Toss 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 ...

... when I got here. But then I noticed how the women here don't seem to have any eyebrow and I decided against the waxing. Instead I bought some tweezers and cleaned myself up. It seemed the safer way to go and it is definitely an improvement over my bushy brows. I spent enough time in the mall to get sufficiently dry before venturing out into Old Town again. I decided to try this local chain Double Coffee for dinner. It is pretty ...

... then. But once Putin had been elected president, things had allegedly significantly improved. "Really?" I said. "In the West you have an impression that Putin is a return to dictatorship." "I know," he answered. "But the West won't see that the Russian people are better off since Putin has come to power. It only sees its own interests, but everyone in Russia will tell you it's better now. Before you couldn't go out in the street and be sure you won't get shot. It's not like that ...

... track that used to be used as a training ground for Soviet bobsledders and is still used in some competitions today. Well, they now allow crazy people to go down the track in a bobsleigh. In winter and summer. They use a sled with wheels in summer apparently so it's basically a glorified go-cart. Well, I signed up to go on a daytrip through the hostel only to get told on the day it was supposed to happen that it wasn't happening. Don't know the whole story but ...

... Livonian aqua park on the way back to the station somehow made it feel as if the city was as complete as you could realistically expect it to be, in terms of public ameneties. A trip to the Lithuanian capital city is already on the cards for the near future, and it all goes to show how the magnetic allure of two enjoyable city breaks in the region can influence an impressionable tourist's set of travel plans.

... making this up - tonight seemed to be the night for eating unusual parts of animals) in red wine sauce, roasted swede, carrot puree and cranberries. The dessert menu offered items such as Pluto's Apocalypse and chocolate & carrots but I had chocolate fondant with truffle oil, chicory ice-cream and pistachio sauce. After all this I needed another digestive so I had the famous Riga Balsam, a dark brown bitter liqueur, to the background of Roy Orbison singing ...

... swollen so I cant eat... since I could barely open my mouth. Basically I could only eat liquid or aspire food... it was slightly painful to chew. I kept it like this expecting it would go away by itself. -------------- December 17 Still sick, I start to do some sewing, reparing my pants as well, making myself a new pocket and put my Lithuanian patch over the whole on my jeans. Did nothing otherwise... ------------ December 18 I went in town during the day at last... met with ...

... I have to say the experience was just amazing and exhilarating, but physically hard work with a 125 mile and hour gust coming your way as well as trying to work out body position so that you don't fly out of the cage! After a quick relax and the promotion video given to the International Olympic Committee (these guys provided the Aerodium in the Torino 2006 grand finale) we headed back indoors to strip off our rather fetching flight suits and ...

... The sign at the bus stop only tells you which trolley bus stops there. I have to wait half an hour for the next one but it gave me plenty of time to see how paying works on the buses. I am used to buying tickets from magazine stores that are generally dotted around the place or from the driver if I can't find one of these. On the trolley buses and normal buses here there is a conductor who has their own chair marked as such and they ...

... roll down my cheeks - damn it looks like I have been crying! More corners and silly speeds... can a padded orange box go this fast???? Ummph!! - As we hit the next corner and as the sled takes the long right hander sideways, we find ourselves and our trustee "Orange Container on Drain Pipes" now parallel with the earth. SLAM!!! Back to ground zero, with a thud. As we round the final corner with a final jubilant cheer, we come to a stop. We are not greeted by flowing ...