Day 27 - This morning we had our second breakfast in the Monte Kristo Hotel in Riga, Latvia. We walked by the funky, nautical-inspired reception desk on the way into 'the dungeon'. More importantly, later this evening we stopped to talk to the kind lady working on this public holiday of Midsummer.
Jay and I arranged for a 5:15 wake-up call tomorrow and a 5:45 am taxi to the airport. Oh my! I do set my phone but always worry that night mode, against all experience, will cause my phone not to ring for a morning alarm. It's been nearly ten years since retirement and we're not accustomed to morning alarms!
Riga has been a fine end to our four-weeks in Central and Baltic Europe. Our stay was short but full of new experiences. It is easy to try to come up with some sweeping generalizations about the benefits of travel. Smart people seem to travel. I'm not sure if it is a cause or an effect.
This trip was a bucket-list trip for Jay. He always wanted to visit Poland. In Sri Lanka as a youth, he saw many Polish films from a communist influenced country. I had very little knowledge of the country so had a bit less enthusiasm. However, now I realize just how much I didn't know. This is really the benefit of going outside one's normal. One realizes how much there is that one doesn't know. It should be humbling. It should make one want to fill in more of the huge gaps in one's missing aspects and misunderstandings of the world.
This has been a trip that's done that. I now love some of the places we have seen and would stay long term in many locations if given an opportunity. I know more than just new geography. I got bits of new information about history and cultures.
I will go back to Canada as a different person. That is what travel is really all about!