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Hey Y'all (that's very Latvian!)
So three balsamic something shots later here we are writing a blog....
I forgot my notebook today which is frustrating because that is our guide for writing these things! Well....I did make some random notes today so we'll go from that. Keep in mind that Sonja is drunk.
There were some things that I wanted to wrap up about Estonia. Things like they were not as friendly as the people of Finland. Much more soft spoken but not to into smiling. Not sure how to take that. And not judging just from that "cheeseburger" experience but from all of our restaurant and tour experiences, but that customer service is not that great. Sub-par really. But, I was a server and maybe in North America we are just more used to everything being super speedy. NEXT!
Facts! WHAT?
NEXT!
We wish that we had gotten global roaming on our cell phones! Doesn't seem like a big deal but it would have come in handy many times!!! text messaging people at home is still pretty cheap from here and then we could keep in contact with the people from our group when
we go seperate ways. Also if for whatever strange reason Sonja and I were seperated we would be able to call each other. Good thing we're never apart.
Not as much English is spoken in Estonia. But if you just talk really loud at them they get you. ahaha. Kidding. All you have to do is show them how big your (my) biceps are and then they shut up.
So we're in Riga, Latvia now!!!!! Yesterday we took a bus from Tallinn to Riga and it should have taken about 4 hours but we were delayed due to...something. Of course they didn't tell us what! We just pulled into an autoshop and they fixed the bus with all of us on it without informing us of the problem. Or maybe they did but they weren't speaking a language that I understand which is a sin.
There's something surreal about listening to Ice Cube while on a bus that's travelling through Estonia.
-andy
Ok well after we arrived and were checked into our hotel we went on a 25 km bike ride from Riga to a little beach town called Jurmala. The beach was a white sand
beach and the water was... arctic-y. The town was interesting because it was full of old worn down houses and new money, so there was a combo of boarded up mansions and new condos.
- sonja
So what Sonja and I have decided is that I (Andy Sargent) have done too many things that our out of character for me for us to really comprehend so we had to create my alter ego "EuroAndy"
So far EuroAndy has:
Eaten weird meat
worn pants that weren't jeans
rode 25km on a bike (Amber's eyes are popping out of their skull)
and....
gone to a hockey game!
So EuroAndy and co. went on a bike trip to that town that Sonja talked about. It was the cutest place! It really did end up being worth it. Now, it's not that I'm incapable of riding a bike, I'm just really lazy! I DID think that the bike trip would be more bout scenery and whatnot but it really wasn't it. We did ride past all these gardens and shacks that looked interesting and what we later learned is that many people that live in "flats" in Riga don't have
more beach
we unexpectedly ran into andy's dad while in jurmala any land so the places that they worked for or else the people that they rented the flats from gave strips of land just outside the city for gardens. So people have to travel just outside that city to tend to their gardens. They have little shacks there that look like our backyard sheds but more beat up and they stay they for weekends and stuff. And this is perfectly normal!
The good news is that I didn't die on the bikeride. The bad news (sort of) is that while we were getting a beer in Jurmala, Andrew's (one of the Aussies) tire went flat. So we got to hang out in the bar a bit longer and then take the train back (with all of our bikes) to Riga.
A funny thing that came of this bike trip happened when I asked Sonja to double me back and Anna (also from Australia) said "Oh like to give a dink."
Well Sonja and I nearly pissed ourselves laughing because obviously "dink" doesn't mean the same thing to them. Once we explained, that whole trip became about "giving dinks" to people. Har har har. We are mature.
Good thing I have
IIHC
Norway vs USA a proof reader! I love her.
She is the cutest.
Also in Latvia it is acceptable to burn your garbage. But once Sonja told them that she does not approve because that is toxic, they stopped. But really, burning piles of garbage on the ground in their yards.
Riga is a much bigger city than Tallinn and you can tell. Out hotel is maybe not in the most ideal location. This is the first time that I have felt even slightly unsafe somewhere, only because of the excess of public drunkness and stray cats and dogs!
We want to tell you about the group that we're touring with. They are awesome! We're learning so much from them, about travel and mostly about Australia! We are known as "The Canadians" also yesterday someone called us "Team Funny" which is pretty awesome! Jarek, our tour guide who is from Poland is great! He is so full of knowlege of the history of all of these countries. We're learning alot from everyone! We really like them, and I think that they like us (at least a little bit).
After the bike tour (which eventually took over 7 hours) we went strat (get lost) to bed.
TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
today we got up kind of early to go on a tour. Now this was that best (fuck yuo)(tp[9 our
ever! Our tour guide's name was Jurvis and he was such a cute, awkward kind of guy that you cou;dn't jel fdfdcrffd
I HATE BLOGS
you couldn't help but like him! He had a little suit jacket on and sounded like he was constantly reading from a script. He gave us a tour of Old Town which was very informative. Then we were free to do as we liked until the hockey game. So, we we to the we we we.
The End
So we went to the Museum of Occupation which was throughly depressing. Then Sonjan ha ha ha! and I power shoppe dfor skdhgoeihyey8ipo285306
-andy
....power shopped for touristy gifts and sournmer. You know.
GOD
THEN we went to the USA vs. Norway IIHC game. SPORTS are the same in latvia. "Booooooooooooooring" - ANDY
The USA won 3 to 12........ hhhhhhhhhhahhahahahahahahhahahahahha that's funny stuff
3 to 1.
Ok let's start again. 3 to 1. There was a huge Norwegian presence at the game and man, those guys are a bunch of drunks. Mom and Dad, you'll be interested to know that I met someone from Bergen.
Moving immediately on... we had an "authentic" medieval dinner with our tourmates this evening, where we had a bunch of latvian liquor. It tastes like a spicy meal. "i dig" - andy.
Andy ALSO got kissed in the eye by an appreciative boy. WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW. Who's jealous? Some drunk sold her two... things. Not gifts. Anyways, he appreciated her money and that's how you show it herr. Nelly.
"look everyboyd. The thing about travelling IS... backpacks is heavy. " - gerrrrrge washington (george washington's brother)
ok
bye
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Amber
non-member comment
My eyes DID pop out of their skull, probably due more to the fact that Andy Sargent went to a hockey game!!! Geez.....EuroAndy is a totally different person. Good work on the bike ride though. Now we can go bike riding (because we couldn't before).