http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Latvia/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Europe , Latvia en-us Fri, 04 Dec 09 22:11:52 +0000 Fri, 04 Dec 09 22:11:52 +0000 Hi EverybodyA few belated notes about Chernobyl. The tourbus ride from Kiev was about 1.5 hrs about 28 people mostly Brits were on the bus. The Brits were in Ukraine for World Cup Soccer England lost. The tour began at Hotel Rusa fitting start. The Chernobyl disaster occurred Apr 23 1986 when a safety test went wrong. Radiation from fallout was at least 100 times that of Nagasaki and Hir http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Latvia/Riga-Region/blog-446264.html Hey EveryoneWe arrived here in Latvia last night with a bit of a bumpy landing in a snowstorm We managed to get lost already trying to find the hostel because wegot off of the bus way too early but we found a Latvian couple who wefollowed round loads of little streets with all of our stuff to a tram stopwhich evetually got us to our home for the next two nights Fun FriendlyFranks Backpackers t http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Latvia/blog-436812.html Our last day in Riga We decided to take it easy both of us had sore feet and my headaches and sore throat suggested that I might be getting a cold. Our friend Laurie whorsquos done long trips like this before once mentioned that itrsquos important to take a lowkey day every now and then. So we didnrsquot set the alarm and didnrsquot make big plans.8232Midmorning we headed to http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Latvia/Riga-Region/Riga/blog-433345.html After a reasonably refreshing nightrsquos sleep we awoke ready for a foray into our second national park Gauja. We packed the appropriate rain gear R299ga and the surrounding area apparently gets quite a lot of precipitation and had a hearty breakfast of yogurt fruit bread and hardboiled quail eggs. Yes quail eggs. Wersquove seen them in a handful of supermarkets packed in their o http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Latvia/Vidzeme-Region/Sigulda/blog-433343.html We woke early in Prnu so that wersquod 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 couldnrsquot give us exact change we overpaid and got on any http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Latvia/Riga-Region/Riga/blog-433340.html Liepaja Latvia 1 Sept.09and leaving it on 2 Sept.further in the moment moment see below now 11.30am 2 Sept and I am on a bus writing this cos I can but no weefee here altho some do I believe.... Just as well the bus had a relaxed time table otherwise I would have missed it I was waiting in wrong place and ran towards tram waving but the driver just took off typical all over that http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Latvia/Kurzeme-Region/Liepaja/blog-433247.html this is the almost final Riga instalment 3031 August being written on the bus LiepajaKlaipeda in Lithuania while battery holds out. and no pics as takes too long now in Lithuania its 3pm on 2 Sept. and I want out of my hotelgee it is starting to get difficult to remember whats what from the Travel Blur What di I do on 30 August well I do remember Diana at the KG must have helpe http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Latvia/Riga-Region/Riga/blog-433244.html 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 ol http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Latvia/Riga-Region/Riga/blog-432980.html Sun. 30 Augustpretty 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Latvia/Riga-Region/Riga/blog-432498.html 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 KG 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Latvia/Riga-Region/Riga/blog-432140.html this is about yesterday 28 Augustas 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 BB. 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 KG is towards the Art Nouveau a http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Latvia/Riga-Region/Riga/blog-432057.html Riga lunchtime 1.30pmbut I don't eat lunch so I do not turn into a blimp as Melita suggestedThe bus to here left Tartu Estonia at 6.45am and the hotel gave me a little lunchbreakfast 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Latvia/Riga-Region/Riga/blog-431806.html 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 donrsquot look as intimidating now with their florescent yellow vests. In transit at Riga airport and 5 hours to kill therersquos no better way to kill time than to exchange some money and head out to the Latvian ca http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Latvia/Riga-Region/Riga/blog-428174.html Riga and Wien ViennaSights in RigaLatvian Riflemen statue and squareMuseum of OccupationMuseum of WarFreedom MonumentLaima ClockBlackheads HouseArt Noveau Architecture24hour flower marketCentral Market lots of lovely foodStreet musicians everywhereMany many restaurantsEmil Gustav Chocolate in Berg's BazaarSkyline Bar best view in town and cheap drinksJurmala wide beach picturesque hou http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Latvia/Riga-Region/Riga/blog-427924.html 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 r http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Latvia/Riga-Region/Riga/blog-426600.html Latvia 25th 29th July 2009It's not easy being Latvian. Sandwiched between Lithuania and Estonia with Mother Russia looking on disapprovingly Latvians can be forgiven for having ldquomiddle child syndrome.rdquo 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Latvia/Riga-Region/Riga/blog-424618.html Some years ago the vast majority of these countries were recognized as the Eastern Block countries. These are countries which for many years were under Soviet influence or control. All these countries are fascinating for their diversity. Apart from cultural legacies there are vast forests rugged mountains quiet lakes beautiful coastlines and mighty rivers just waiting to be discovered. In orde http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Latvia/blog-420607.html A weekend in RigaA few months ago we went to Latvia. We haven't come around to publish a blog entry on that trip until now. But we figure it doesn't matter much if we are a bit late before we publish our travel tales and photos. We spent a total of three days there enjoying some nice spring weather while walking around in Riga old town and a few other places. The old town is a World Heritage and i http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Latvia/Riga-Region/Riga/blog-420322.html GreetingsSince 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Latvia/blog-414072.html 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 importantWe decided not to go to Vilnius after chatting with a couple of people and http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Latvia/Riga-Region/Riga/blog-412726.html