Dec 19, 2014, 9:33 AM
kool maudit's Avatar
kool maudit kool maudit is offline
video et taceo
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Stockholm
Posts: 13,846
i need to visit these cities. riga looks more imposingly scaled than does vilnius, which i am not sure i expected. i wonder how tallinn lines up?
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #19  
Old Posted Jan 5, 2015, 4:20 AM
ue ue is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 9,480
Very intriguing set of some cities I don't know too much about. Looking forward to seeing you tackle more of Eastern Europe in 2015!
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #20  
Old Posted May 2, 2015, 10:34 AM
Kingofthehill's Avatar
Kingofthehill Kingofthehill is offline
International
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Oslo
Posts: 4,052
Thumbs up

Thanks for all of the positive and encouraging feedback, guys! It is much appreciated. Riga and Vilnius are lovely, enchanting places that should be on any urbanist's to-visit list/radar. Since posting this, I have also written up and posted some impressions and observations on Vilnius. They can be read here.

Quote:
Originally Posted by giallo View Post
Perfect tour.

How are the people there? Friendly?
Young locals seemed friendly and helpful - the older ones, less so (and possibly not able, as many people from older generations often don't speak English). Also much more modern and stylish than stereotypes of Eastern Europeans would lead you to believe. Women are on point, too.

Quote:
Originally Posted by kool maudit View Post
i need to visit these cities. riga looks more imposingly scaled than does vilnius, which i am not sure i expected. i wonder how tallinn lines up?
Not sure, but from pictures I've seen of Tallinn, it seems significantly more quaint, wooden, and SFH-like in build form and orientation.

Quote:
Originally Posted by thomas_zul View Post

As I remember pretty much all of your SSP threads it was different to see your european pics back in the day and now it's even more interesting when you're so close to my place. Vilnius (Wilno) is pretty close to Poland. I know it's not about Poland but I really hope to see you one day here. If not Gdansk, Sopot and Gdynia then maybe Poznan, Krakow, Warsaw or Lodz? I know you were in Szczecin
Quote:
Originally Posted by ue View Post
Very intriguing set of some cities I don't know too much about. Looking forward to seeing you tackle more of Eastern Europe in 2015!
No concrete plans on visiting EE just yet, but for the Central/Eastern European region, Krakow and Budapest are both on my radar. I do, however, have tickets booked to Malta for travel next month. Should be a fun and surprising trip!
Reply With Quote
     
     
This discussion thread continues

Use the page links to the lower-right to go to the next page for additional posts
 
 
Reply

Go Back   SkyscraperPage Forum > Photography Forums > My City Photos
Forum Jump


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 4:50 AM.

     
SkyscraperPage.com - Archive - Privacy Statement - Top

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.