Riga central market
Jul. 5th, 2003 04:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
randomnessRiga's central market is a major landmark and the city's biggest source of food. It is huge. How big is it? After the First World War, someone bright came up with the idea of moving five airship hangars from the Latvian coast to Riga. The hangars had been built by the Imperial Russian Air Service for their now-lost airship fleet, and would be just the thing to cover the Riga central market and protect it against the weather.
Five airship hangars.
Mind you, the Imperial Russian Air Service had smaller airships than the U.S. Navy, so the hangars aren't quite as gigantic as the one at Moffett Field. Still, you could put a football field inside each of these things with plenty of room to spare. And the market doesn't actually fit inside the five of them, but spills out all around.
One of the hangars is devoted to fish, one to produce, one is a butcher market, one has lots of delicatessen stalls. The fifth is divided into sections including baked goods and nuts. Outside, there are sections for flowers, clothes, shoes, household goods, and more produce. People say one can get lost here although I didn't find it very confusing. Just big. Very big.
I rather wished I had a self-catering flat, or at least a kitchen, to take advantage of all this food.
The market is, broadly speaking, open from 0700 to 1700 daily, although individual kiosks may open earlier or later. The market takes up a lot of space behind the train station and behind the bus station. To say, "You can't miss it" is something of an understatement, as you can see the airship hangars from anywhere nearby.
Five airship hangars.
Mind you, the Imperial Russian Air Service had smaller airships than the U.S. Navy, so the hangars aren't quite as gigantic as the one at Moffett Field. Still, you could put a football field inside each of these things with plenty of room to spare. And the market doesn't actually fit inside the five of them, but spills out all around.
One of the hangars is devoted to fish, one to produce, one is a butcher market, one has lots of delicatessen stalls. The fifth is divided into sections including baked goods and nuts. Outside, there are sections for flowers, clothes, shoes, household goods, and more produce. People say one can get lost here although I didn't find it very confusing. Just big. Very big.
I rather wished I had a self-catering flat, or at least a kitchen, to take advantage of all this food.
The market is, broadly speaking, open from 0700 to 1700 daily, although individual kiosks may open earlier or later. The market takes up a lot of space behind the train station and behind the bus station. To say, "You can't miss it" is something of an understatement, as you can see the airship hangars from anywhere nearby.
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(no subject)
Date: 2003-07-06 08:06 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-07-06 09:14 pm (UTC)See http://www.myairship.com/faq/index.html for the definitions and categories of airships. The hangar at Moffett Field was built as one of a whole chain of hangars around the continental U. S. by the Navy to house airships like the U. S. S. Akron and U. S. S. Macon. There's another one like it in Tillamook, Oregon, which now houses a museum of historic aircraft. That's the only other airship hangar I've been in.
Hmmm. I guess this means I've now been in six airship hangars.
What kinds of things does NASA Ames use the hangar for nowadays? (If you have some non-disclosure agreement that prevents you from talking about it, feel free to say so.)