European Railroad Discussion > European Railway Stations Part 11

Riga (as the huge sign says) Latvia. I really like this station. Particularly how the glass front reflects the buildings across the street. Riga is a really neat city with lots of historic architecture.  I have a  high school friend who has lived there for many years and we decided to visit for a few days two years ago. Steve's third wife (don't' ask) is Latvian so she and Yana hit it off babbling away in their primary language. Following was an excellent ferry journey to Stockholm. More like a mini cruise ship then a ferry.  A brief side story. When we arrived at Riga airport, the Soviet like border guard insisted Yana and her son have travel insurance although non was required for me. More prejudice against non-Schengen area Eastern European nations. I thought it strange since both Latvia and Ukraine were once both part of the Soviet Union in "former times".  They let her through but told her she couldn't  leave the country without the insurance and we should go buy it right away and return with documentation. But we never went back to the airport, got on the ferry and arrived in Sweden with no further border check. They flew back to Kiev from there.  So the border guard at Riga never knew.  

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That is a very interesting station design: its modern but looks fantastic.
Thanks for the photo posting.
ALLEN

Your story about border rigamarole tickled me. I first went to the Baltic States in 1995, we arrived in Talinn by sea from Stockholm with my company car, spent four days in Estonia before driving to Riga. In those days each country still rigourously maintained border formalities. We arrived at the Estonian checkpoint and they wouldn't let us through. The car I was driving was owned by my employer and so I didn't have the original registration document, just a certified copy. Not good enough, so I had to drive back to Talinn, about 80 miles, visit the British Embassy, get the consul to countersign and stamp the document. He also said he'd phone the Minister of the Interior as this was not uncommon. So back to the border, this time the entire border force was lined up saluting. Obviously the phone call worked. The Latvians just waved us through.