It was towards the end of the day and the city looked a lot busier than before. Many locals walking around, laughing, smiling it seemed a happy place. It felt safer too. The Police don’t look as intimidating now with their florescent yellow vests. In transit at Riga airport and 5 hours to kill there’s no better way to kill time than to exchange some money and head out to the Latvian capital for some Baltic life. 3 hours - that’s all I needed to see how much the Baltic’s have changed since my first visit - In 2004 it just [View Full Entry]

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Sun. 30 August pretty as a picture - and that is all you are going to get with your Monday morning Weeties folks, its too late to write anything! proper anyway - man's gotta rest sometimes, at least in between Latvian feast times! [View Full Entry]

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After a reasonably refreshing night’s sleep, we awoke ready for a foray into our second national park, Gauja. We packed the appropriate rain gear (Rīga and the surrounding area apparently gets quite a lot of precipitation) and had a hearty breakfast of yogurt, fruit, bread, and hard-boiled quail eggs. Yes, quail eggs. We’ve seen them in a handful of supermarkets, packed in their own little containers, and just couldn’t resist buying some. Unsurprisingly, they taste like eggs, but perhaps just a little . . . smokier? Fortified with nutrients, we packed our small [View Full Entry]

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this is about yesterday 28 August: as I already told you I arrived into Riga on the 6.45am bus from Tartu at 10.45 - walked to the LP recommended Krisjanis & Gertrudas B&B. After a blog update - and more importantly a nap - i was knackered after the early start and less sleep the night before - I was finally out the door for a walk. Headed down Gertrudas iela where K&G is towards the Art Nouveau are the other side of Brivibas which is where the fancy area of Riga begins - embassies and that sort of thing. As [View Full Entry]

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late night Riga 10pm+ rainy Sat. nite 29 Aug.two blogs in one day - this is truly net addiction! - cos I can, as I keep saying. Having posted the earlier entry and finally got out of the K&G at about 4pm - call this being a tourist?! - fair dinkum, its like the Leunig cartoon of the people inside watching the sunset on TV while its actually happening outside! in a way I welcomed the opportunity to come back "early" to the hotel as it was raining - the real reason I stopped for dinner at 7pm was I was [View Full Entry]

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We woke early in Pärnu so that we’d have time to grab a quick breakfast -- four pastries and two coffees, ordered mostly in Estonian. My rudimentary language skills hit their limits at the bus station, but I eventually figured out that we had to buy our tickets on the bus. The driver was, charmingly, a bit flustered because he couldn’t give us exact change; we overpaid and got on anyway, but after a few more people had paid he found us at the back of the bus and gave us our change. Aww. Meanwhile we’d struck up a friendly conversation [View Full Entry]

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Riga lunchtime - 1.30pm (but I don't eat lunch, so I do not turn into a blimp as Melita suggested) The bus to here left Tartu (Estonia) at 6.45am and the hotel gave me a little lunch/breakfast polystyrene box of sandwiches and a bottle of orange juice - wasn't that nice, as leaving too early for breakfast. There was seriously hardly anyone staying there - and I had both the one breakfast and dinner I had there alone. Anyway having left Estonia some alleged facts about it - Estonia has the worst traffic accident fatality rate in Europe - and the [View Full Entry]

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Riga and Wien / Vienna Sights in Riga: Latvian Riflemen statue and square Museum of Occupation Museum of War Freedom Monument Laima Clock Blackheads House Art Noveau Architecture 24-hour flower market Central Market - lots of lovely food Street musicians everywhere Many, many restaurants Emil Gustav Chocolate in Berg's Bazaar Skyline Bar - best view in town and cheap drinks! Jurmala - wide beach, picturesque houses Just walking around - many beautiful houses, squares, parks.... [View Full Entry]

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Latvia: 25th - 29th July 2009 It's not easy being Latvian. Sandwiched between Lithuania and Estonia with Mother Russia looking on disapprovingly, Latvians can be forgiven for having “middle child syndrome.” Worse still, if you're Latvian, then you are also the minority in your own capital, Riga, where ethnic Russians make up the largest demographic group. But, being second in line (regardless of whether you're counting north to south or south to north) can be a good thing for travelers who just want to relax and enjoy your city. Actually, our trip to Riga started [View Full Entry]

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A couple movies in the car, a nice drive and we arrived in Riga, Latvia. Once again we couchsurfed, this time with a very nice family...Rebecca was from Germany and her husband, Kris was Latvian. They had a boy, Konrad, who was just a little younger than me. The amazing thing was that they hosted us even though they had just had their second child 1 month ago. They lived in a great apartment right in the middle of the old town. The first night they took us to a beer garden right in the middle of the old town and [View Full Entry]

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