Made It To Riga

An early morning, but we left on time. Saw several people kiss their boarding passes. Some have been stranded at the airport for days, often stuck in the transit lounge as they haven't had a Ukrainian visa. The plane was small with only three seats across, and wasn't full. Landed without incident in Riga - a small airstrip, but we like their formalities - no forms or paperwork, a bit of a look at the passport, and a nod of the head. Airport bus cost us a dollar, and we rocked up at the hostel about 10am.

They were understanding that we hadn't fronted the night before. Everybody's in the same boat, and they have people staying over with them who are stranded too, so it evens out. Our lovely en-suite room was unoccupied, so we spent a little time sorting ourselves out, and Mandy had a quick snooze. The hostel is great, and rated as #2 in Europe. Freshly painted rooms in vibrant colours (reminded us of Zig Zag in Zurich), fully equipped kitchen, wi-fi, bar, music, lounge, helpful staff, tour brochures and maps.

The Latvian Lat is the only currency on our trip that's worth more than the AUS$, so we have to multiply everything by 2. Even so, its cheap. Had 2 cappuccinos and 4 Latvian pastries for around AU$5 at morning tea (OK, so we hadn't eaten in 24 hours at the airport). In the afternoon we joined a free walking tour of the city with an entertaining guide, just like we did in Berlin. It costs you a donation of your choosing at the end. Angelas was very good and entertaining. We saw 'Stalin's birthday cake', originally built as the ministry building for farmers, the central market built in 5 old German zeppelin hangers, the flea market, the Jewish memorial (Hitler was here too), the KGB headquarters (so was Stalin), the central Lutheran church, and the Art Nouvea district (renowned for its architecture).

Some shopping, then we crashed, making up for no sleep last night, waking at tea time. Latvia has an interesting history. Its been ruled by Swedes, Russians and Germans, and used as a battleground between Russia and Sweden, France and Germany. No wonder their language, culture and identity is all mucked around. However, its a lovely, clean, modern city with pastries to die for.