Our visit to Riga stood completely in the shadow of the Annual Meeting of the European Bank. Fearing intrusions like the ones at recent World Bank meetings the police was out in huge numbers. We saw almost no locals except as sales or wait personell, or selling tickets to museums, churches, etc. Unknowingly, we were lucky to get a room. We only figured out the special circumstances when we saw all the suits and badges. The local currency - one Lats - was worth app. 4 US$, which made prices look cheap, but if you did your math, everything was shockingly expensive. To this day we do not know if the high prices we encountered in this town where due to the conference, or if they are typical. The police precautions were either unnecessary or paid off. It was a very peaceful time in Riga.
The buildings in Riga where already very well restored. Downtown is very walkable and compact, clean, fresh, open and western. We only saw very few construction sites. It was quite a contrast to Kalinigrad.
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