Well, the calendars I have also have snow and wooden fences so...no deal!
but seriously: awesome photos and thanks for posting.
It looks like I will be going back this summer. It's been....9 years I think.
You're welcome and enjoy the trip back
Exterous, I love your pictures of Riga. Could you briefly describe each one? Also, would you recommend Riga over St Petersburg? As much as I would like to go back to St Petes I'm a little apprehensive of the political situation. So if you can convince me Riga is better I might go there instead
The first one is the House of Blackheads in the main 'old town' plaza, which is also where the Occupation Museum (free entry) is located - although its under renovation right now.
The second is of a plaza near St. Peter's church where we stopped for a quick beer and some food.
The third is the entrance to the Nativity of Christ Cathedral. This is one of the churches I didn't go in because of the 'no shorts' dress code but the doors were open and I got a pretty good look at the inside from the entry way. Very ornate and beautiful interior.
The forth is the National Opera building across from a fairly nice park. Sadly no tours or anything offered of the inside
The next two are of St. Peter's cathedral with the last being a picture of the woodwork at the back of the wooden edifice (?) at the back of the altar
I just realized that my photos are slightly out of order is the one after St. Peters is actually back at the Nativity of Christ Cathedral
The second to last is of a random green space we passed that we thought looked nice.
Hopfully thats at least kinda what you were looking for. As for Riga vs SPB thats a tough comparison because they are pretty different. SPB has a lot more to see and do but I do enjoy the easy walk-ability of Riga as opposed to needing transportation in SPB. Lots of nice green spaces and flowers in the old town area as well. We found the people friendly and English was commonly spoken. We also heard quite a few Brits in the area. Between the two I would probably go back to SPB first as there are still lots of things to see that we didn't get to, however if I had been to SPB and not been to Riga I would go to Riga. As for the political situation we never felt unsafe in SPB but at most tourist places nationalities fade away more than non-tourist places.