Best Eastern Hotel Lielupe Jurmala

... pretty
unexciting. It was this massive "pick your own" weighted plate deal.
All labels were in Latvian and we had no idea what we were eating, they
have some strange looking food. (so do we I guess.. Cheetos?) One of
their staples is a traditional black bread which I tried, turned out to
taste like mild rye. :( I did in fact have some excellent cheese
though. I put a little bit of everything questionable
(non-meat-looking) on my plate and it was.. ok. I can't ...

... All this said it was a pleasant last week. I moved to a hostel around the corner and just chilled out, or at least I tried to. On my first night 4 very gay very Swedish boys came home at about 05:00 turning on the lights and looking at each others photos, I got up as I needed a ****. When I returned they were all asleep and snoring which, combined, sounded something reminiscent of a group of chav boys off to race their old bangers across the park. I knew I wouldn't be getting ...

We were expecting a typical European continental breakfast. Not here at the Westbahnof Hotel! We had a fabulous breakfast included with our room cost. Bev and I then headed across the street for the train station to catch the bus to the airport. Our extra 45 pound suitcase with Bible Study Courses is an extra burden...if we can just get it up to Estonia with no hassle! As we entered the airport the first place to check in ...

... Saturday morning before having a liesurly brunch. The plan was to head out to Salispills, a small town about 40km from riga. Our last chance to jump in the car and see and do things a bit off the beaten track. Salispils was the site of a Concerntration Camp during WW2. the site itself is out in the middle of a pine forrest. Driving in you would occaisionally see people walking about through the trees with baskets and buckets picking mushrooms. The memorial ...

... maybe they would! I caught up on some journal writing and listened to music while we waited for our laundry. A rather beautiful Latvian girl graced us with her presence as we waited. I have to say that I find the Latvian women more attractive than the Estonian women, though I could see many people thinking the opposite (i.e. - there are more blonde-haired/blue-eyed people in Estonia). I must also say that Spanish ...

Latvia is brilliant during the summer months. The stag parties are out of town as said lads are on holiday with their ladies in Magaluf and Tenerife. There is no better time to visit the Baltics. If you want help in organising a trip then contact: www.out-there.eu

... to each new city. We went down to the bus station to by our tickets out of Riga, and then I went on the Internet, while Megan browsed a nice modern mall. We then went back to our Hostel, and changed rooms (we had one night in a dorm (to ourselves), and the second night in a double room). We had some chicken sandwiches for lunch, and then set off for a walking tour of Riga old town. It is very small ...

... his knees. Quite apart from the fat Latvian (Fatvian), what I shall remember most about Jurmala was getting there. Being in the least hungover state of the week, and Jurmala only being 25km away from the centre of Riga, Dan and I decided to rent bikes and cycle there. Great idea, there's even a very nice cycle path that follows the train line through the forests directly there. As we discovered on the way back. For the most part, the track ...

... bridge, it was not really that clear where to go, even though it was sign posted. We wandered along for a while, before deciding to climb up a set of stairs that was probably the steepest way up the mountain. The climb up was tough. This led to various lookouts which were overgrown, but the forest was enough to please - it was such a peaceful walk. The correct path was not all that obvious, but using a little commonsense (where did that come from?) we eventually found the way ...

... and drink!! Oh we also went to the cinema and saw Charlie And The Chocolate Factory which was a bit strange, Johnny Depp as Michael Jackson anyone? The food and drink is so cheap that we treated ourselves to far too much chocolate, ice cream, beer and vodka that we probably have both out on a stone in weight. Luckily i have a back up plan to get an illness in China somewhere and lose it all again!! We did take a walk about ...