maybe the jet lag made waking up at 4:45am easy although i would think i have acclimated to the time zone already, but whatever it was, waking up wasn’t very difficult.  we were up so early that we were able to watch some of the democratic convention live from the states.  the hotel provided breakfast and then the taxi took us to the bus station in tartu.  we boarded a greyhound-esque bus and began the 4.5 hour ride to riga in latvia. 

what was difficult was trying to stay awake on the bus.  the 4:45am wake up was hitting me, and as i forced myself to write about tartu, i fell asleep and quickly woke up to see that i had fallen asleep while pressing the hyphen key. i had a long line of dashes.  good thing i didn’t press the backspace

key.  the ride through the countryside was just about the same as the trek from tallinn to tartu except the bus made stops in quaint towns along the way so it was interesting to see the small towns with the big old world churches. 

we arrived in riga around 11am next to the central market.  the central market is hard to miss because it is five huge zepplin hangars.  no time to explore yet as another small bus was taking us to the hotel irina, which wasn’t very far away, but the ride seemed really long. 

a new country, a new currency, a new atmosphere, a new language.  the hotel didn’t offer wireless, the currency was pegged at .7 Lats to 1 Euro, and the air had a new energy to it.  tallinn felt peaceful, riga feels like a big city, and the lack of wireless was disconcerting.

so, new currency, the lat.  changing currency is a pain the ass.  not the process of exchange, but the process to understand how to translate it to the cost in us dollars.  i had figured out euros (divide cost in half, add to total) and the estonian kroon (10 kroons to the dollar, move decimal place over one).  now the lat is .7 lats to 1 euro.  john figured it out before i did.  whatever the price was then double it to arrive at roughly the us dollar equivalent. 

now cost is relative, but these countries are not cheap.  in some places, it is a little cheaper than what we pay for in new york, but it is averaging out to be on the same level as nyc.  when i exchange my 100 euros to lats and i am given an amount less than the 100, i get a little nervous that i need to withdraw more cash.  however, i have been here two days and i can say that it is not different than nyc, a beer is 5 us dollars (2.5 lats) here as it is in nyc. 

anyways, enough about the currency and cost.  i’m on vacation and i’m not going to worry about spending.  riga, once dubbed the paris of the east, is the biggest city in the baltics.  it features a unesco world heritage listed old town, beautiful parks, art nouveau architecture, a vibrant nightlife and a delicious restaurant scene.  the hotel was situated on a busy street outside of the old town.  in fact, you can’t see much of anything even from the six story view we had, so my first impression was, where the hell am i?  where is all the splendor?  it was the first time during the whole trip where i felt out of my element.  weird, huh?  considering i have been in finland and estonia the past couple of days.

adam, our tour leader, took the group on a quick walk to the freedom monument where we would meet up with the old town tour guide at 2pm.  we walked through a beautiful park, saw the national opera house, and arrived at the freedom monument. 

the freedom monument is the most important monument in all of latvia because it stands for their independence.  on the top of the statue is a bronze female Liberty holding three stars which stand for the three regions of latvia.  during the day, they have guards standing very still in front of the monument. 

we left the group to find food.  we were starving.  we walked down the main street in old town, and the road opened into a large square filled with several open air restaurants surrounded by beautiful, charming buildings.  finally, i could see the charm of riga. the sun was finally shining through and we were so happy to have it shining on our face.  it was a relief to be away from the rain.

we had lunch at a restaurant with terrace seating, which provided some serious people watching.  one thing that became apparent was the difference in people.  there were a lot of model looking type women walking around and everyone wore stylish clothes.  the service at the restaurant was super slow.  it wasn’t busy, and i believe adam mentioned that things here didn’t always happen when you expect them to.  that’s ok with me.  i can relax.  take my time.  i am on vacation. 

so, after lunch, we didn’t have any time to explore, so we walked back to the monument to meet the group and the old town tour guide, signe.  signe guided us through the old town.  we went past the black cat house where a merchant used black cats to offend a guild that wouldn’t let him join (they eventually allowed him to join), st peter’s church, dome cathedral, three brothers, inside st. john’s church to see the amazing ceiling, enchanting tunnels leading to beautiful alleys, brotherhood of the blackheads (amazingly ornate), past the parliament building, the powder tower, and of course the freedom monument. (photos follow list)

after being on the guided tour of tallinn where we were overloaded with history and information, i barely retained any of the knowledge, so this time, i half listened to signe and focused on taking pics and peeking around corners and into alleys, looking for that angle or view that captured the charm of the old town.  i took about 250 photos and narrowed it down to 165 on the website.  riga was beautiful.  it was amazing.  like stepping back in time.  i didn’t know what was going to tire first, the camera or me.  i think the camera died first.  i have already gone through 12 batteries on this trip.  so many photos.  i’m embarrassed by the amount.  i am hitting 1000 photos which is getting close to the amount taken in thailand. 

the tour ended around 5pm and it gave us a great introduction to the old town.  adam suggested heading over to the skyline bar in the reval hotel latvija, which is located on the 27th floor overlooking the city.  the elevator opened to an ultrahip and trendy bar with floor to ceiling windows on both sides.  the views were amazing.  it was a little tough trying to get a clear photo of the city due to the reflections in the glass, but i got a few good pics. 

the bar also featured a similar helsinki restroom where it had big windows overlooking the city from the urinals. 

john and i sat across from jeff and valerie, two brits who were in the tour. the conversation revolved around politics, travels, the states and current events such as barack and the georgia-russian conflict.  it was nice lounging by the windows overlooking the city and drinking a local brew called cesu premium, just another beer really.  tasted like stella artios.

after having a couple, adam organized the group to head to a restaurant within the vicinty, but john and i decided to go our own way and left the group.  we walked around for a bit looking for a pizza place and found one outside of old town.  i had the pasta with mushroom and shrimp which was decent.

afterwards, john headed to the sauna and i went in search of free wireless to work on the site and upload photos.  after checking out several bars, i quickly discovered riga has ZERO free wireless internet.  i even stopped into an internet cafe and asked about wireless.  the nerd behind the desk didn’t understand me.  i was shocked.  WI FI.  he didn’t get it and was soon frustrated with me.  so, i walked around with a hotspot finder and couldn’t pick up anything.  it was also becoming dark, and i didn’t want to sit out in the open with panda.  daylight is ok, but nighttime could be dangerous. 

so, i walked over to another internet cafe across the street from the hotel.  i reluctantly paid for use of their computer.  it was 80 cent lat (1.6 us dollars) for an hour.  i quickly finished the tartu posting, posted the riga pics and looked for free wifi places.  much to my disappointment, there were none.  i had to subscribe to a service called lattlemas (or something like that) for .9 Lats an hour for wireless service in the city.  i was spoiled in estonia and now i was stepping out of the western comforts and into a foreign country. 

after an hour, i went back to the hotel and laid down.  i was exhausted.  john showed up a little later, and i pushed myself to walk around old town at night.  the city was pretty quiet. it was a tuesday evening after all.  the main square had an open air beer garden where they had widescreens featuring highlights from soccer games, some decent music, and a cool atmosphere. 

i really love the open air beer gardens here and in estonia.  the setting is so charming and relaxing.  that’s one thing i would like to have in nyc. 

after a couple zelkas (another local brew), we walk back to the hotel and fell asleep quickly. 

riga is a beautiful town and it is very different than tallinn. i am enjoying the parks, the vibe and the old town.  i love walking through the tunnels into a sun filled courtyards with gothic architecture, finding a narrow alley with a cool bar and sitting in the square sipping coffee or a local brew.  this is what a vacation should be. 

we are here for one more day so tomorrow will be filled with checking the remaining sights off the list, having a latvian dinner, and trying what the locals call black magic, a liquor that is unique to latvia.