| Latvia should be called the country of loose change. The base unit of Latvian's national currency is the lat. One Latvian lat is worth more than one US dollar or one British pound. Since prices are cheap, many consumer goods cost less than a lat. People jingle with Latvian cents. Latvia also doesn't observe daylight savings time, so while it is wedged between Estonia and Lithuania, it's an hour behind both countries, disconcerting for people watching time as they travel the short 650 km through the Baltics.
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| This cat statue has a black cat past: the sculptor fell to his death while placing the cat on the roof. The owner wanted the cat there to cause trouble - a curse for his neighbors across the street. |
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| The house at the end of the street may look off-kilter, it's over 600 years old, the oldest house in Riga. |
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| Riga overview: The freedom tower, named 'Milda,' in the upper left is a city symbol. Near the picture center are the giant zeppelin hangers of Riga's central market, in its day the largest market in Europe (built in the 1930's). |