Hi Gail! Nice to have you reading!
To answer your question, we did book the lodgings before we left -- in some cities you can get away without doing this, but we didn't want to have to spend any of our time here knocking on doors. When our inter-city travel required flying, we got those tickets in advance, but have been buying bus and train tickets the day of travel. There was a lot of pre-trip planning to make sure it would all work and I think it's safe to say Graham did most of that (though I helped some).
First read - liked it a lot! Hi Erin and Graham! This is my first time reading your blog. I don't think it's the first day of your trip. I plan to read more tomorrow. It's very interesting. The city names intrigue (sp?) me, as I know little of eastern European history. I'm curious if you booked your lodgings before you left and how detailed you planned it before you left. I even enjoyed reading of your airplane ride on this day. I never heard of the airline. Well, enjoy the rest of your trip!
Love, A. Gail
The link to the Toy museum was wonderful! Contemporary artists' dolls that were ironically so old worldly-nostalgic, and the idea of diplomas in doll-making, passing a craft to the next generation. This is one of the richnesses of experiencing europe. Speaking of lovely gardens, taste any local honeys yet?
Sorry Graham, I tried to alter those genes before I passed them to you. Thank Jah Erin was born with a compass in her head. Hoolitse uksteist...take care of each other. Google translate is king.
Dry in Rīga Laurie: There was another great meal we had in Rīga. Stay tuned! :)
David: You are totally right. And that's actually something that our guidebooks have been saying, too, in the form of: "Wander into a city, and don't look at the guide. Get lost." And it's been great advice, especially here in Rīga. Though I must say, that's easier for me than for Erin, as my sense of direction is about as good as a slime mold's.
hi! Hi! Looks like you guys are having an awesome time! Loved the ei edasi-tagasi situation. Would you actually have visited the park if you would have known that? Sometimes knowing less leads to achieving/experiencing more. :)
interesting Estonian lesson I'm glad our Altja adventure didn't turn out to be more painful; flagging down a bus would have been quite harrowing. I'm glad you guys eventually made it back, though being born in England wouldn't have been *so* bad. ;)
About "Hoolitse üksteist": Erin and I were a little confused when first seeing this, since we knew that "üksteist" meant "eleven." We were trying to figure out how 11 would figure in to something you would tell us. Turns out that "üksteist" means both 11 ("üks" is 1) and the pronoun "each other." Sounds kind of poetic to me -- "one and one."
Oh yeah... ....and probably won't be the last and least of your traveling woes. Laughter is your friend.
At least you didn't have to flag down a bus in the middle of the hot countryside, with a cranky driver that wouldn't talk to you and tell you where the bus was going. England, 1978.
Hoolitse üksteist.
Tere/ halloo ! Bees and buzzards. I like it! Looked up pic of the Blue Szechuan sheep...they're cute and fuzzy-and really are blue!
And, when you google them, your travel blog pops up as the 5th entry. Not bad for your first entry.
I love it!
Armastan sind nii
Genevieve
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WRUW ubiquity rocks
My, Graham, what a fetching shirt you are wearing in Latvia!!