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Published: September 12th 2008
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Riga's Old Town My bus arrived into Riga at about 5 in the afternoon. I headed to the tourist info and convinced the lady to let me use the phone to call my couch surfing host. I talked to her and she said that she would come pick me up in an hour. We agreed to meet in front of the opera house. So I had an hour to walk around a bit. My first stop was..a McDonalds. Never...ever....in my life have I eaten at McDonalds twice in the same day, but in different countries. The experience was something I will never forget. From McDonalds I went to the opera house and waited. My host, Ieva, arrived and we drove to the apartment that her and her boyfriend Gitas live at. She had to run to her parents shortly after, so she dropped me off in the old part of town and I walked around for a couple hours. I made my way back to their apartment at about 8 pm and had a fun evening talking about Latvia.
I found out that Latvia is a pretty hockey crazy country as well, and that they take it pretty seriously even if they aren't
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Freedom Monument for Latvia's Independence a world power house. After chatting until about midnight we went to bed. I was already wishing I would have planned to stay more than one night in Riga due to how nice my hosts were. They were both about my age, and it was easy to talk to them.
I woke up Thursday to rain. Of course. I hung out with Ieva at their place until about 2 and then packed up and started the walk to the harbour for my ferry. I walked through old town again just to get one last look. I also found out that Dinamo Riga (Latvia's hockey team in the new Russian League KHL) was playing it's first home game that night. I was know really kicking myself for not staying an extra night. I continued my random walk to the harbour, not using a map (the way I usually go) and seeing whatever little parts of Riga I could on the way. I checked in and boarded the ferry.
It was a 17 hour overnight ferry to Stockholm and I was staying in a 4 person dorm room on the 2nd deck. Yes, that's 2nd deck. As in, below the
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Coal loading at Riga Harbour car decks. Classy to say the least. I hung out in the cafeteria for a while and then I saw a comfy chair near the lounge with a tv. I strolled over and flicked through the channels until I found a soccer game. It was Portugal vs. Denmark in a World Cup qualifier, and I was about to witness the Europeans love for soccer (football). As I sat down to watch, every male that walked by slowed his pace to check the score. In about 10 minutes, I went from being alone watching, to having 10 others watching with me. It was a fun experience and an exciting game.
After the game I headed down to my dorm. I arrived and met one of my roomates. He was a man in his 40s from Lithuania. He was on his way to Sweden where he works on a cabbage farm. He usually works for a few months and then goes home for a bit. A lot like the way people from eastern Canada go to Fort Mac to work. We had a good chat for about 20 minutes about his situation. He was content and happy knowing he was earning
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Ummm.....Maybe it's not pollution? money for his family even though he had to spend time away. I went to bed feeling like I had heard his story before from workers in Fort Mac.
This morning I woke up as we were an hour from Stockholm. I went and grabbed some food, exchanged my Latvian money for Swedish ( I'm on to my 6th type of currency on this trip) and then I waited to dock. After I got off the boat I started walking. I knew the general direction of the city center, so I used the sun (no lie) to figure out which way was south west and kept walking. At the center I went to a cafe, and chekced my email. I got one from a lady I met in Norway who told me to come stay with her and her family in Stockholm. I got the address and went to meet her. I got settled, went for a walk, came back and had dinner and am now sitting relaxing.
More and more on this trip I am finding that I am more impressed by what I am given along with what I am seeing. I met these people once
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Sail into the Sunset for about 10 minutes in Norway. Now I am eating and staying with their family for a couple days. It's pretty hard not to be amazed by the sincerity and warmth that is shown to someone they hardly know. Before I left on this trip my good friend (KPar) told me than more often than not when travelling, good things happen to good people. If this rings true then I must be a VERY good person. That was a joke. But I am truly humbled by the kindness that I have been shown and grateful for the enhanced experience I get from such kindness.
Now a couple days in Stockholm and then I journey forward. I'm thinking of a flight to Paris to go hang out with a friend from home. But I really have no plan. We'll see what tomorrow brings....
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Suvi
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Nice to read that you are still happy and strolling along on your trip of a lifetime! We'll be checking you blog to read about your adventures!