Riga 7/11/14-8/11/14

RIGA. Four hour bus ride and here we are in the capital of Latvia. Checked into the hostel where we met our roommate, Satwant, whom we went out with after dropping our packs. We also exchanged some alcohol and drank a few shots before leaving, lol. As he was already here since the previous night, he became the guide! But first, lunch (it's already 4 in the afternoon and we haven't had any food since breakfast! And the sun's already set, by the way), and we found a local-recommended restaurant, Lido, which served really nice food Marche-style. Walked around the city centre abit, courtesy of our new friend/guide. Brought a small bottle of their local liquor which tasted more like medicine than alcohol, but it was indeed effective against the cold. It soon started to pour so we headed back to our hostel. Nothing much to do so we just lazed around watching television and sipping liquor. Chit chatted with the receptionist abit and continued to nua all the way till 9pm. Side track abit, this hostel is really a cool one as it's only a few rooms and it's really more like a home than a hostel; everyone's like a family, even their breakfast area is just a small table in the kitchen, just like every other house. 9pm meant dinner! Wanted to find another Lido nearby as the rain seemed more persistent than the usual European ones, but the one we located closed early, so we went food-hunting in the drizzle. Found a kebab shop and settled dinner with nothing fanciful. Back to hostel, then rested for the night. 

Next morning was breakfast, chillax, and checking out after we bid our friends goodbye. Went for the free tour in a nice weather (sunny!); while the whole tour was really impressive, we blame it on the boring city and not the guide. Anyhow, saw the harbour that dried up, the Stalin's Birthday cake (looks similar to the one I saw in Warsaw, just slightly different with a Latvian touch at the top), art Nouveau houses, suburban community, the biggest wooden church in the Baltics (which was burned down three times previously, mainly for strategic reasons during war, but the last time was due to misinformation); indeed, the only thing I really remember is that they are good at burning things down... Highlight of the tour was when we had no small change and each embarrassingly dropped a €1 coin into the guide's cap and left sort of hurriedly. Got directions to a local restaurant whilest we tried to escape the awkward situation. And yes we found the restaurant (according to Songen, it would have been more justified giving the €1 tip if he ended up giving us wrong directions; but nope, the guilt stayed in us), and yes we enjoyed the lunch (in fact, it was really awesome; especially the pork knuckle!), but this came at a price. The place was nice but the kitchen was slow; we waited more than an hour for Ye food to be served! And from having the luxury of time before our bus' departure, we ended up having to rush to the coach station. But thankfully, it was nearby, and we got to catch the bus with some time to spare. 

Also, the Chinese girl from our previous bus ride is here as well! So we striked a conversation and made a new friend. Awesome! Now, time to read my book as another 4hour bus ride unfolds...