Baltic Beach Amber Jurmala

... the economic downturn which has hit Latvia very hard. <br><br>For lunch, I go to a Middle Eastern café. This cuisine is extremely popular throughout the Baltic countries I have visited. It is along a pedestrian street, half a mile from the beach. When I read about it, I was hoping for a boardwalk&gt; I have not seen a Boardwalk yet.<br><br>Back on the beach, I am just getting situated when thunder rumbles in the distance. It turns out not to be so far away ...

At about 4:00am Belle and I were woken by a knock on our cabin door, the lights came on and then there was a man with a flashlight asking us something or other in Russian. As it turned out he was a customs officer who was there to check our bagage. We showed him our two suitcases stowed under the sleeper bed and this seem to satisfy him. He checked the other lugagae compartments, all empty, and left without checking to see what we were carrying - exiting Russia by train seems to ...

... the amount of freedom they give us outside of class. As long as you show up for the speakers and events that they have prepare they don't really care what you do in your freetime. It's so excited to get to wander around a foreign city. While in Riga a small group of us decided to go to the Baltic sea. W wandered around Riga with extremely vague directions looking for the train station. Riga goes between very nice, beautiful, historic parts, and horrible run down unsafe parts ...

... through occasionally but mostly the sky is grey and overcast with sleet or snow and the most biting wind blowing in from the Baltic. Latvia has the world's 6th highest suicide rate and one cannot help but feel that the climate must bear some responsibility. We ate at night in restaurants close to the hotel. The streets felt safe but it was too cold to venture too far at night. Skonto Riga football stadium was right at the back of our hotel and everything was ...

... til dawn - literally. I learned that Hollywood's portrayal of European clubs is fairly accurate: strobe lights, smoke machines, and techno. However, it appears that wearing flip flops to a bar in Riga is liable to get you kicked out or denied entry, so I will have to find another pair of shoes, as I doubt hiking boots are acceptable attire either. A final distraction formulated by the Friendly Frank's Fun Hostel (think I got those F's in the right order, it was ...

... windows (and questionable owners) cruise around, thuggish-looking scouts man the streets trying to reel in Western customers to dodgy nightclubs, and scantily clad women hand out cards for businesses that most sober-minded folk would know better to avoid. Prostitution is evidently legal as well, which, for all the logical arguments that may be in defense of the idea, runs pretty contrary to most places in the developed world. The mafia element is a little hard to ...

... Baltic countries to the Second World War when learing about it. But it's really crazy to think that this country only just got their independence back in 1991. Really not that long ago as far as history is concerned. I think I'd like to learn more about it when I get back to Edinburgh. Maybe check out the library. After that, we grabbed a coffe in town somewhere, and the went back to chill at the hostel before dinner time. About 7pm we set off for the place that the hostel ...

... all the churches or turned them into museums of Atheism. Then when they thought the Germans had come to rescue them they were wiped out. Then once the war was over the Russians came back. Not a happy history for Latvia, Estonia or Lithuania. Latvia is like Estonia, a cool place to hang out. It looks a bit newer to Estonia since i think it got bombed more in WW2. Everything seems to be getting renovated. I would definatley recommend staying longer... but the grail calls.

... for about 4 more hours talking to some californians and Alexy, a finnish guy, who ill come back later to) Shook myself out of bed at an early hour (about 1 pm) and then wandered again. ****, apart from buying deodrant (it was really time to finally do so....) i really cannot remember what we did during that day... just tried remembering for 10 minutes, but no..... it is gone! BUT THAT NIGHT we ran into alexy again and decided to find another Sheesha place ...

... and straight out of bed. What I needed was a safety rail like in the hospital beds (and a sponge bath daily - but I am getting off track here). I got to sleep quickly but unfortunately awoke at 2am and then couldn't sleep till 6.30am (this was to be the pattern for the rest of the stay in Riga). Later realised that my body had synchronised itself to (of all things) the drunken orgy in London when we got to bed at 5am.