8th of August 2026 - Riga

Our ship the Silver Dawn docked at Riga this morning.  I wish that there were smaller ships to go on for some of my sea cruises however there are few options for the itineraries I wish to follow.

Latvia’s capital and largest city Riga was founded in 1201 and is set on the Daugava River near the Gulf of Riga.  It grew as a major Hanseatic League trading hub and today is known for its UNESCO listed historic centre especially its exceptional Art Nouveau architecture and medieval Old Town.  Riga is affectionately known as the Baltic Berlin.

Riga has one of the largest collections of Art Nouveau buildings in the world with at least 800 buildings. This is due to Riga experiencing a financial and demographic at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries when Art Nouveau was at the height of its popularity.

We visited the the Splendid Palace, an art nouveau theatre, to watch the "Dzintariņš", a Latvian children's folk dance ensemble that participate in various festivals both in Latvia and abroad.  The ensemble has about 250 members aged 2 to 18 years.

Flow (Straume) is the first Latvian film ever to win an Academy Award taking the Oscar for Best Animated Feature.  It is a dialogue free story about a cat navigating a flooded, dreamlike world meeting other animals as they drift through shifting landscapes.  Naturally Latvians are very proud of winning an Oscar and the statue of a cat outside Splendid Palace commemorates this achievement.

The Latvian Riflemen Monument in Riga’s Old Town was built in 1971 and commemorates the Latvian riflemen who fought in World War I and later joined the Bolsheviks.  This is a reminder of Latvia’s complex Soviet past.

We ended our visit to Riga with a walk around the historic old town.

7th of August 2026 - Liepāja

Liepāja is Latvia’s third largest city and an important ice‑free port on the Baltic Sea with a history stretching back to the 13th century.  It is known as “the city where the wind is born” for its constant sea breeze and coastal character.  I would describe Liepāja as very windy especially at the port where our ship docked.

Our tour of Liepāja started with a short organ recital in Liepāja Holy Trinity Cathedral famous for housing one of the world’s largest mechanical organs.

Liepāja’s Rose Garden has colourful flower beds and a series of plaques set into the paths and flower beds that honour Liepāja’s twin towns and partner cities.  Each plaque carries the name of a city and often its coat of arms.

The Hotel Līva displays a large historic photograph of pre‑war Liepāja in its lobby and sits right beside the Rose Square fountain.

St. Anne’s Church was built in the late 19th century in Neo‑Gothic style.

The Liepāja Marketplace (Pētertirgus) is an historic market hall built in 1910 and still quite lively today.

Jūrmalas Park is a long, tree lined park running parallel to the beach which is dotted with stone pedestals honouring notable Latvian cultural figures including composers, writers, artists and performers connected to Liepāja.  Each pedestal carries a bronze plaque with the person’s name and contribution.

The Ghost Tree (Spoku koks) is a sculptural tribute to the legendary Latvian rock band Līvi who were born in the city.  It commemorates Līvi’s musicians, especially those who passed away, and symbolises the band’s lasting influence on Latvian rock culture.

Our tour of ended with a walk down to the beach from Jūrmalas Park which has the most beautiful soft sand.

We finished our day with dinner at our favourite restaurant on board ship.  We cook meat or fish exactly the way we like them at our table on a slab of super-heated lava stone brought to our table at around 400–450°C.

6th of August 2026 - Gdańsk

The city of Gdańsk in Poland has been shaped by trade, conflict and a workers’ movement Solidarity that helped end communism in Europe.  Gdańsk, sitting at the mouth of the Vistula River, was founded over a thousand years ago and grew rich as a trading city.  Over centuries it has shifted between Polish and German control. After World War I it became the Free City of Danzig and in 1939 the German attack on nearby Westerplatte marked the start of World War II.  Gdańsk was rebuilt after 1945 and is now one of Poland’s key port cities.

The Fahrenheit Thermometer Monument commemorates Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit, the physicist born in Gdańsk who invented the mercury thermometer and the Fahrenheit temperature scale.

St. Mary’s Church (Bazylika Mariacka) is one of the largest brick churches in the world and a defining feature of Gdańsk’s skyline.

In August 1980 strikes at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk, led by Lech Wałęsa, created Solidarity which was the first independent trade union in the Soviet bloc.  It grew into a social movement of 10 million people, survived martial law and negotiated talks in 1989 which paved the way for democratic change in Poland.

Our day ended in the Observation Lounge on board ship with beautiful views of the sunset.