Third Quarter

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Wednesday morning Danas drove me to the bus station early and helped me buy my ticket to Riga, Latvia. The bus left at 7:25 am, so I got to Riga with plenty of time to explore the city. I got a pleasant surprise on the bus, when the driver put on a DVD: Hibernatus (1969). It ended up being a ridiculous French film, which we watched with Russian subtitles, so I understood very little. I won’t explain. That’s why there’s the Internet Movie Database. I had a chance to understand a little more when we watched it a second time. When I finally got to Riga, I was very disoriented. I picked a direction to walk in, luckily the right one to the get to the old city. Riga is a lovely, old, pastel city full of Art Nouveau architecture. I bought myself a map in a neat little bookstore. While I was inside, it rained, but the sun was shining by the time I left. I wouldn’t have even known that it rained had it not been for the wet spots on the street. I had a very good soup for lunch. Then I went to the Riga History and Navigation Museum. Entry was 40 Latvian cents for students. The lat is stronger than the euro, but it was still a bargain. I walked around the city a while longer after that. Went to a grocery store to buy the next morning’s breakfast. Then looked for and successfully found my hostel. I happened to get there at the same time as an Australian on vacation and two Mexicans on break from studying in Denmark. While the hostel managers checked availability for the four of us, they offered us a free beer and suggested we talk amongst ourselves. For dinner I had Latvian self-serve with my new Australian friend. Then we went back to the hostel and hung out until it was time for the hostel-organized trip to the bar/club of the night. My night at the hostel was uneventful. Even though I was in a room with at least 10 others, it wasn’t too loud.

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In the morning (Thursday) I went to the bus station with my Australian friend to see when I should leave for Vilnius. I ended up buying a ticket for a night bus so I’d have more time in Riga. After that we went to an enormous market, indoor and outdoor. Bought myself some pears for the next few days. Then we decided to check off a few more must-sees. We went to the top of the tower of St. Peter’s Church and got a great view of the city. Then we walked to a beautifully laid out park by the Statue of Freedom. Unfortunately the statue was hidden by scaffolding. We had lunch at a Lithuanian pizzeria chain nearby. I had actually eaten there a few times in Kaunas. Then we went to the National History Museum of Latvia, a very comprehensive museum. It covered literally everything. I came away with two novels of information, because each room had a sheet of paper explaining the artifacts. I always took English and German, not realizing how many rooms there would be. Entry was 50 Latvian cents for students. Another bargain. My last evening in Riga, I went to a stationary store and bought myself a notepad and pen. Then I went to a cafe to write a summary of the trip until it was time to catch my bus. The cafe (Double Coffee) was pretty neat. It started raining as I made my way to the bus station. I didn’t really know what to expect with regards to my night bus. I guessed it would be smallish, and I was right. It wasn’t really a bus, more like a very big van. Only a few of us got on in Riga. A few more along the way. It wasn’t very comfortable, but that was because of the Latvian roads. I didn’t get very much sleep. At the Lithuanian border, there was a simultaneous rustle of sudden wakefulness, and everyone looked for his or her passport. Let me insert that I love carrying a passport of the European Union.

We went to the top of the tower of St. Peter’s Church and got a great view of the city.