Hotel Marve Saulkrasti

My second day in Riga was beautiful, the first blue sky day Ive had the whole trip. Visited the market again, walked to the Latvian hotel by the Freedom Monument for a view of the city from 27 floors up, its a hellovalot bigger than I thought!

I was close to changing all my plans again in order make time to see more of the Latvian countryside and Lithuania. At the last minute I decided against it (for several reasons), though I felt alittle ...

... 10 90;ью отдох 85;ула бы тут хотя бы недел 00;ку)

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In the morning we gathered all the things and went to Andrew's cottage in Saulkrasti - a wonderful town on the coast.
Fresh air, sea, sand, pine trees, blueberry forest ... mmm ... would be glad to rest there for at least a week)

... unsure how they evolve into balbushka, maybe theres something in the water, but in any event, I would never marry a Latvian girl purely because of what they transform into- I didnät see many old men amongst the crowd, they are probably all kept at home, yelled at, and maybe eaten after a while I dont know- on the grim side of things, I suppose a lot of them were killed in the war, and the Soviet regime. I

... ones we saw in Poland, and it had all manner of artifacts lining the courtyard walkways, which was quite interesting. We took a look down by the Daugava River is well to see what was down there, near the Riga Castle, which was surrounded by scaring looking soviet guards! After some buffet-style Pelmeni (like small ravioli), which was delicious (and cheap!), we headed to the Museum of Occupation, to learn all about Latvia's history over the last 100 ...

... lendemain, on se cultive (non,non c'est vrai rigolez pas!) en visitant le musee de la deportation. On apprend entre autre que les pays baltes ont ete occupes pendant pratiquement un siecle, jusqu'a la fin de l'URSS. Plus de 3 heures de visites et sortie physiquement et moralement vides. Pour nous remonter le moral, on remet le ...

... fake marriage as seriously as I did! Though Riga is pricey, it still is slightly more reasonable than Tallinn. We managed to come across a menu whose prices were quite a bit lower than most places in the old town. The Opium Café was part dance club, part restaurant. They had a bit of a mixed theme with dance music playing, but a travel show on Sicily being displayed on the flat-panel TVs. Down in the bathroom - some ...

... was a scary and life-threatening thing. It must have gone off about 10-15 times (likely some significant number though I failed to count from the beginning). Then the parade started. To sum it up it was basically a procession of the different army ranks all carrying their flags or coats of armours, navy, military, guards, etc. Then came the armoured trucks with grenade launchers attached, machine guns, cannons, and other killing devices. Military hover boats, and seadoos all ...

I'm here in Latvia!! Yes, after heaps of planning and many long hours in transit, I have finally arrived in Riga! My first impressions of Riga are mixed, it is what I expected and quite different too. There is a lot of European/Western influence and yet you can still see a lot of what is left over by Russia during the Soviet occupation ...

... walked to the station. The map promised a cafe on the road back but it was a shop. I wanted a warm drink so kept going. Luckily my trousers dry in the time they are advertised to do, in fact quicker than the 20 minutes. The train was on time. I was the only person to get on. I now understand why the train stops in what seems to be the middle of nowhere. I had to walk 2.5km from the village, what comes first the train line or the settlement. I rang Pete ...

... not overly expensive. Large selection, but not exactly the Sheraton Buffet either. I had some beet root salad, holodets (which is pieces of meat suspended in gelatinous broth - acquired taste I know) and fish and veggies, with juice - the whole thing cost me around $10. As I was walking back home the heavens opened up. Now not only was I coughing but also wet. The only solution was a block of chocolate and some herbal tea back at the apartment. God I am getting old.....