Saturday, May 21 – Eve Thomas, junior alto (section leader)
Today was our first full day in Riga, and we were all excited to explore the city in greater depth. I woke up feeling refreshed and ready to go after a good night’s sleep. Our accommodations are quite nice, and many of us enjoy the Albert Einstein references throughout the hotel, such as atom printed carpet, quotes in the elevator, and a reading area on the main floor. (Albert Einstein actually lived in Riga for two years!) The breakfast spread was amazing – there were so many options, from fresh fruit and jams to bread and cheese to hot dishes. My favorite part was the selection of teas and honey. After eating a filling breakfast, we all met in the hotel lobby at 9 am to begin our walking tour of the Art Nouveau district with two local tour guides. It was a beautiful day today – sunny and warm enough to go without a jacket.
The tour guide for my group, George, was extremely knowledgeable about Latvian history and culture, and was quite funny as well. We started by walking a few blocks to Alberta iela (Albert Street), where the majority of the buildings were designed by Mihails Eizensteins at the turn of the twentieth century. The entire street was built in only five years, with the ideals of Russian luxury reflected in the designs. At first glance, buildings in the Art Nouveau style look like the standard Neoclassical style, but upon closer examination, the funny faces and elaborate and exotic ornamentation and curves identify them as part of the Art Nouveau style. As an interesting contrast, George also pointed out a few buildings designed with a Latvian mentality. These structures were not as loud or flashy, but they were still beautifully designed to emphasize the qualities of the natural materials. In addition, the interiors of these buildings were much more functional, with elevators and heating inside. As we walked through these streets, I was struck by the wide variety of building styles all right next to each other. I think it’s cool that the Latvians decided to keep homes and businesses built in different time periods rather than tearing them down.
After this brief walking tour, we boarded the buses for a tour of other areas of the city. Riga is considered the “small Paris of the North,” with wide boulevards and green spaces, as well as architecture influenced by Austrian, Greek, and Roman styles. We passed by many interesting buildings, including the National Opera House, where Eriks Esenvalds (who we will be working with on Monday) just premiered a new opera this weekend, and the Freedom Monument. We got off the bus again to explore the Old Town on foot. Riga was founded in 1201 when Albert Buxhoevden, a monk from Bremen, Germany, came to Latvia to convert the “heathens.” He called for a group of Teutonic knights, originally the Sword Brothers, to come help him with this task.
One of the most famous buildings in this area is the Society of the Blackheads, which was originally built as a guildhall and gathering place for rich German merchants in 1334, and has since been renovated multiple times. George told us that beginning around 1510, they began decorating a tree for Christmastime in the town square. Today, this society is considered to be the first to decorate a tree for Christmas. We just happened to be in the Old Town while a Medieval festival was going on, so it was easy to imagine how this area looked, smelled, and felt 800 years ago. George talked about two of the oldest churches, St. John’s and St. Peter’s, regarding how their roles changed over the years with the Protestant Reformation. While walking through the streets, we passed one called Riharda Vagnera iela (Richard Wagner Street). George explained that Wagner actually lived in Riga and served as Kapellmeister for the orchestra for a couple years when he was trying to escape his debts. We ended our tour in the center of the Old Town, and then had a few hours of free time to eat lunch and explore.
I went with a small group to the Riga Central Market, which is housed in old German Zeppelin hangars by the Daugava River. Walking through the market was a huge sensory overload – there were so many people, smells, and things to look at. There were stands selling items as varied as fish, pastries, souvenirs, yarn, clothes, and so much more. I had brought some snacks with me, so I just got a few pastries for lunch and to save for later. I was surprised by how cheap everything was – I got good-sized pastries for 20, 30, or 40 cents! While trying to communicate with the Latvian shop owners, I realized how much Americans take for granted the fact that people from other countries speak English and will understand them. I have traveled abroad multiple times, and I’ve never had much trouble communicating with locals because they usually speak English. Throughout my two days here, it has been more difficult for me to order food or ask questions because a large number of Latvians don’t speak English, or only have a limited vocabulary. I think that this is a good thing though, because it gives all of us an idea of how difficult it is for people who don’t speak English to communicate with us in America.
Once we left the Riga Central Market, we walked back towards the Old Town, stopping in a Baltic jewelry shop to admire their beautiful designs. We continued to slowly make our way back to the hotel, looking at roadside stands and passing by the Freedom Monument to get a closer look. We got back to the hotel with just enough time to change and get ready for our rehearsal and concert at St. John’s Church. After learning so much about Latvian history and culture, I think we were all excited to share our music with an audience for the first time. The inside of St. John’s is beautiful, with stained glass windows, an intricate altar, and a web design on the ceiling. It’s crazy to think that people have been gathering in that space for almost 800 years. Our rehearsal mainly consisted of getting used to the space. This church is much more resonant than Sheslow. I loved hearing each chord ring after Dr. ABC cut us off.
We had a short amount of free time before the concert, which choir members used to walk around the Old Town or eat a snack. I was curious to see how many people would come to the concert, and was pleasantly surprised to see that the pews of the church were pretty full. We had a solid first concert; I could tell that the audience really enjoyed it. I, and I think several other choir members, feel more connected to the pieces by Esvenvalds and Kas tie tadi after seeing first-hand how resilient the Latvian people are despite their tumultuous history. While we sang Kas tie tadi (our Latvian folk song), there were people in the audience mouthing the words with us. I was very moved to see many of the older audience members give us a standing ovation after that piece. After the concert was over, we all took the buses back to the hotel and had free time for the rest of the night.
I joined a group looking for a sit-down place to eat dinner. After walking around for a while, we found a reasonably priced Italian restaurant in the Old Town. It definitely felt good to sit down and relax! Most of us got pizza, and it was fresh and filling. Tonight was Museum Night in Riga, so we were hoping to get into the Art Museum after dinner since the museums were open until midnight. Unfortunately, we finished dinner around 11, and the lines were so long that we knew we wouldn’t make it in before closing. Even though that was disappointing, I think it’s awesome that so many people wanted to go to the Art Museum on a Saturday night. The line was all the way around the block! I wish people were that excited about art in America.
We had a nice walk back to the hotel, where we split off to relax and get some rest before our busy day tomorrow. I think I can speak for all of Drake Choir when I say that we are so excited and grateful to be here and have all these amazing opportunities and experiences. I am trying to soak in every single moment!
Saturday, May 21 – Kyle Roeder, junior bass
Hello from sunny Latvia! Seriously though, I am writing this blog post at 10:30 PM, and the sun is just setting in Rīga. The people remind me of my lovely mother, Kim Roeder. They are kind and loving and will clap a half an hour for your concert, but if you do something wrong, you’ll know. They love hockey, and therefore I love them.
Latvia–as many of us have found–is unique because the Latvian people are still finding and creating their own new culture. I just finished a walk (hike) around Rīga with a few of my friends, and we were taken aback by the gravity of a national “holiday.” The celebration? All museums in this capital city are completely free and open to public until midnight–just in time to walk home with a few beams of sun left. Interesting for a city that has been obliterated so much that the residents stopped cleaning up and built on top of the rubble.
As we did a walking tour of the ‘Old City’ of Rīga, our tour guide took us through the plaza neighboring St. Peter’s Church. We began by learning about Lutheran tradition in Latvia, and its Germanic/Teutonic roots. We didn’t notice nor could we see at the time, but half of the stained glass windows of the church were missing. It didn’t take me long to reach my conclusion before our guide confirmed my suspicion. The windows no longer exist due to concussion from bombing during WWII. During and after World War II Latvia was successively taken over by the Soviet Union, then Germany, and then again by the Soviet Union. Only 3,500 of 60,000 Jewish Latvians were left following the Holocaust.
Our guide informed us that Germany viewed Latvia as German by association. Germans founded the capital at the beginning of the 13th-century and provided the predominant culture–including cuisine and beer. In turn, the Soviets decided to bomb away the oldest portion of the city.
The city is filled with the most intense juxtaposition I have ever witnessed. Usually, Americans see juxtaposition of time while abroad. In common vacation destinations like London or Rome (maybe not Branson), grand new buildings are placed next to facades that were created as far back as the 16th-century. In Rīga, war-torn is juxtaposed with chic. We have witnessed much rebuilding as the country is still so young. (Latvia became independent in 1991.) Down the street from the hotel, we see a high-end cigar lounge immediately next to a building from 1884 that still has burn marks and cracked stone.
We also witnessed this juxtaposition with a style of architecture called Art Nouveau. A whole district of Rīga (the district in which our hotel is located; it has been designated by UNESCO as a world heritage site) is comprised of buildings dating only to a century ago. However, Art Nouveau makes frequent stylistic references to earlier architectural elements.
As best as can be summed up in Millenial terms, Rīga is pretty chill. Today, we heard about the triumphs of a nation which has existed under the dominance of a succession of more powerful countries and overlords. If Latvia can recover and become a shining cultural center after years of oppression, I think that–not to get righteous–Republicans and Democrats can risk shaking each others’ hands.