Eiropa Jurmala

... course, shops were open. And an occasional newsstand. And I even found a small market. But on the whole, the town was almost deserted. I really wondered where those sixty-and-something thousand people who allegedly inhabited the town were hiding. I doubled back the same direction I had come from. While still in the bus, both as I had travelled up to Rîga four days before and on my way here this morning, I had spotted a large and imposing edifice in baroque style right by ...

We started the day by going to the Jewish Centre to try and talk to someone about my family. Unfortunately there was no-one there from the museum as it was closed due to "technical reasons". We did find some students there who could translate the certificate my Great-Grandfather had received from the Tsar of Russia which was really exciting. They told us we should come back tomorrow to see the museum director. We ...

... got lucky because we had to talk to students from a university and they were a little bit more open. Part of Riga has buildings build in art nouveau style. They are some of the most incredible buildings. The outsides are more like statues and sculpture than siding of any kind. One of the nicest things about Riga is that ever though the currency exchange sucks, many things are very cheap, like Hotels. We got to stay in an amazing Hotel in the very center of the city. We ...

... area with a 5 domed Russian Orthodox Church to the Freedom Monument and the old town. Two soldiers stood rigidly on guard at the Monument, how they managed to do that in a driving blizzard I will never know. The walk was only short but in such bone chilling conditions it seemed longer. The old town is magnificent and well restored. The Opera House is a huge porticoed building and seats for top opera or ballet performances cost around £6 - it is only ...

... wandering town, snaping shots of art nouveau architecture. We made it down to the river and went wading, found a statue commemorating the founding of Riga, and wound up eating sushi, doing shots, and sipping on rather strong long island iced teas around 4:30. In Captain Jack's opinion, it's never to early to start drinking. The nights in Riga were also filled with drinking and clubbing. Casper, a Swedish hostel employee took us to a different place each night and we ...

... in places like Hungary, Serbia, Austria and the like, that found in Riga is simply jaw-dropping. I finished the day there after walking around the Old Town and along the Daugava, and the sudden contrast was truly spectacular to take in after everything else. There's a seedy side here as well, which quickly manifested itself this evening when I was out scouting for a bar with a friend from the hostel (who, incidentally, I met before back in Vilnius!). Nice cars with ...

... to eat at called Lido. So about two minutes walk away we found the place. It seemed very traditionally Latvian and the waitresses there dressed up in traditional Latvian dresses and costumes. Interesting anyways. We weren't quite sure how the place worked, as the waitresses didn't wait on you, there were not menus, simply a buffet with prices per so many grams of each dish. So we figured out that you just chose what you wanted from the buffet and the carried your tray around to the ...

... so far, and really enjoyed travelling here. Although Estonia still missing, I'm fascinated by the people's pride and their remembrance of their horrible past. Latvia and Lithuania had been occupied and tortured by the Nzis and Soviets for the last century until in 1991 they got their independence back. It doesn't seems to be 15 years away if you walk through the streets in Riga. One event, which ...

... hat out of horse skin and his long brown trentchcoat, but he really was one of the most interesting people I have talked to on my travels. Not only where his expereinces and just his whole lifestyle intresting, but he as a person with his attitudes and intelligence was also engaging. Cant be bothered writing more on that now, u just need to hear it from him, third hand stories are not that great. Anyway so after our chillomellolax session we hit riga's cuba ...

... One I went to was in the basement of a building so the roof was all stone arches. They served Latvian food which was mainly roasted meats and root vegetables. Nothing too exotic. Funny thing about Latvia, there are only about 3 million people in the country, and only one-third of them can actually speak their own language. The majority speaks Russian ...