Today, the fellows embarked on another adventure in Riga, this time with Daniel Moscoso leading the charge. We started the day with a visit to the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia, where we learned about Latvia’s brief independence and the subsequent Soviet and Nazi rule over the country. After that, we dove into the gastronomic side of Latvia with a culinary tour. Our guide, Marcus, showed us the many oddities and delicacies in Riga’s central market as he offered his own unique perspective on Latvian culture as an Australian expatriate. We finished the tour by sampling a variety of local specialties such as smoked deer, rye bread with hemp butter, pickled cabbage, and cottage cheese pastries. Once we had had our fill, we set out for the Riga Film Museum. There, we were introduced to the surreal world of Latvian animation with Ansis Bērzinš beloved classic “Phantadrome 5. Milk”. We also heard the intriguing details of a court battle over the rights to films commissioned by the now defunct communist governments of Latvia and Russia. After the film museum, we engaged in a competition of navigation and observation. The task: to find and take photos of as many coffee shops as we could find in Riga. The reward: dessert paid for by our chaperones. After great effort by all of the two person teams, the challenge ended in a tie with several groups close behind. We finished our day with a lovely dinner at a medieval themed restaurant, where we filled the entire eatery with lively discussion about chivalry in the modern era, high school athletics, and the days to come. Now, we retire to our rooms to catch up on lost sleeping and journal about our experiences.

Chris Kazakis-