Riga

28/10/13 - 31/10/13 

Riga - Latvia

Our last stop before going back to Tallinn our last month, we were really a bit lazy in Riga. The weather also did not help either as we were met with cold and rainy weather when we arrived by bus from Vilnius.

We checked into our hostel, which was VERY quiet because it was off season and mid week. It was kind of nice because we had a room to ourselves and could get a peaceful sleep and some RnR. That night, we went out to an underground Latvian club called Ala, as recommended by our friends Rein and Leah. Of course we started our meal off with some delicious fried black bread with garlic, the standard beer snack in the Baltics. We then had some old school medieval dishes like grey pea stew and washed it down with some local beers. We then decided to check out some of the mid week night life in Riga, which involved going to several bars owned by a kiwi guy, of course!

The next day, after a sleep in, we pottered around Old Town and surrounding areas, looking for a place for breakfast/lunch. We ended up stopping for lunch and cake at a cute little café near the town hall square. On our travels we were stopped by an older, slightly still-drunk-from-the-night-before Danish man who just wanted to chat. He told us some history of Riga and went on about how much he loves Princess Mary. Interesting guy but we politely declined his invitation to go for coffee from fear of being stuck with him all day.

Brunch

with sweets of course

The next day our friend Liz from Estonia came to meet to show us around as she lived in Riga for some time this year. We had a great time just relaxing and walking around and it made us even more excited to get back to Tallinn. We made some homemade hearings for dinner and then ventured back down to Ala again later that night for a beer and some late night beer snacks; fried black bread and potatoes, cheese, ham and these tasty fried beans. I also tried some Riga Balsam, the national liquor. I didn’t really like it, to me it tasted a bit like blackcurrant cough lollies. They were also having a traditional folk dancing night, with traditional music and the locals dancing up a storm and getting all sweaty. After we had stuffed ourselves and all felt sick, we headed back to the hostel to get some sleep before our bus back to Tallinn in the morning.  

sunset from the hostel

ultimate beer snacks

- Leah