Saturday, August 14, 2010

A Park in Riga


I was not prepared for the beauty of Latvia's capital, Riga.  It reminded me so much of Sicily.  The city is known in two parts, Old Riga and New Riga.  Old Riga is just that, the old part of the city, the part that survived the 50 years of Russian occupancy.  The part full of history, heart, and character.

As we walked to town from our apartment, we crossed a bridge and found this GORGEOUS and ENCHANTING park close to the heart of the city.  It just took my breath away.

It was green and lush and just begged you to come and wander through her paths.

As we entered, we came to another small bridge covered in locks.
Taylor had tried to tell me about this sometime in the past. 

She had told me that when people get married, they put a key on a bridge.
So when we stumbled across this bridge, it became clear she had meant locks instead of keys!
It was a very cool thing to see and Taylor said she had never seen a bridge with this many, and she had never seen this park.  It was really fun to share it with her and watch her look at the different locks.

 
Most of the locks were plain but all had the names of the married couple with their wedding date.  Some were written on with permanent marker, some were engraved and others had little plaques on them.

Then there was this one!  This couple's love is locked and their marriage is sure to last forever!
It was such a sweet thing to share with Taylor.  I am hoping she will tuck this tradition away in her heart and celebrate it MANY years from now when she is a bride.

  
Speaking of brides, we saw this bride and groom behind a church with their photographer.
They were wearing traditional Latvian wedding attire... very cool.

We had just passed the guests leaving the church and I loved the wreath of flowers on the little girl's head on the left... I am guessing she was a flower girl.  So simple and yet so beautiful... as is the country itself.

I'll finish this post with more pictures from the park... the park I hope to dream about often.
Happy weekend.







2 comments:

  1. Love the pictures! They make me long to go on a european vacation.

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  2. Oh my gosh! How amazing! I love love love the bride and groom and bridge with the keys!! What an incredible, heartwarming and beautiful story-cant wait to hear more :)

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