Places louisarigali Wants to Go

A stone marker and sculpture in the city of Riga stake a claim for the very first community Christmas tree.

A preserved oak tree about 3,500 years old found in Riga, Latvia.

A map store filled with original Cold War era Russian maps of the world.

This charming Latvian lane doubled as Baker Street on the Soviet Union’s version of Sherlock Holmes.

This enigmatic artifact remained buried in a churchyard for years.

The statue of a legendary giant who carried Christ and shouldered the world's sins.

Burlesque Hospital Themed Restaurant.

A black cat protests the City Guild in Riga's Old Town.

The oldest housing complex in Riga is a mini timeline of architectural trends.

This celebration of Latvia’s freedom and independence avoided demolition over half a century of Soviet occupation.

This controversial statue once honoured a Russian Field Marshall, before ultimately being dismantled in a push to remove symbols of Russian influence.

A former Latvian headquarters of the brutal KGB secret police is now open as a grim reminder of their atrocities.

Flamboyant architecture from the turn of 20th century.

A small museum contains one of the largest collections of ethnic and traditional headgear in the world.

Rainwater transformed this old quarry into a peaceful pond you won't find in most tourist books.

This fairy-tale, neo-Gothic church in the Azores is a world of magical realism.

A perfectly circular lake is formed by the crater of an ancient underwater volcano.

Europe's oldest still-operational tea farm also boasts a spectacular view.

A 19th-century mansion houses the largest collection of gin in the European Union.

One artist's collection of homemade handicrafts doubles as a monument to 20th-century material culture.

This abandoned five-star hotel is now a five-star urban exploration destination.

Legend has it the lovelorn tears of a princess and a shepherd boy formed the blue and green twin lakes in the Azores archipelago.

As the highest point in the Mid-Atlantic range this stratovolcano offers spectacular views.

On the cliffs of São Jorge in the Azores stand the remains of a lighthouse that was struck by a series of earthquakes.