LATVIA might SURPRISE you A LOT, actually 🇱🇻

LATVIA is a country with a small population… even less than many global cities! But RIGA (Latvia’s capital) and JELGAVA are two gorgeous cities in the Baltic region of Europe, and in my opinion, they are much too often overlooked. If you let it, Latvia will surprise you a lot! It certainly surprised me, and I can’t wait to share with you why that is.

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Have You Seen My Poland Videos? Here are the links!:

First Time in Poland! (Wrocław): ➡️➡️ https://youtu.be/FpV0rHSc4zw ⬅️⬅️

Poland is Inspiring (Full Roadtrip): ➡️➡️ https://youtu.be/b0MnmShVLv8 ⬅️⬅️
Gdańsk is Underrated: ➡️➡️ https://youtu.be/4mzd-sPZnno ⬅️⬅️
Warsaw has 4 Personalities: ➡️➡️ https://youtu.be/9If10rktqk0 ⬅️⬅️

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My name is Josh, and this channel is my chance to connect with fellow travelers. I’ve been to 56 countries and my dream is to set foot on every nation on the planet. I hope that my channel can bring you some joy, entertainment, and laughter as we build our travel & food itineraries together.

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00:00 INTRO
00:38 SMALL BUT MIGHTY
02:51 JELGAVA & HILL OF THE CROSSES
05:43 LATVIAN FOOD
06:59 BIG FISH SMALL POND

That man right there is the president of the 
nation of Latvia. His name is Edgars Rinkēvičs, and he is the first openly gay head of state 
in any European country. [crowd] Yeah! And yes, that’s right, He simply walked past me in the 
middle of the square as I was touring Riga, Latvia’s capital city. It was very unexpected. But 
what’s crazy is that this was actually only one of a handful of different things that genuinely 
surprised me throughout my time in the Baltics. My name is Josh and I am a digital nomad who lives 
in a different country every single month. Join me as I explore two cities in Latvia, one of the 
great hidden gems of Eastern Europe. Latvia is small but mighty. It has a population of just 
around 1.8 million people. For comparison, the metropolitan area of Jacksonville, Florida, 
the 10th largest city in the United States, has around 1.76 million people all by 
itself. And yet, despite its small size, Latvia absolutely deserves to have its own moment 
in the spotlight. The first thing I always try to do in any new city is to book a free walking tour. 
It’s how I get the lay of the land and understand all the necessary context about a city’s past 
so that I have a sense of everything going on around me. So, that’s exactly what I did. Um, 
and and right off the bat, there were several surprises on this tour. Firstly, I was surprised 
to learn that Riga is a hugely popular place for bachelor parties within Europe. It is so random. 
It’s very surprising. I kind of love it. It was also on this same walking tour that, as mentioned 
in the open, I saw the actual president of Latvia. I would have never known in a million years 
that this was the president if the guide hadn’t stopped and pointed him out to us. But um the 
the final surprise I took from the walking tour is actually my favorite of them all. If you know 
me, you know that I love movies. I love cats, uh, and I love the Academy Awards. And in 2025, 
the winner of the Oscar for best animated feature film didn’t go to Disney. It didn’t go to 
DreamWorks or to Studio Ghibli. It went to Flow, a gorgeous film about a black cat that was created 
and animated by a tiny little team right here in Latvia. Now, the surprise to me is not that the 
film is Latvian, okay? I I knew that already. The surprise was how much the city grabbed on to 
and embraced Flow and its characters and all the people who made it. At the moment, the city’s 
name signs, like this one, all feature characters from the movie. There is merchandise for Flow in 
just about every shop. Winning that Oscar was such a big deal to Latvia, and I absolutely love that 
so, so much. It was so cute. But even for as cute and filled with surprises as Riga is, it actually 
was not the only city that I visited in Latvia. There is a lesser known city in Latvia called 
Jelgava. And simply the fact that I even went to Jelgava at all was a huge surprise to me. 
I had no idea it was even happening. I didn’t plan on it. I literally just ended up there. How 
does that happen? Allow me to explain. One of the most popular day trips that you can take out 
from Riga is to the Hill of the Crosses. Now, let me make this very clear right here and right 
now. The Hill of the Crosses is not in Latvia. Okay? In fact, if you choose to take this tour 
from Riga, it is impossible to be confused about which country you are in and when because you 
will literally stop for a whole photo shoot at the border between the two countries. The Hill of 
the Crosses in Lithuania is really, really cool and absolutely worth visiting regardless of if 
you’re choosing to stay in Riga or in Vilnius or anywhere in between. This right here, this was the 
reason that I booked this tour. But what I did not know was that after we were finished at the hill, 
we would cross the border back over into Latvia and spend the second half of the day visiting 
the beautiful Latvian city known as Jelgava. Talk about a pleasant surprise. I had no idea we 
were even planning to visit this city. And I mean, just look at how pretty it is. Seriously, 
this river, the art. We ate at this little cafe right along the water and just enjoyed the 
sunshine. It was so relaxing. I had a breakfast croissant and a piece of matcha cake. And don’t 
they just look so good in this lighting? I mean, come on. I can’t get over it. We visited 
a gorgeous blue Orthodox cathedral known as St. Simeon and St. Annes Cathedral. It was 
stunning both inside and out and is one of the rare Orthodox cathedrals that is totally okay with 
tourists filming and taking photos. The design in these spaces is always so incredible and intricate 
and detailed. I mean, they really are some of the most jaw-dropping religious spaces in the 
world in my opinion. I actually went to the most famous one in Riga as well, the Nativity of Christ 
Cathedral. And the way the light pours in and just illuminates these spaces feels so mysterious 
and beautiful. It honestly feels like being in a movie. And somehow after all of that, we even 
had time to go and visit the Jelgava Palace. Yeah, the city of Jelgava has a whole palace. 
And it’s actually the largest Baroque style palace in all of the Baltic states. 
Unfortunately, we were unable to go inside, so we could only take a look from the courtyard. 
Uh, but to make up for it, our tour guide gave us the chance to drink some Riga Black Balsam in the 
parking lot. This was surprising yet again. Balsam is considered by many to be the national drink 
of Latvia. And um, it’s kind of good. Um, don’t tell the Bachelor Party boys back in Ria about 
this. It could um, it could end poorly for them. They’ll be falling off their bikes. Actually, 
that would be really funny. Maybe we should. Yes. Uh, Latvia does have its own food. That 
part didn’t surprise me. Of course they do. Every country has its own food. But I didn’t 
expect to like it this much, though. I mean, take Lido for example. It’s a restaurant 
chain popular throughout Riga that has sort of a self-serve kitchen style setup. Honestly, 
everything here smells amazing. I had no idea what to choose. I was holding up the whole line trying 
to decide. I eventually settled on some chicken, uh, some cheesy summer squash, some veggies, a 
salad, a cider, and also this thing that looks like ice cream, but is actually very crunchy and 
hard and is not ice cream at all. Dessert aside, though, uh, the rest of the food was was so so 
amazing. I mean, incredible, actually. I loved it. I would go back right now if I could. And speaking 
of food, I can’t talk about Riga without at least mentioning the central market. Honestly, this part 
not really surprising. It’s pretty much a market where you can find all kinds of produce and meat 
and souvenirs, but it is based inside an old blimp hanger, and that part is pretty cool. These types 
of markets are fairly universal around the world, and yet they’re always worth visiting. Nowhere 
brings a city together like a market, and you can just feel the energy and the life as you walk 
from hanger to hanger. Don’t skip out on this one. I come from a pretty large nation. Uh, the United 
States is a place that is in the news all around the world every single day. Like it or not, we 
get a lot of attention all the time. As such, we don’t have any sort of connection or 
pride in our nation’s creations. No one from the US is celebrating Taylor Swift with 
an American flag or giving Quinten Tarantino the keys to the nation anytime he wins an Oscar. 
And while of course there are benefits to living in a large place like the US, it does mean 
that you take things like that for granted. Latvia surprised me in quite a few ways, but it 
wasn’t the bachelor parties or the president on the street that did me in. The thing that really 
got me was the love and the appreciation for their artists for breaking through and showing Latvian 
cinema to the world. It gets me emotional just thinking about it because the fact that we 
live in a time where more and more people from more and more places have the tools that 
they need to break through in the world of art and entertainment is so exciting. Smaller 
countries don’t get the spotlight often, but in my experience, they tend to appreciate 
it a whole lot when they do. So hopefully this video puts a spotlight on Latvia. It’s 
a small country, but it packs a punch.