Nordic Hotel Bellevue Riga

... about the city is uniquely Latvian and they're
not trying to please anyone else. I say this because from my experience
what happened to Prague was that tourism seemed to stiffle the soul of
Czech culture. Walking around that city it was hard for anyone to tell
what was Czech and what they wanted people to think Czech was. Riga has
its modern (aka "New City") parts as every city does... but they've
definitely still held on to a traditional pulse.

... old Latvia.

It was a great day of sightseeing and exploration of Latvia. Everyone has things they look forward to when visiting a new place, but what I experienced today would satisfy everyone and leave you wanting a little more. More time to explore, more places to visit, more interactions with the local people. Today was a true 'travel" day, not a touristy day. There is a difference!

... the largest chunks of land around for themselves, so you can't really say the bus ride from Vilnius to Rîga lasts forever. Either way, we arrived at our destination more or less according to schedule. Again, I bought myself the bus ticket first, for the onward journey to Estonia tomorrow morning, and then I took a taxi to the "Viktorija" hotel. When we stopped there, the cab driver told me: "Five lats." I didn't know whether to tell him "thank you for not charging me six" or ...

... go back in the direction of bus terminal and check what was on offer in terms of bus timetables. I intended to stay in Rīga and its surroundings for a few days, until my return to Vilnius, so I had to know how to organise my upcoming time. To an extent, it depended on the bus timetable. However, just as ever, it was only a general destination for me, but in no way one I had to reach the shortest possible way. So only two blocks further, on my right, I spotted a church the ...

... or a couch if you're full, I NEED a place to sleep. Hot Blonde: Lets worry about that later, would you like a free beer? Me: I've been waiting all my life for someone to say that. Hot Blonde: Well we here at Frank's take care of our guests! Please note that I'm not yet a guest there. I haven't checked in, and at some point my first question was answered with a "Awww don't worry, everyone finds a place to sleep in Riga, especially at Frank's". So till now i'm only the guy who gets that ...

... to airport on 29th I have to take a special bus from Intl Bus Station to airport and no one is allowed to see anyone off at the airport, and I have to arrive 3 hours before flight, passport in hand and printed booking reference *which you don`t need when you fly these days.... so it will be an experience with high security. They had similar manoeuvres when Bush was here so Rigans are bracing themselves. Funnily enough the Queen was here last month and they didn`t notice any difference.

... like Latvia - it has a good feel to it! The one downside to the country is complete lack of signage! We were dropped off in a car park - an had absolutely NO idea where to go. . . . luckily Justin had spotted a tourist info centre on the way in, and we figured out where we were on our map before too long. It is a short walk to the first castle in the town (there are 3). There is one new castle here, and then behind that the ruins from a much older castle built ...

... got everywhere we needed by walking. After 5 minutes of driving in the city I decided that I wanted to move there, I've now reconsidered because it would be a problem to work without Russian, or at least work at the position I want to work at. Plus, it's kinda expensive! :( That is if you are from Eastern Europe or have gotten use to things being cheap. All the same I would recommend this city!!

... cert number 771. Its completion was a ritual in itself as he carefully transcribed my name onto it and handed me the stamp to make the official mark.The cert is well designed and at the bottom states that every traveller must visit the centre of Europe at least once!! No hard sell there. A bulldozer and digger worked away immediately behind the cabin,the location for the coffee shop I was told and he invited me back for a coffee at a later date. At ...