Stuck in Riga
Trip Start
Sep 05, 2008
1
34
43
Trip End
Jan 01, 2009
Riga,
Latvia
Friday, December 5, 2008
I asked him to take me to the Dodo Hotel which sounded quite good in my guidebook. He didn't know where it was and charged me 20 lats for the ride. It should have been less than 10. I was pretty pissed off because that is over $40 CDN and it was only a 10 minute cab ride
All Saints Orthodox Church
. He, on the other hand, had a smile that could light up the night. And suddenly he didn't speak English.I checked into the hotel for two nights. It is pretty nice here and I get free wifi which is why I have managed to upload so many photos. On the 3rd I slept in and then bundled up and walked around the city. I didn't have a map or a destination so I just went where I could see church towers high above the surrounding buildings. It is so beautiful! I absolutely love it here. Except for the cold weather that I can't seem to handle. I can only walk for about 30 minutes before I have to go inside a building to warm up. So I buy lots of small pastries and things that look like they might taste good. So far I have been lucky and haven't had to spit anything out.
There are so many churches here and their towers rise above the other buildings in the skyline. There is also a huge market around central station that I would love to do some shopping in. I have resisted so far because it would empty my travel fund even quicker but I could use some warm clothes if I'm going to stay in Europe. I came across the market accidentally but I think it is hard not to stumble upon it. Across the river from central station is the Old Town which is absolutely gorgeous. I walked around the cobbled streets and took lots of photos. I had read in my guidebook that Latvians like to use pedestrians for target practice but so far they have all stopped when they see me waiting to cross at a crosswalk so I was pleasantly surprised by that. They are also incredibly fast walkers. Maybe because it is so cold you don't want to stay outside any longer than you have to.
It gets dark very early here
All Saints Orthodox Church
. I went out at dusk to get some dinner. I walked all the way to the central station which was lit up beautifully for Christmas. It was definitely a sight to see. Unfortunately I left my camera in the room as I just planned to get food and go back. But the streets are busy with people at night and I wanted to soak up the atmosphere. I got back a couple hours later. It wasn't even 7pm yet! So I uploaded more photos for you all to enjoy. You can go back through my previous entries to see them.Yesterday sucked. I set my alarm for 5am and got up, got dressed, and headed for the airport. It was only when I was in the cab and noticed it was after 7am. My alarm was still on Ghana time. We got to the airport about 40 minutes before my plane left but they wouldn't let me check in. Katherine knows how it goes. I was too much in shock to bring out the tears. I went over to the Air Baltic desk to see if they would change my flight. They would and it wasn't even that expensive but their next flight to Hurghada was December 6th. Unfortunately my dive boat leaves its dock for the open sea on December 5th. So I told her forget about cheap, just find me a way to Hurghada by Friday afternoon. She did try. I have to say, she tried very hard. The earliest she could get me there was about 2am on the morning of the 6th.
Defeated, I left the airport and headed back to my hotel. I told the guy at the front desk who had checked me out my sob story and he looked like he could cry on my behalf. He was really nice and gave me a discount on the room. I tried again at another travel agent but got the same news. I was not going to get to Egypt on time no matter how many connections I was willing to make or how much money I was willing to spend.
I went back to my room and ordered in some comfort food - pizza. How I missed pizza in Ghana. Now I have a new plan. I am flying to Warsaw, Poland tomorrow afternoon with my backpack full of tank tops, shorts and bikinis. I may try to find another pair of jeans today in the markets!
