So Riga. We left Tallinn for a 4 hour bus ride to Riga, Latvia. The bus was really cool it had tv screens in the back of all the seat, free coffee and tea on board and enough room to move a round a bit if you decided that you needed to get up. There was also a bathroom on board in case on emergency (I thankfully didn't need it). There were a bunch of Russian speaking people on board so Igor was right at home. we found the further we got in our trip the more Russian speakers there were.
We got into Riga around 3pm. Igor had arranged another couchsurfing host for us. This time it was an older couple who had decided that they really wanted to host young people visiting Riga. The husband, named Victor, was nice enough to pick us up at the bus station and drive us back to their place, where he had a whole meal waiting for us! Igor had some good conversations with Victor as we ate (he and his wife only speak Russian or Latvian, no English), but it was fine. It was a nice transition to get ready for our time in Belarus. :)
After about an hour of eating really good food and chatting with Victor and being entertained by his very cute dog named Kevin (yes, seriously, the dog had an English name), we were off to walk the earth again. The apartment was only about 20 minutes walk from the downtown and because Riga is split in two by a river, it meant that we got to walk over a really nice bridge to get there. On our way we ran into some people from Saint Petersburg who asked Igor, which bus would get them down town the fastest but obviously we didn't know so we waved good bye and off we went only to find that they had decided to follow us! I guess the thought it would be faster to walk until they saw the next bus stop. The didn't follow us for long and then Igor and I were at the city center in no time. There of course was a Christmas market here too but unlike the others that felt mostly frequented by tourists this one was pretty obviously where locals took their family on a Saturday evening to let the kids run around and have some good warm cheap food out.
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| Bridge to cross from one side of the river to the other |
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| Riga City View |
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| some famous cathedral in Riga |
Something else that made this Christmas market different from the others was that they were cooking food in large Wak looking frying pans over open fires. The smell of wood burning fires and cooking food was enough to make your tummy grumble. We stopped and got some hot drinks from one of the vendors. This version was different than the other two that we have had previously as it is not made with wine it is actually made with the stuff called Balzam (Balsam) that is made in Riga. It's a black current alcohol that is simple delicious!
Anyhow, we did some more walking, stopped into the local Stockmann's (if you have been reading this is a large retail store that has a supermarket attached and has been one of our favorite food spots since Stockholm). Got a snack and ate it while sitting on a bench outside watching the world go by. After a bit we decided that it was probably time to head back to our hosts house and spend a little bit more time with him.
On our second day in Riga, Igor decided that there was a town not too far away that he had always heard about and since we were only about 20 minutes away by train, we went to
Jūrmala. I could definitely see how the town would be a perfect beach spot in the summer. There were lots of very old style (Victorian like) hotels that lined the beach from and streets in general. The main drag of the town was full of shops and restaurants (mostly closed on this particular day). It was sort of gloomy weather when we were there. The wind decided to grace us with it's presents and this marked the first day my wind breaker rain jacket was actually really helpful (it would also come in handy later in the trip).
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| going to Jurmala |
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| cafe in Jurmala |
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| Victorian Resort I told you about |
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| from the Dragon's view while being slain |
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| river feeding out into the Gulf of Riga |
We didn't spend long there just long enough to get a cup of coffee (of course) and walk around the town and down the beach a ways. I even found a pretty pink seashell that even made it home with me (it did break in half so don't be too impressed). We got back on the train and headed to Riga again. It took us a bit longer than it should have as I was again navigating
and again had not be paying much attention to land marks etc the night
before. But I definitely had a better handle on Riga than the other
cities so it didn't take that long.
When we got in we walked back to our host's home his wife was home. Igor spent some time talking with her. We had planned to go back into Riga to eat at the Christmas market but Igor was a bit tired and didn't feel like going back outside (it was getting rather cold). I was hungry so I studied my map on my phone for a bit and then went off in search of food. I did finally find a pizza place just around the corner. So I just decided that was the easiest and because there were a bunch of drunk Russian guys blocking my entrance to the store down the street.
I took my pizza and soda, went back to our hosts home. Ate at the little kitchen table and then went to bed (Igor was already asleep).
Overall I liked Riga. It was easily walkable and had a very different, unique feel from the other cities that I have been to. I wouldn't mind going back and spending a little more time exploring the city.
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| Some restaurant in Riga |
