Nordic Hotel Jekaba Riga

... they are interested and you're not than having a mutually satisfyingly fun night of nice company and conversation is impossible. At the risk of giving Yan the wrong idea I didnt even make up my normal excuses, I just thanked him and "I think I should go! And please I hope you guys dont beat me up." (just kidding on the latter ...). He was nice, but if I wanted some crazy Latvian story Id rather go to the market and watch them butcher a pig.

... middle of a pine forest and on the edge of the lake. We quickly came to the conclusion that the hostel’s old use has lent its name to the local bus stop (sanatorija). It turned out that we were the only guests, and upon inspection, the interior had clearly had a lick of paint and would’ve been fine had anyone else been staying, but finding ourselves alone in a big old house in a Soviet-era prospekt we ...

... bitter Riga balsam at one of numerous Latvian bars and then probably watch "the Fall" at the Forums Cinema (which is at Coca Cola Plaza), the great movie I will unlikely have the chance to watch in Germany. Lidz nakamai reizei (till the next time) or see u soon, Tanja

Riga, at 800,000 people, is the "big boy" capital of the Baltics. Interestingly, unlike Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south, many Russians stayed in Latvia after independence - in fact there are more Russians in Riga than Latvians, and you're as likely to hear "spasiba" as "puhldeas" for 'thank you'. It was without doubt the best capital city we had seen on the trip so far. A great combination of historic old quarter, great restaurants and cool ...

... I got chatting to a guy from Canada for most of the night. He was traveling on his own and would be following a similar itinerary to mine over the coming days. I like pulling the **** out of Canadians, it's so easy to get a rise out of them and I just can't resist. The first thing you do is ask them where in America they are from and this really gets them going. To try and not be mistaken for Americans, Canadians stitch a patch of their national flag into nearly every piece of ...

... Shooting action! Museum of occupation nothign could really compare after that shooting action, walked around the paks for a little, watched the changing of the guards (delightfully boring, but much more fun when you have a soundtrak of german/soviet occupation jokes to go over the top).

... the eye opening experience... We also visited the War Museum, which is the other free museum in the city, which although interesting, wasn't nearly as well presented as the other...although they did have Mountie costumes here so that was a plus... Aside from our exploring, we have enjoyed the fruits of the hostel... It's called the Central Hostel Riga and it is amazing! It's very cheap, we have a room that sleeps only 2, for $16 per night, compared with ...

... with hot air balloons floating past us was unreal. Such an adrenaline rush. The Hock was finally convinved to go and although it took few "Żou can jump now" prompts from the instructors he put in a sterling jump. I was absolutely ******** but made sure that i only allowed a brief look down and just kept up the inertia and jumped! What a brilliant experience, I would do it again tomorrow. Chad be ready, the biggest bungy in the world is in Switzerland - it is ours to take on mate!

... The Livonija reminded me a little of being inside an old tunnel. A nice big warm tunnel though, and the when the food turned up, it was excellent. As we left, the man who'd brought us in, wished us a good stay in Latvia. "And you tell friends about Livonija! Good meals, yes!" Full and happy, we returned to the Hotel. The next day we checked out and caught a taxi back to the airport. Our trip to Riga was over. And it was filled with nothing but happy memories. Riga: a fantastic place to visit.

We found ourselves in an interesting hostel/bar with midnight-napping clientele, and an odd Aussie front-desk man/bartender. It had a really nice kitchen-nice everything, really- and so we went to the grocery store to really stock up. This was an interesting experience because, for example, you point out the unsliced piece of bacon you want, and tell the person at the counter how much you want. Then, you slice it yourself, at home, although it's difficult to make neat slices. Similarly ...