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Thank you so much for this video! I found it really helpful, especially the good examples and stunning clips and would definitely go and see it in person! 😊😊

Coming to Riga on 22nd. Was wondering if you would be able to show me around. First time coming there

Where are u from?

Which capital is more beautiful. Riga or Tallin I liked Riga.

0:29 No voice why?

Try to rent room or flat near your work place to avoid buses.

This is, what I did not like in Poland and in the Czech republic: they use WC like a trash bin for the toilet paper after the using it.

You forgot one thing, what we do not do in Latvia, what you do in Poland. We do not use toilet as a recycle bin. When you visit this place, for toilet paper after using is a bin on the floor, not WC as trash bin instead of this.

By the way, when you will give back Danzig, SIlezia and the Western part of Poland? These are German cities and German territories.

I live in Latvia. I never bought the second hand clothes, I never was in "Humana" or "Kilomax". So do not tell us again Polish fairy-tales.

Princess and the bean - again

I lived in Ireland for a while and I can tell you right now that latvian public transport looks excellent compared to the Irish ones. They still pay with coins here that you have to drop in a box, the exact amount, cause you are not getting your change back immediately. So better to have a leap card that is not very modern, too. Also, being late by 40 min, not showing up, passing you by if they are too full, and catching busses like taxis are a thing there. As for the reason why there's not more of newer public transport in Riga. Younger versions struggle and especially in winter break down often, while old soviet stuff still keeps going even in harsh winters. Also, after Ireland, I really appreciate how reliable they are, and mostly they are on time.

I'm from Latvia. My mother recently returned from another Polish shopping haul. She loves to go there and buy clothes. She says it's better and cheaper. 😮

Witaj Aga! Dziękuję, że powiedziałeś mi wiele o Łotwie. W komentarzach otrzymasz wiele rekomendacji od przyjaznych mieszkańców, które nadal warto sprawdzić. Podobnie jak Polacy, także Łotysze kochają swoją ojczyznę. Dla mnie, który zna też rosyjski, łatwiej byłoby nauczyć się polskiego niż białoruskiego. Powodzenia i wytrwałości w nauce języka łotewskiego, a wkrótce zdasz sobie sprawę, że najgłębsze korzenie tego języka są podobne do naszych. Powodzenia! Veiksmi, Aga!

Danzig is not Polish city. It is German city, which Poland stole from Germany. It will be Germany city again.

Riga is not real Latvia. It is expensive, all is far away, not comfortable to live there. And smaller towns are not villages.

Good to see you are vegetarian ..

1. There are some, but not used often. 2. Idnk, may be some elevators got ground floor, but mostly we used 1st floor as 1st floor, no-one actually use the ground floor concept or word. 3. The northers country location, more meat people eat. In Latvia, we got a lot of meat traditions. Also we have no so many vegetarians, I personally know a few persons only (may be I am wrong). 4. Mostly people use right side, but those, who has no driving licenses probably walk as they wish. Yeah I agree about this, especially in narrow center streets. 5. Cannot say anything about it, I am not shop person =) But yeah, we have a lot.

Interesting video! Looking at a map Latvia is a small country far away from any any large cities, like west Europe which have a variety of things to do. Can't expect much. About getting to know Latvians, aren't most Latvians very nationalistic with little interest in other countries and cultures and people? That Latvians prefer relationships with each other.

I am actually Latvian living in Gdansk 1 year. I don't see a lot of difference between weathers here and in Latvia. I know what you mean with "cold" people. Poles are more opened :) Well, Rossmann has much more to choose from than Drogas. Unfortunately haven't used a lot of public transport in Poland, so can't compare with that part :)

Good Luck, pani !

Dobry film, jeszcze bardziej przekonało żeby tam się wybrac na city breaka

thats a standart for pretty much every country that 99.999999% rest of the country is far better than the capital. :D

I like the country Latvia!

Okay, yes, I agree about the buses. I usually use trams though, and they’re pretty good, no?

Great

The Promenade runs parallel to the river and the sea. It's a row of shops and eateries to spend money at. To reach the sea you can pass by it. Everything is fenced in that town now, private property and paid amenities for tourists. Property tax through the roof. It's quiet during winter when tourists aren't there. During a real winter you can cut across that "lake" instead of going around. If you don't dare walking on it, it's not winter.

1. Yes, winters can be cold, but they are rarely brutal nowadays. As you said, there's often not much sun so stay inside and keep warm! 2. As for friendships - we have severe trust issues, as someone from Poland you'll probably understand. We tend to be more open during holidays, summer solstice in particular. 3. Public transport - there have been A LOT of mistakes in the past which are further made worse by the dire demographic situation and never ending increase of cost of living in the city forcing locals to the outskirts or out of the city entirely... by which point, as you said, public transport is basically left for those who can't afford a car. Routes used to be fine a decade ago, it's just that the city hasn't kept up with the aforementioned. 4. Riga as a city is dying, and fast. The active lifestyle you're talking about isn't sustainable anymore as there's simply significantly less young people compared to before which is made even worse by the fact that cost of living here has risen to the point where it's not realistic for locals to go out for a dinner more than once a week anyway. Latvia isn't the worst place to be young but it's far from being good. 5. I do not qualify to comment. :(

Cēsis is not so far, maximum 2 hours from Rīga by train or bus, not 3h30m.

Well, there are words thar refer to parts down south that are vulgar, like in almost any language. You could use them to refer to a person with contempt. I think meat is an essential flavor in dinner. You add as much as you can afford to a vegetable/starch based meal instead of trying to create something with a combination of spices. Counting from zero is a relatively new thing in culture. There is no 0 on a conventional clock. Usually a floor isn't at exactly ground level in a house, but a little raised on a foundation to proect it from water. I don't like when people walk side by side and occupy the entire path. Especially if thye walk slowly and are in a rowdy mood. It depends on who is more intimidating. If there is a dog on a leash, I have to pass him on the wrong side, because it would be impractical for its owner to pull the dog in suddenly. Second hand clothes used to have negative connotations, that a person who goes to those shops is of low class. The clothes used to be given for free as a humanitarian aid or importedin bulk after being discarded. There a small number of shops where you can buy used items, but the prices are now low.

Winters are very mild because of the proximity to sea. This video is from 2024. This year's winter was particularly warm. Rain, mud, more rain, 0°. I don't think the big rivers even froze over to walk on reliably. When you see snow stuck on trees like on the picture, that happens in warm temperatures, and the snow falls down soon. You can experience an amazing level of sound damping for road noises and such. At -20° the sky is clear and any rare snow is a fine powder. If you are carrying a bag or abox, you can put it down and it stays clean. Or you can slip and fall and it's nothing. Yes, agree that relationships with people are difficult to build. You are showing a relatively *new* Solaris bus in Riga. Those have more bells and whistles than you can shake a stick at: cameras, kiosk displays, phone power sockets, beeping doors, battery power, suspension that lowers the step, air cooling, automatic stop announcement with GPS. Public transport might be bad in other towns. But in Riga the local authority gets new buses often, scraps old buses or donates them to Ukraine. The stink comes from people. It is relatively easy to ride without a ticket, and homeless people with dirty clothes or beer bottles do that. In winter there is smell from the humidity. The incidence of vandalism is low because of surveillance cameras. Look up Ikarus in Russia to see an example of an "old" bus. Or a basic Turkish Mercedes O345 that they scrapped. They should have been more frugal. Trams from the 70s still are stil in service with upgrades. The frequency of buses was reduced since the Divoc-38 crisis and never restored. They probably reduced the fleet, and a great many riders don't pay and show in the statistics. I'm sorry, but the the story of the Princess and the Pea comes to mind. There is no sun in winter. I don't know where you could by a sunscreen. In summer people get brown intentionally and get free Vitamin D.

There is a lot of free land where you can walk in nature in comparison to Western europe with higher population density. The prices on farmers' market are high, or they have the same imported fruit as in supermarkets. Few people go to open air markets these days. An increasing proportion of the area is occupied by tourist shops with worthless trinkets or food courts. I think people are insincere when they engage with traditions. They may say that they eat some ancient foods or drink herbal teas or dance in traditional peasant garb on holidays. But nobody really does that unless they are paid to appear as a cultural ambassador. On holidays it's about having a bbq cookout and eating a lot of (contemporary) food and drinking alcohol. It's a good thing that you usually don't need to speak while shopping. You might need to say "good morning" on the farmers' market, but in a city story you can just hand the cash or use a credit card at a self-checkout.

Tallinn, not Tallin.

I'm thinking about visiting Latvia. I actually visited Poland before. My best friend's wife was from Poland, and her best friend was getting married. They invited me to go with them to Poland. I had fun. The Polish folks were friendly for the most part, but we received a lot of stares when visiting rural areas of the country. Perhaps it's because my best friend is Black and I'm Asian, and these people have never seen our kind in person before.

FINALLY something besides Rīga 😻😻😻

WE EAT MEAT ! WE STRONK! 😻

Latvians are COLD, no ifs no buts

There are off course really strong swearing words in Latvian, but sadly, in the event of mishap the first bad words arrive in Russian :( Unfortunately Evil Empire's influence on our culture is stronger than we would like to.

I'm from Cēsis. I like that here are many old wooden houses which are keeped and restored, especially in the old town area. I haven't been to Kuldīga but I heard it is a also a town which is pretty famous for wood architecture, similar like Cēsis.

Omg thank you for talking about the public transport issues. I usually feel kinda bad complaining about that, but It makes me feel less crazy that you feel the same way. I started biking in Riga and feel so much better, I would definitely recommend doing that in the warmer months.

Dziękuję! I am from Latvia and I have recently visited Poland and it was a perfect trip. I visited Warszawa, Krakow and Zakopane. I really liked polish people (maybe because my grandmother is polish XD). I try to learn some polish too, because it seems like in countryside most people don't speak English

Lietuva.Kaunas 1000k❤ Latvia ,Polska ,Ukraine!!!

Those are some good points that I never heard from a foreigner. I agree, navigating on sidewalks in city center is a nightmare, loads of people just don't know (or rather don't bother) with the right side rule. Outside the center it's much easier and people actually walk on the right side. Except for a "mommy-stroller party" those people think they are gods of the road and everyone should move around them :D

Sadly both pedestrian manners and road manners are horrid in cities with a lot of soviet occupation baggage - Daugavpils and Riga. You can see someone is not gonna move from your path from a distance. Establish eye contact, normally it makes them reconsider the trajectory. If that doesn't work just stand your ground or go through them. Is what it is. Not all of Latvia is like this.

I like the country latvia❤😍

Latvia is a beautiful place♥️

Lido is the worst food chain in the world. Both food and service are cold. To be fair, service in Latvia is poor in general. Visit Kozy Eats at Blaumana iela if you want good vegetarian food.

AGA, grateful an algorithm delivered your channel to me. I'm planning an extended stay in 2025. btw, my grandmother was born in Cesis. Oh...I also love Prāta Vētra!

JELGAVA AMAZING🧨🧨🧨🧨

Love your video! As a Latvian I can tell you that we ourselves constantly complain about weather - even when its good, sunny and hot. About people coldness - you already explained - you have to gain our trust and then youll get true friend for life. Public transport in Riga old!? - not sure what have you used to but have been in Poland and we have same busses, nice new Skoda troleybuses and trams. About connections - agree - they are Riga center focused. And we rarely buy cosmetics in Drogas - after Covid quite a part of trade have moved to online shops. So try asking locals about where to buy something specific.