Blogs from Latvia, Europe - page 24

Well after an week of amazing send offs from family and friends, we are finally here..... and so are the hangovers (despite our best intentions). We arrived in Riga to the rain but it would take a lot more than that to dampen our spirits. Carrying two of the biggest backpacks in the world, we avoided the temptation of getting a taxi from the airport and decided to 'rough' it, opting for public transport and a lot of walking. Alighting the bus armed with detailed directions to our hostel, consisting of one line ' we are 5 mins away from central market' (in what direction we were unsure), we found the bustling market just in time for the heavens to open. At this moment, it seemed more like that we'd ended up in a Delhi market ... read more

There is a sun above the clouds May 23, 2009, Friday, Riga City, Latvia. The day is cloudy and windy as we start our walk over the bridge to the Old Town and on to the central market. The Baltic’s largest market place has occupied the converted Zeppelin hangars since 1930. Each of the hangars, or pavilions, has a specialty, meat, fish, groceries, and dairy products. But as we walked around the many booths, one can find anything… from sunglasses to mittens, from DVD’s to baskets. It was quite a cultural experience. Rain began as we walked back to the Old Town in search of the History Museum of Navigation. However, after walking for the past 5 hours, we opted to go to the movie, “Angels and Demons” in English with Latvian subtitles. The Latvian ... read more

Just a side note, Bob loves to take pictures of flowers. So we are sending a blog of flowers we have enjoyed here in Eastern Europe. It is springtime and everwhere there are flowers, flower gardens, wildflowers and flower vendors. At the market and along the roads people sell flowers. Also the fruit trees are in full bloom and there are lots of them If invited to visit someone the appropriate gift to bring is flowers. But bring an odd number an even number is bad luck! Hope you enjoy them.... read more

I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move. ~Robert Louis Stevenson May 16, 2009, Saturday, Mezerers Campground north to Plavinas, it is one strange/weird place. Perhaps, once upon a time, it “used to be” an entertainment/hotel/outdoor attraction for various sports; but today it is a falling apart…”used to be”. Bob didn’t feel safe here overnight, so we are glad to leave. Salaspils, a concentration camp was our first stop. “Behind this gate, the earth groans”, reads the inscription on a large bunker. A very sobering place, from 1941 to ’44 an estimated 45,000 Jews from Riga and approximately 55,000 other people including Jews from Nazi occupied countries died here. Today is a Memorial Day and many families arrive with flowers and children…it is ... read more

Today we had to get up rather early (5am) to get ready so we could meet at 6am to walk to the local bus station and catch the 7am bus to Riga. Now the Eastern European buses are nothing like the Indian Buses which were my most recent bussing experience. The first difference was the fact that there are individual, allocated seats for each person, there weren't 200 people trying to get onto a bus that has a capacity of 50, the seats recline, there was a toilet on the bus, and most surprising of all, the bus was enabled with WiFi. This all made for a very pleasurable 4.5 hour bus journey. The country side between Tallinn and Riga was just lovely as well. It reminded me a lot of driving in the forests around ... read more