Hotel Grand Palace - A Summit Hotel Riga

... br>counter with their black wool hats, chomping down on cheese! Seeing
the people at the market was nice,. haven't really seen anything quite
like it.

Markets
are my all time favorite places to get a feel for a town but it's also
the most difficult place to take photos. At the risk of being
rude/attracting attention I didn't take alot of pictures eventhough I
SOOOO wanted to! It's always a *************.

I wandered around
the city and saw St ...

... into Russia until Sept 10th so I needed to cross the border after 12am; and
2. Russian border guards are sticklers for detail, they've no problem turning you around and sending you home.

When the border control police came around to take passports I handed mine over trying not to look nervous.

Since he was an immigration officer I'm sure he could smell fear and because the border was in Russia I was sure he'd just take me ...

... he can't feel his feet, so we would stop of a shop to warm up! I went to a CS party and got two bottles of wine and a cake. It was a lot of fun...well, there was just 5 of us, but they never met an Indo-Canadian that lives in the US, so it was fun. They were all Latvian, so we had a good time learning about each other. Its funny cuz they have Sauna Parties...like we have Pool Parties. It's really different...but to each his own.... I went to bed at 11:30 that night.

... as well." Bubble quotes "I'm the stinkiest **** ever." Lets get off that subject. This is boring I want to go back to Latvia. My favourite thing was all the relies. How they where all so nice, unfortunately it didn't carry over to dad. I'm just kidding. Kaspar says ... Latvia was awesome. Everyone there was nice. Ok picture the nicest person you know. Now, would they do any of these things: Give up their bed for you to stay with ...

... photo. The Freedom Monument - originally a statue of Peter the Great stood in the centre of this square, but in 1935, in a spirit of nationalism, Peter the Great was removed and a statue of Victory was erected in that place - Victory holding 3 stars, representing the 3 regions of Latvia. When the Soviets were in charge, the square was made off limits, and a statue of Lenin was erected a bit further down the street. Despite the ban, the square remained a focus for ...

... apartments. I had heard so much about the roving English stag parties in Riga that I was expecting the place to be full with drunken Yobs but there where more retirees there than stag groups. I don't no which is worst. When I was waiting for my bus out of Riga there where about 7 or 8 guys who looked like gypsies who were constantly circling the buses. I have no idea what they were up to but they kept me on edge until my bus arrived. They ...

... of Russia Mosquitos Everywhere First of all--St. Petersburg was so nice and cool. There was no air-conditioning in our hotel so we slept with the window open for a pleasant breeze. Lonely Planet advises about the mosquito problem in St. Petersburg. A colleague of mine advised about it. We brought Off from home. Yet did we put any on ...

... ingredients, is carefully prepared in oak barrels, which allows its characteristic strength and the slight bitter-sweet taste to develop. I blamed it on a very hospitable local at the bar who persuaded me that the drink has medicinal values. He also told me that Americans are stupid - obviously I thought of myself as Malaysian at that moment. I finally understood the meaning of "staggering home." I had a Big Mac ...

... al chequeo de pasaporte, habia una mujer de nombre impronunciable en el meson, se veia algo seria, pero despues fue todo sonrisas, muy amable, lo unico que tuve que hacer fue traducir el pasaporte, porque coomo es el viejo esta todo en espanol y ella no lo entendia, aparte que siempre me preguntan cual es mi nombre (salen dos nombres y apellidos, escritos con lapiz pasta, debe ser el pasaporte mas ordinario del mundo...el nuevo por supuesto ni se le parece). En ...

... down the street with jeans around the ankles...problem, Sam's co-ordination at this point of the night is not quite up to scratch...and he loses balance and begins to tilt sideways...he continues past vertical and without even putting a hand out, hits the concrete like a felled tree. I of course, being a good friend hold both his legs up in the air and manage to convince a couple of festive passers-by to lay the boot into him...I then proceed to help him to his feet and being ...