Greetings! Since last writing, we've returned home to reality, but we are determined to finish our blog entries ... so here we go. From Chisinau, we caught a cheap flight to the northern Baltic outpost of Riga, Latvia. Riga's reputation as a destination for British stag parties precedes it, so we weren't alarmed when we arrived in Old Town to the sounds of drunken raucousness. Indeed, the mayor has recently threatened to kick stag parties out of town after a string of “urinating on the Riga Freedom Monument” incidents, which, given the history of the country is completely [View Full Entry]

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We did a walking tour of Riga which was pretty much like Tallinn - not as pretty I don't think but there you go. The Hostel we stayed at was run by an Aussie guy from Sydney who had fallen for a Latvian lovely and decided to stay in Riga - it was a very relaxed place and had good beds, toilets and showers - very important!! We decided not to go to Vilnius after chatting with a couple of people and ended up catching a bus to Klaipeda - still in Lithuania but on the coast. Our trip there [View Full Entry]

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After our overly enthusiastic first night in Riga we have spent the last few days taking it easy. The weeks leading up to our depature had taken their toll and we were a lot more physically, mentally and emotionally exhausting than we'd realised. The evening of our last blog update we headed out for a sensible glass of vino and came across a, strange but relaxed, little place called 'Black Magic'. It was just what we need after a day spent nursing our hangovers and trying our best to stay out of the way of a bunch of 'in your face' [View Full Entry]

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We flew to Riga from Moscow with Air Baltic on the 8th of June, and once again our hostel mucked up our transfer! Couldn't believe our bad luck that it happened twice! Again tiredness made us jump in a taxi and hoped it was a legitimate company! We got to our hostel about half 11 at night and were soooo hungry. We couldn't find a 24 hour supermarket nearby but walked in the pouring rain to good old Mcdonalds :) Riga is a really small city (especially after we had just arrived from Moscow) and it had a completely different feel [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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I had been to Latvia before some years back on my friend's obligatory stag do to mourn the passing of his final days of batchelordom and to celebrate his impending marriage. I'm making him sound like a condemned man, honest she's lovely!I really liked the country and the people, so I was determined to come back to Eastern Europe again and see a bit more for a bit longer and a bit less drunk this time! Oh well, we'll pass on that last comment! I mentioned to people I work with that I was coming here and they had uninformed comments [View Full Entry]

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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 bac [View Full Entry]

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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. [View Full Entry]

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These are a few videos to see how it works. They are not edited. this is just a trial Just click on the arrow These are at the palace in Prague and Waraw The band with the bridge in the back ground is one we have walked across to get into the city [View Full Entry]

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This might be the last Blog . we will be going into Russia on Tuesday for 18 days I have found out that there ain't no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them. - Mark Twain May 20, 2009, Wednesday, Riga City Campground to Sigulda, Gauja National Park, to Cesis, Latvia. It was about 50 kilometers to Sigulda from Riga. After strolling around this lovely town we enjoyed a hot lunch at the Black Cat bakery/cafeteria. It rained again last night and the weather is cloudy and chilly 40ish. [View Full Entry]

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