Day 25 - It was a pretty easy bus trip to Riga. We left Vilnius promptly at 10:20 am and arrived a little early here in Riga at 2:20 pm. The trip reinforced the spectacular organization of the Baltic Way, mentioned in yesterday's blog post.
The bus was new, comfortable, and cheap. We each spent only $US 20 coming here. It has a bathroom onboard and a free coffee machine. The only daily train departed at 6:30 am which was way too early for us! We disembarked in Riga after four hours but the bus continued onwards to Tallin, Estonia.
We checked into the Monte Kristo Hotel right on the edge of Old Town Riga. Our room is enormous with a portrait painting of a bearded military officer looking from one wall. This is certainly one way to keep guests in best behavior!
After unpacking, we walked out the door into the beautiful streets. I must have pulled a muscle in my right leg and it was painful walking around. The uneven cobble stones had me hobbling. However, we stopped at a pharmacy and I got a box of 400 mg Ibuprofen. If I max out with the three capsules per 24 hours, I should be fine as the area is remarkedly compact and well maintained.
We managed to walk through a upscale mall created from two, heritage buildings and found lunch on the trendy food court on the fourth floor.
We walked around in the evening too. Of course it's pretty light outside as sunset will take place at 10:22 pm here on this date. Jay and I have noted the girls wearing special 'mid-summer' flower hats. In fact, we learned that both Sunday and Monday are official holidays in Latvia because of the spring solstice.
This will be a fun place to spend this weekend!