Blogs from Latvia, Europe - page 16

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Europe » Latvia » Latgale Region June 10th 2011

What have I done since I last blogged? Moved on but not all that much and still managed to make it to a new country. You gotta love Europe for its incy wincy distances and new countries every few hundred kilometres. Ride out of Tartu pretty uneventful. Did meet a Swiss cyclist, Jepp, riding into town as I was riding out. He had ridden from Switzerland in the same time that I had spent in Estonia. And done double the distance. Hmmm. Am glad I'm not cycling with these guys I'm meeting along the way. Actually, what am I saying? There's no way I even could! I did end up camping that night in a place that also doubles as a nightclub "Life" just near Podha. Luckily, there was no life at the club. Just me. ... read more

Europe » Latvia » Riga Region June 1st 2011

We were traveling from the Hill of Crosses to Kuldiga in Latvia,we had taken a different route to the original plan and I suddenly realised we were only 50K west of Rundale Palace so we did a U turn and went east. It was late in the day we had 1 hour to look inside at the 40 renovated of 128 rooms, but we were not told we had to pay an extra lat to take photos inside, we had paid by card as we had no cash yet so we missed out on side photos. It was well worth the visit. The same architect as the winter palace in St Petersburg so it will be interesting to compare. The cost of renovations and the effort after it had been left in the Soviet era is ... read more
View of the gardens from inside
Swallows nesting on all the windows
Virka Muiza hotel Kuldiga

Europe » Latvia » Riga Region » Riga May 23rd 2011

We arrived in Riga in the late afternoon and it was a perfect afternoon to take a stroll through the old town down past the imposing St Peter's Cathedral through the dome square to the huge Daugava river. We sat out on the dome square and had a beer listening to a live band playing English music. Riga is different to what I expected. It has quite a modern, western feel to it with a couple of really nice parks with a canal running through the middle of them. Our hotel is right near the pretty Latvian National Opera House and it was a very nice evening to wander around the area. The next day was a little rainy but didn't stop us from doing a 2 hour walking tour of the old town by a ... read more
Riga square
Freedom monument

Europe » Latvia » Riga Region » Riga April 26th 2011

I arrive at Riga in the dark and set off in an attempt to orientate myself. I figured I had about 20 minutes of walking ahead of me to get to my hostel, Cinamon Sally, and as this was my first bit of solo travel I felt some pressure to get things right! I took a picture of a map and started walking in a random direction, searching for a street name so I'd know where I was. I couldn't find any, but of course I just kept on walking – I'm a man damnit, I don't need to ask for directions! I refused to take a taxi too, I was going to figure this out. After five minutes of walking I eventually found a street name – and it happened to be precisely where my ... read more
The Naughty Squirrel
One of the many squares
Gotta love the architecture!

Europe » Latvia March 18th 2011

Another bus journey, another Baltic capital city. We arrived in Riga quite late but it quickly made a better impression on me than Vilnius. It was cleaner, there was less litter and much less senseless graffiti. Our hostel was a little way out of the old town and was a pretty nice place. It was also pretty good value for the price we were paying (€30/night for quad room with baby cot). We had two full days to explore the relatively small city, so we relaxed a little and took it at quite a slow pace. The first thing that became quite apparent was that the prices were considerably more than either Lithuania or Poland, something we weren't expecting at all. We’ve been told that with the arrival of the budget airline flights from the UK ... read more
Typical Riga street
Inside Riga Dome Cathedral
View from St Peter's Church

Europe » Latvia » Riga Region » Riga January 16th 2011

Day 12 Oh not again more eighties hits on the bus to Riga, I couldn't get on this bus again it was driving me crazy - argggggh! I finally arrived at Riga with an ounce of sanity left and sought out the madhouse that would be my home for my stay in Riga - The naughty Squirrel - God what a place I loved it and was the highlight of my nightlife on my travels - woohoo. I had a wander round Riga for a bit to get my bearings and then as it was Saturday night i headed back to the hostel to put on my dancing pants:-) In my dorm were two lovely and crazy Aussie girls Kelly and Amber who I spent most of my time with on my time with but not ... read more
At the bobsled run
At the bobsled run
At the bobsled run

Europe » Latvia » Riga Region » Riga December 27th 2010

As my gf is Estonian i was to meet her family first time this x-mas. Was to fly out from Bergen , Norway 06:45 24th but snow and ice made the plane delay..so much that when i finally came to Riga..my other plane to Tallin was just left..next one..1800 hours in pilotlanguage. As a smoker (shame on me) i found myself to have to leave the building to smoke in that airport..carrying little but my "little" HP in a bag..i decided to. After a tiny bit of "fresh air" i entered the airport again and looked for a place to sit down for eat and relax..far in the end of the hall..i found TGI - Fridays , with free internet ..ohh joy! Sitting down on a new used table (only free, left but not cleaned) it ... read more

Europe » Latvia » Riga Region » Riga November 21st 2010

Vom 18. - 21. November findet in Riga ein Lichtfestival statt. Also es läuft noch bis heute abend ^^ Gestern habe ich mich mit einer Karte bewaffnet auf den Weg durch die Altstadt gemacht und die einzelnen Festivalpunkte aufgesucht. Ich finde es super, dass die Stadt was daraus macht, dass es hier schon so unendlich früh dunkel ist. StARO Riga beeinhaltet Gebäude, Gegenstände oder Plätze., die auf eine kunstvolle Art und Weise angestrahlt werden oder wo man Lichtspiele anschauen kann. Ich bin erstaunt, dass meine Kamera doch so gut im Dunkeln ohne Blitz gearbeitet hat ^^... read more
Die Zugbruecke
Rathausplatz
Rigas Dome

Europe » Latvia » Zemgale Region November 3rd 2010

Keine Sorge, wir haben keine Randale in Rundale gemacht, das Wortspiel is einfach nur lustig! ^^ Pils Rundale wird von allen "das lettische Versailles" genannt. Es ist ein relativ junges Schloss, aber doch schon recht beeindruckend. Es ist ungefähr 4-5 mal kleiner als Versaille und liegt ca. 70-80 km von Riga entfernt. Genießt die Fotos!... read more
Tor von aussen
Schloss von aussen
Der Aufgang zum Rundgang

Europe » Latvia » Riga Region » Riga October 27th 2010

Sveiki an alle, sorry dass ich in letzter Zeit so faul bin mit dem Travelblog hier. Aber ich hoffe, ich kann es mit dem Eintrag heute wieder gut machen ^^ In den letzten zwei Wochen war viel los. Ich muss viele Präsentationen und Texte für die Uni vorbereiten und das verschlingt unmengen an Zeit. Ich mache das gerne, aber irgendwann ist es dann auch mal genug mit den Powerpoint Präsentationen... na ja, ich beiß mich durch! Außerdem war Eltern-Besuch von einigen Mitstudenten hier und dann macht man ja auch mal was zusammen am abend. Ausflugstechnisch gab es zwei große erwähnenswerte Ereignisse. Dazu gleich mehr. Eigentlich wollte ich auch einen Blog-Eintrag schreiben, wenn ich Halbzeit hier habe. Aber die Zeit rast so furchtbar schnell, dass ich auch das verpennt hab. Also dann jetzt: HALBZEIT is schon rum ... read more
Mr. Kitty und ich freuen sich ueber den Schnee XD
Dick aufgeplustert!
Das Teehaus im Park mit Puderzuckerschnee




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