Day 84 Leaving for Riga!

It's not a generalization when I say that the majority of people in Hong Kong doesn't know about Riga. If you ask anyone about Riga back home, they would ask you, where the H. is that place? And then, when you say, it's in a country called Latvia, and I have been there, they will look at you in a weird way, and say, wow, you're brave.

Going to eastern European countries is not common back home. Why? I suspect that it's because it's close to Russia, so the common perception is those places are dangerous. And there wasn't a lot of "promotion" about those places in traveling agencies (maybe they are not the real money-makers). So Eastern European countries are left unexplored and somewhat neglected by us.

But seriously, coming from a person who has been on exchange for 84 days, I would say, don't judge a country by its rumors! Riga turns out to be a very attractive place!

We flew by Air Baltic at around 4pm on March 31st. The plane was amazingly small. It is as if it is a private jet, but cramped with a bus-load of people.

(Photo: This is how tiny the plane is. The height of the wheel only reaches my knees.)

(Photo: Look at the guy on the right, he doesn't seem very comfortable! Luckily, my Asian genes made me short. I bet if you pack a bunch of Asians on this plane, there's even room for soccer!)

(Photo: The view of Riga from the plane. I hope I didn't photograph any secret government military airfield! Too much spy movies!)

We arrived in Riga, happy that it was a very sunny day. We then made our way to Ieva's home by bus at the Central Station.

(Photo: This is the bus stop near Ieva's apartment.)

(Photo: Ieva!)

(Photo: We then had a lovely greek salad at Ieva's place!)

Day 85 Exploring Riga

First day in Riga, and we decided that we should go to Jūrmala, which is about 30-40 mins away from the city centre by train.

(Photo: The train, and by the look of the interior, it is quite modern.)

On the way to Jūrmala:



We arrived at Jūrmala quite early, at around 10 in the morning. The place was really quiet. And mostly because this is not summer time, there were not a lot of tourists swarming the place.

(Photo: See? no one at all!)

We went in a Bistro, and had pancakes and coffee. They were good!


(Photo: I was very happy to see that the portion size is sensible. Most restuarants serve huge portion sizes, which is quite ridiculous for a one person meal. I am glad that this Bistro is not Americanized.)

(Photo: The beach. Still some snow on it! We had a small picnic on the beach and left at around noon.)

We then went to some tourist attractions in old Riga. And by the time we were in old Riga, the weather was getting worse and worse. The sky was dark and gloomy, it started to rain. But here are some of the attractions that we passed by:

(Photo: The freedom monument)

(Photo: The cat house)

(Photo: St Peter's Church)

(Photo: The Museum of the occupation of Latvia)

Day 83 Slovakian dinner

Today, I was being invited to a delicious Slovakian dinner. It is interesting to note that almost every dish is made out of potato, I never knew one can make so many variations out of potatoes, seems like Chinese aren't the only ones that can make variations out of cheap food!

For starters, we have potato pancake, I think it's made by Lucas, hence, a Czech dish.
(Photo: the pancake tastes soft, floury and salty, very different from those pancakes we are accustomed to back in HK. There is garlic inside, so it smells and tastes quite nice!)

Then we have potatoes with sour lettuce and goat cheese/cream potatoes. (not pictured)

And a bit of Czech/ slovakian whiskey.


It was really fun, tasting different countries' cuisines, and just tasting the difference in cultures using my taste-buds. (Photo: Me and the rest of the professional tasters munching in the garlic pancake! I think I like that dish the best!)

I stayed there till 11-ish and went back to Ida to pack for Riga (okay, I lied, I didn't pack at night). I don't think I am bringing my laptop there, so unless they have some sort of Internet and computer in hostels, I won't be updating my blog that much. But stay tuned when I get back from Riga and Stockholm!