The most memorable thing in the palace is the large, white porcelain furnace on the corner of the rooms. It's at least 10 foot tall and it doesn't look like a furnace at all, it was for providing heat for the winter. Latvia could be pretty cold in winter.
I lived in the Southern part of Latvia for a few weeks, where most of the recidents were Russians, so there was no problem of speaking Russian. But in other parts of the country, it's different even back then. In Lithuania, another country nearby, most people openly showed their dislike of Russians. But we were Americans soldiers there learning Russian, so they had no problem to talk with us in Russian. All tourist guides we had could speak Russian. I think because we wanted to hear people speaking Russian instead of English for our Russian immersion program. We couldn't go to either Russia or Belarus for the same purpose because Russia and/or Belarus is not our ally. I think the prior team went to Crimea when it was part of Ukraine.
This palace is a must-be place for tourists going to Latvia.
