At the moment I am stuck because of Corona in Germany and have to stay here too, because the statutory health insurance only pays for my medication in Germany. In Latvia, I am not insured separately. That would simply be too expensive. Because there is no statutory health insurance there. So much for the same standards in the European Union. This is EU swindle.
I used addons in the pictures. Riga Airport is Payware, the city of Riga has been properly recreated as freeware. The same applies to the Trakai Water Castle, a national monument of the Republic of Lithuania. This is where the state of Lithuania was founded.
The Mooney M 20 is a classic. It is still being built in a greatly improved form. Somehow I think she has something of Porsche driving. It is fast, but not necessarily comfortable. This one has a GPS, but without terrain information. In mountainous landscapes I will not use them.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mooney_M20
Riga International Airport (Latvian: Starptautiskā lidosta "Rīga"; IATA: RIX, ICAO: EVRA
Is the new airport of Riga. Start of construction in 1973 I also know the old airport Spilve, which still exists today and is used by the General Aviation, the Aeroclub of Latvia and as a drop-off place for the skydiving school in Riga.
However, EVRA also has a generous area for private fliers, which is mainly used by foreign business tour era. They have their own FBO there.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riga_Inte ... al_Airport
The RIGA TV Tower, with a height of 368.5 metres, is the tallest building in Latvia. A remnant from the time of the Latvian Soviet Republic in the former Union of the USSR. In this form, standing on three legs, he is the only one of the former Soviet Union in the form.
The halls that can be seen in this picture were actually built for Zeppeline in World War I, were brought to Riga after the war and have been used as a market ever since. In its kind, it is the largest of Latvia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riga_Central_Market. The high-rise building of the Academy of Sciences Zinātņu akadēmijas augstceltne ,a remnant of the Soviet Union, can also be seen. They have thought about tearing it down. To this day, however, this has not been the case.
This bridge, the Vanšu Bridge, was built in 1981. In its design as a cable-stayed bridge, it was the largest of its kind in Europe at the time.
Here you can see the main railway station of Riga, where construction is underway. The Latvian railway used the Russian wide gauge of 1520 mm from Russian times, well before the Soviet Union, and this has remained the case to this day. There is, however, a railway project from Paris via Berlin, Warsaw, Vilnius, Riga to Talinn. now with the 1435 mm that is common in Western Europe. So just over 10 years ago, they started to design them, as a high-speed train comparing them with the German ICE. But when construction was supposed to begin, the money was missing and the EU did not want to finance it.
Two years ago, NATO and the commander of the U.S. Land Forces in Europe complained about this, which wanted a military railway to transport tanks to the Baltics. This does not create the planned high-speed railway with top speeds of 320 km/h as usual in Europe, but a line designed for 160 km/h as a military railway to march against Russia. Because of the lower speed, it is therefore not an alternative to the flight, especially since the fare will be more expensive than Ryanair's fares.
We fly back to Riga airport (Starptautiskā lidosta „Rīga“),and then south to Lithuania
This is the water castle Trakai, one of the touritic high-altitude punte in Lithuania, a must see. I was there with my girlfriend at the time. She forgives me for the small weakness of visiting military and political locations wherever possible. Women don't always have the patience to do so...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trakai_Island_Castle
It is time for landing at Vilnius airport, which is rather dreamy compared to that in Riga. I still have plenty of fuel in the tank. I did not calculate in Riga but it went according to the motto "Once full please" With the Money you have the problem that she has like Piper planes a tank selector switch, where you have to change from the right to the left wing tank more often.
Vilnius Airport is freeware and comes close to the original.
