Latvia

4 September 2008
Riga, Latvia
                As our bus pulled into Riga we could see it was bigger than Tallinn.  Once we were off the bus and making our way to the hostel, the city had some pedestrian road underpasses that were nearly identical to Moscow (no real surprise there).
                The hostel staff was really friendly.  The guy running the place said that he had one room for us tonight(with 3 single beds, we had reserved a room with a double bed), but we could switch to another room the next night that had one big bed and would be away from some noisy guests that would be staying next to our first room.  When he showed the room to Doug, Doug was surprised to find that each room had a computer with internet access in it.  This was a pleasant surprise.
                With our stuff dropped off we set out for Old Town.  Riga is quite beautiful as well but a little different from Tallinn in the fact that it is bigger.  Eventually we went to a grocery store and got some ingredients for pasta.  When we got back to the hostel we were disappointed to discover that our kitchen was pretty much just a refrigerator, and microwave…no stove.  You’d think that we would have learned our lesson in Santiago, Chile when we bought a “take n’ bake” pizza only to discover our hostel didn’t have an oven.
                We picked up some snacks when we were at the grocery store so we started to eat those for dinner, but it wasn’t enough.  We made a second trip to the store and got some pre-baked chicken and made some chicken sandwiches with some rolls we had also purchased.

5 September 2008
Riga, Latvia
                The day began as the previous ones did.  After breakfast we headed out of the hostel to old town, and walked around the city taking photos.  Anna had to have her coffee so we stopped at a café for a short break.  The next thing was to get our bus tickets to Vilinus, Lithuania.  Then it was back to the room, because we had to change rooms.  Then we proceeded to take photos of “Old Town,” the cathedrals were very beautiful, but in front of all of them there were either electric or telephone lines to take some of the beauty away from the photo. 
                After walking around for most of the day, we decided to have a pint.  There was an Irish bar advertised in the local magazine.  This sounded great.  Upon arriving we each ordered a pint, and a small appetizer platter.  We were probably sitting down for about 30 minutes before the drunkards from outside were beginning to come in to refresh their glasses.  The first guy to join us was part of the bachelor party outside.  He was British and hilarious.  He has pretty much been drinking since he had woken up.  The guy had on what he thought was a Joe Montana outfit (Joe was number 16…not 78).  He was part of a bachelor party and all the guys were dressed up in some sports figure outfit.  The funny thing about this guy is he wasn’t even sure where Joe Montana played.  He thought it was the San Francisco 69ers.  Doug had to politely correct him to the SF 49ers. 
                The second guy to join us (a Scottish guy) was not from the party, and on his own.  Well the British guy was sitting next to Doug, so then the Scottish guy sat next to Anna.  The two conversations were going well.  But after about 15 minutes, the Scottish guy started chatting about politics to Anna.  And the conversation was becoming very un-interesting.  She at one point gave Doug the “LOOK.”  He sadly misunderstood the “LOOK.”  Eventually another guy from the party came and sat down, replacing the Joe Montana guy.  This guy was dressed up as a football (soccer) player, but also looked like he was from Starsky & Hutch.  We weren’t exactly sure which one (Hutch was blonde right?).  But Anna was still stuck talking with her “political” friend. 
                The British guys soon all left the bar, to continue to another one.  We were then stuck with the Scottish guy.  And much as he must have meant well, by now Anna was sick of him.  She then began kicking Doug, and then he finally got the idea.  Doug lied about having a dinner appointment in 10 minutes, and we left.
                On the way back to the room we were feeling good, and stopped by McDonalds for some fries to soak up or beer.

6 September 2008
Riga, Latvia
                The day began pretty normal.  Today we decided to get our laundry done.  So we gathered up our dirty clothes into a bag, and walked to the laundry mat.  Anna put the clothes into the washer, and asked the woman how long we should be gone.  She said 2 hours.  So we just walked around some more taking photos hanging out.  In one of the parks we saw a couple weddings.  This was definitely the season.  In St. Petersburg, Tallinn, and now Riga we had seen at least 10 weddings.
                It was time to pick up our laundry, so we headed back over.  Then we went back to the room for a bit.  About an hour later Anna asked Doug where the camera was.  Uh-oh…it wasn’t in the room.  We then headed back to the laundry mat, and luckily the woman had the camera.  This was a relief!!!
                We hung out in the room for a couple hours, then we out to find a place for dinner.  After walking around Old town for a bit, we found a buffet place.  We each got our food, reaching the register we found out that they only take cash.  Doug then ran out of the restaurant to get some money.  The food was pretty decent.  Then it was back to the room for the night.

7 September 2008
Riga, Latvia
                Today we were leaving.  Our bus didn’t leave until 12:30, so we had some time.  We took our time getting up, and packing our bags.  At 11:30 we checked out of the hostel.  On the way to the bus station Anna stopped at a little shop for a coffee and a few pastries.  We arrived at the bus station around 11:50.  There were some people we chatted with while they were waiting as well.
                The bus left promptly at 12:30.

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