Jims Jottings ~ How I love Northeast Europe! Monday and Tuesday I made a brief trip to Riga, Latvia, with a friend. He had business in Riga, so I was free to roam the central city for a day and a half. Beautiful! As is usual, I visited the churches: nine in all. Five were Lutheran, two Roman Catholic and two Orthodox. The first two pictures below are of the interior of the Lutheran Dom or Cathedral, and the latter two are of St. Peters. The Dom is still fairly ancient inside while St. Peters, which was bombed-out during the war, has been beautifully restored with a more modern look. In the third picture you can see the steeple of St. Peters which has an elevator to the second bubble from the top. It was a beautiful view of the city, but very cold and windy on a fall day. Riga is a much more Germanic city than Vilnius and the churches are much more like the churches of northeast Germany. I love the red brick and the tall steeples! Both days I was able to catch the noon organ concert (who would have guessed?) at the Dom. On Tuesday the guest organist, Kristine Adamaite, ended the program with a piece by Franz Liszt on Now Thank We All Our God which had been composed for the dedication of that organ in the Riga Cathedral in 1884. Very moving! At lunch on Monday I had the unexpected pleasure of meeting another retired ELCA pastor and his wife who were in Riga on a tour. We spent over an hour together and discovered that we have some common acquaintances. Good fun! I also visited the Museum of the Occupation, which tells the story of the occupation of Latvia by the Soviets in 1940, the Germans in 1941, and the Soviets again from 1944 through 1991. A tragic story, very similar to the situation in Lithuania. Riga is somewhat larger than Vilnius with more of a city feel. Nevertheless the central area is easily maneuvered and I am anxious to return -- next time with Diane.
Posted on: Thu, 02 Oct 2014 08:56:51 +0000
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