We are staying at the edge of the old city of Riga, where there is a concentration of tourism – hotels, restaurants and bars, museums, street vendors, and gift shops. It’s the easiest thing in the world to find and buy postcards within just a few minutes walk along the cobblestone streets from our apartment.
With the help of my phone I was also able to locate a post office (Latvijas Pasts) on Elizabete Street, in the art nouveau district. Across the street is a fabulous blue-tiled building with large faces, a peacock, and decorative floral shapes sculpted in white stone. The post office itself, however, is ordinary modern city architecture.
Inside, you need to take a number, and it took a bit for me to figure out how to do this. There is a machine near the door that looks like it would spit out tickets and it has a touch-screen with half a dozen options to choose from. Since my translate app wasn’t working at the moment, Trevis used his to translate the options, touched the screen where it said “Buy Postage” and a ticket came out with a number that also appeared on a list on a screen behind the service desk. It wasn’t too busy, so my number came to the top after a couple of customers were served. The woman at the desk took my cards and told me how many euros it would be. Cash or card? All in Latvian, but it was easy to figure out from context and based on what appeared on the screen of the register. While I paid, she applied the stamps to my cards. I stood there for a moment, expecting her to hand me the cards so that I could put them in the drop box, but she motioned me onward. I was a little disappointed. This is the first time I wasn’t able to actually put them in the mail myself. Will they still arrive in the hands of my family without my personal send-off? Probably.
As we were leaving, Trevis asked me if I’ve been documenting the cost of sending these cards by country – we were both surprised at the cost of postage this time and I’m sure the others weren’t as high but don’t have proof. I haven’t been keeping track, but I’ll do that starting now.
Mailed: Aug. 21, 2025
Received: Sept. 8, 2025
Postcards each: 0.90 EUR
Postage each: 3.77 EUR
