Farewell Riga !

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Left Riga quite early in the morning. I went downstair the the reception and asked to call a cab for the airport. Thanks godness that there was someone actually awake to look after the bar and be a receptionist for the hostel at the same time. I asked her roughly how much would it be the fare for the ride to the airport to get an idea. But not to worry, the taxi is metered. But who knows if the meter is actually working and accurate. I guess I have to take my chance. The cab driver did not speak english. I did not tell him where I wanted to go (maybe I did say to the airport when I got in) because I assumed the receptionist DID tell him where I wanted to go (the airport). So we were moving away from the city and crossing the bridge to the highway. The meter was ticking and I just kept looking at the distance on the meter. I saw the traffic sign to the airport (what a relief) and as we were moving fast on the freeway the meter ran quite fast accordingly. BUT surprisingly, when we were about to arrive to the airport the meter seemed stop moving or moving very slowly. So it was quite a fair price (a little more than expected but I'm fine due to the early hour in AM).

After checking in for my 6:45 AM departure flight for Amsterdam, got my boarding pass, and I'm all set to go back to Amsterdam. But not before dropping my last lats (Latvian currency) at the airport pharmacy.

Do you know that 1 lat is equal to 1.80 USD ? It means 1 LVL is equivalent to about 1 british pound, almost double the value of the US dollar.

Anyway, I spent my last lat at the pharmacy at the airport for some antiinflammatory pills.

Security screening was fine and passport control was next. No problem. Waiting at the gate for the flight to Amsterdam. I think the Riga international airport is organized and people-friendly (contrast to the Kiev airport in Ukraine).

Next stop: back to Amsterdam.

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