Girls Trip to Riga

Last week end, Stine and I decided to explore one of the other Baltic capitals, and headed for Latvia and Riga on Saturday morning. As we had been thinking that we should get as much out of the day as possible, we booked the tickets for the bus at 6 am... Now, in hindsight, that was probably not the best plan. We got a few more hours in Riga that way, but were sleep walking through most of them.

Miracolusly, I had remembered to take my guide book along for the trip. According to said book, Riga should be the biggest and most cosmopolitan of the Baltic capitals. To be so big and cosmopolitan, it was surprising to find almost no people in the centre on a Saturday. Of the ones we did see, however, 80% were Norwegian... So many Norwegians that they actually provided an extra sightseeing bus with a Norwegian, recorded guide. So there we were, stuck for 1,5 hours in a bus with a group of middle aged Norwegian women who were sipping from their small liquor bottles, and listening to an over enthusiastic guide on the loudspeakers - who sounded more like he was telling a fairy tale than the story about Riga. But it was an interesting bus trip, and I learnt quite a lot about Riga. The rest of Saturday we spent in cafes, meeting trainees from Riga, and going to the movie theater. We stayed at the appartment of the Norwegian trainee in Latvia. With a lot more sleep than the night before, and the sun shining over Riga on Sunday - the impression of the city was also a lot better the next day. We walked around the old city, and we also hunted down what I think must have been the two things that made my guide book call this a cosmopolitan city. A miniatyre Eiffel Tower type building, and a bridge that on a good day might have a certain recemblance to the bridges in New York or San Fransisco...

Oh, and I shouldn't just make fun of my guide book - it also had an excellent tip: about a chocolate cafe that we just couldn't miss. After all - chocolate makes a girl happy, that is scientifically proved (and if it isn't, I'll happily sign up for an experiment).

It was a good, relaxing girl's trip to Riga - which is a nice city. However, it is not as nice as Tallinn. Objectivly speaking - of course!