Country No.3 Latvia

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We woke around ten and spent an hour or so packing everything up. After a banana for breakfast we went and paid for the room.

With our waterproofs on we headed for the stone jetty that leads out some 2 kilometers into the sea. It was raining, windy and cold but we still walked out for a while. I reached the point where I could no longer feel my toes so we decided to turn back.

Back at the hostel we had another makeshift lunch of leftovers from previous picnics. We had two hours to kill until we needed to leave for our bus so I decided to take a nap. I fell asleep whilst Rob watched the discovery channel. I woke up to find Rob asleep on the sofa and he hadn't set an alarm. Naughty.

We caught the bus to Riga from Parnu bus station around four thirty. Customs were more strict than I thought. First a woman walked down the bus and checked passports. Second they brought on a sniffer dog and spent a while with it checking us out. Thirdly they got the dog to check the baggage in the bus.

Some rather drunk scallies in the seats behind us started talking to us and neither party could understand eh other. First they gave us a bottle of Estonian beer as a present, and then two 5 eek Notes with a picture of Narva their home town. We tried to say no, But they insisted.

We found the hostel relatively easily, despite the rain. Riga hostel is located directly above a strip club but looks nice enough. We're staying in a dorm room and for tonight at least we are sharing with three lads from
London. It does seem like only people from the south go backpacking.

After sending an e-mail to parents to say that we arrived in Latvia Ok, we set off for a look around the city and to find a place to eat. On first impressions I am rather taken by the city. It seems much busier than Tallinn and rather More colourful. We haven't yet seen the old town.

After finding ourselves heading in the wrong direction thanks again to Rob's dubious map reading Skills. We finally found a bar that was recommended in lonely planet. John lemon's bar. It had a nice mellow ambiance and some great food. Considering it was still serving food at eleven, it was delicious and cheap. I had vegetable gratin and Rob had Roquefort,apple and walnut pizza. (we split half each.) we both ordered a bottle of Aldaris Zelta which we think is a Latvian lager which is brewed here in Riga.

We got back to the hostel around midnight and went to the common room to upload diary entries and photos. We still have some photos to add to previous entries so you can check those later.

Night night guys, hope everyone is well. Stob xXx.

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