A story about adventures in Latvia!

31 December 2015 • Travel time: with 11 December 2015 on 14 December 2015

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New Year adventures in Latvia

Spy games. Sequel.

I had a five-digit number, and in the main building, where the hotel was located, there was a safe on the first floor. But my number did not roll in it, because I had to guess that the code was not the number eight, but the Latin B. Having overcome this simple cipher, the handle of the safe turned mysteriously. In the safe was an envelope with my name on it. What's this? The secret message of geocachers? No, just the key to the room and brief instructions. The guesthouse was quite cozy. I poured myself a glass of water, but it looks like the water was filtered by such a carbon filter that this coal fell out in the form of a generous sediment. Anyway, that's how I calmed myself down. Breakfast was included in the stay. Breakfast took first place in the history of our breakfasts in hotels where we were a savage. In general, the hotel adequately compensated for its location to put it mildly.

From the morning until we got to the center, it was just the time for the start of the already traditional free walking tour. The guy took us for 2.5 hours to various sights telling interesting stories and from time to time telling how the Soviet Union came to forcibly "defend" their country from Germany, and at the same time overthrew their president and forcibly established a communist regime. Then, when the German troops entered the country, many were very happy and welcomed Germany with open arms, but when the Soviet Union won once again, coming to "save everyone", there was again a lot of sadness and sadness. In general, something like this. The history of the two countries we visited in the last two weeks is fundamentally different from what I was told at school. And now there is a suspicion that these are far from the only two countries that the Soviet Union “saved” as Russia is now saving eastern Ukraine. Here, of course, you can argue and prove a lot, we all remember "Humanitarian Aid"

But now about Latvia. There were not many sights in Riga, outside the old city, and many of them were not particularly interesting. The old city itself is cozy, but unfortunately, very, very small. Literally 15 minutes and you bypassed it. Hmm, only a day, and we have already seen everything that was possible in the capital) Let's see what they have here with the kitchen. First, we ate deliciously for 6.6 euros of dumplings in a dumplings shop.

And there were varieties for every taste. Then we looked into our favorite coffee inn network and I ate my favorite cheesecake with berries. Now it was necessary to try the traditional Riga balm. Since a bottle of Riga Balsam in Riga cost three euros more than in Kyiv, we limited ourselves to souvenir bottles of 40 grams. I liked the balm, we bought sweets for a snack, which also turned out to be with the same balm.

Just then a group of trumpeters gathered on the square and began to play New Year's hits with an orchestra of 30 people. I liked the city better with music.

Having enriched ourselves culturally, we went to see what else was interesting, we liked the high temple, looking inside, we were already led to our places so that we could listen to a choral concert.

Soon the choir came out, or rather they went out one at a time, and everyone was applauded. In about 20 minutes, the whole choir came out and we continued our cultural enrichment. Since we decided to find some twin houses that did not at all correspond to their location on the map, we had to go around the old city up and down 3 more times. Then, while we chose a cafe for dinner, we still had to go through the old city twice, but worked up an appetite. Considering that Dasha decided to try the local dish - black pudding, she especially needed an appetite.

In general, we need to move to our guest house, as things are moving towards night. On the way, I decided to look into the public toilet in the park. Opening the door, we saw a lying motionless body. I don't even know how I didn't become a stutterer. Dasha could not get over the shock until the very sleep. I came back to check, luckily the body was just asleep. But the desire to go to any toilet was gone. To counter the shock, we found a minitown with rabbits. Rabbits in it lived in a variety of buildings, palaces and mini-parks.

The guy was walking with a dachshund on a leash. It was evident how the dachshund was tormented by the desire to get into this city. By the time we got to our hotel it was already quite night. The next day, Pugacheva, in the sense of Jurmala, was waiting for us. I don't know why, but these two words seem to me to be synonymous.

The image in the photo may differ slightly from reality

It was necessary to go by train for about 30 minutes. But it is clear that from the entire journey to the cultural capital, the road from the hotel to the railway station took the most time. While driving outside the window, pine forests flashed all the time and it didn’t look like it could be in the sea at all. Yes, and upon arrival in Jurmala itself, only the sign indicated that there really is a sea here. I’ll note right away that if Riga was so-so, then we really liked Jurmala. Coming out to a completely unattractive white sea, we saw a strange picture - how crowds of people walk in groups from minus infinity to plus infinity along the sea.

Well, of course we are there. Some guy with a metal detector was looking for gold. So slowly you wander about discussing something, you go, you go, the only thing is that the sky pressed a little on your eyes, but you still go, go. But at one moment you become hungry, and the idyll is destroyed. We went to some themed restaurant.

In the restaurant we sat like a king. For an aperitif, we had herring fillet and tender red fish fillet with lemon on lettuce. Further, our meal was continued by soup with meatballs in bite with traditional pies. After the soup, our taste buds were pleased with pancakes with sour cream and tender pieces of beef stuffed with Philadelphia cheese, served with boiled vegetables, potatoes and sauce.

The meal was long and tasty, as a result, our noble highness was heartily fed with the delights of Latvian cuisine. No wonder we had such a notable meal, because today was a very special and significant day for us - 5 years in the field of testing.

Now the 250.000 question from "Oh Lucky! "

Which of the meals in Andryusha and Dasha's travel history was the most expensive?

a) Candlelight romantic dinner in the Maldives including but not limited to tiger prawns and drinks

b) Peruvian lunch at the top of Machu Picchu, including water, which is worth its weight in gold

c) Lunch in Jurmala

d) Dinner at an authentic restaurant in Sri Lanka with fresh exotic fruits, lobster, shark steak and fresh vegetables

I think, reading this story, it is clear which meal turned out to be the most expensive) In fact, the only time we ate more expensive was only in the Canary Islands, then the check was 26 cents more.

"What is hidden between courses in the receipt for 2.5 euros? "

"And this is how we hide the secret commission of our restaurant" Our waiter answered with a smile.

Then we wandered along the central street and saw off the sunset on the banks of the river.

One of the interesting entertainments in Jurmala is the forest park. There are many very interesting swings on the territory.

Moreover, I have not seen the mechanisms of many of them before, as well as rope loopholes, and all this is free. Dasha and I climbed at speed to the top of the rope pyramid, until the Hare turned out to be more dexterous.

After getting drunk on the swings, we went to the observation tower, which created the feeling that Latvia is a continuous forest. It was already quite dark. And it was necessary to return to Riga. To be honest, it was so good in Jurmala that we didn’t want to go to Riga at all, and we didn’t even suspect what an adventure the capital had prepared for us in the evening) In Latvia in winter, the problem is that it gets dark early and you don’t have time to drive around the cities much in a day.

After wandering around the center a bit with a mandatory visit to the coffe inn and cheesecake with berries. The next task was to get to the central restaurant complex Lido, which was located away from the center. According to the knurled scheme, they put a GPS mark on the map and, saving on travel, went on a long walking route.

At first, the old city ended and there were just inhospitable endless streets. Then the Moscow region began, which looked, to put it mildly, threatening and deserted. The further we walked, the less we believed that a three-story restaurant with a capacity of 2.000 people was waiting for us ahead. We went deep into some slum places. After half an hour, there was already a desire not to go to a restaurant, but just get off with at least bruises) The closer to the point, the gloomier everything is. Near the point there was a large interchange with bridges, and we did not immediately go the right way, as a result, we also walked along the unlit passages. But when we determined exactly where to go, and around the corner there was pitch darkness instead of a restaurant, it somehow became completely sad. But the GPS cannot lie. At one point, I enthusiastically said, "We're there! "

Before us was like central India. And in the place where the restaurant should be, there was a gloomy house without light. It started to rain… Fortunately, a lively girl walking her dog was walking down the street. This was the first person we had seen in the last hour. "Of course there is a restaurant, you have to walk another 50 minutes to get there! Over there, across those bridges. " It turns out that the street where the restaurant was located was not alone. We were on "Malaya" street, but we need the one that is in another part of the city and not "Malaya". Jumping on the tram, we headed to the stop, which was called the Lido. The girl also warned us, "When you get off at the bus stop, it will seem that there is no restaurant, you will have to go straight into a dark alley! ". What an ominous thing they have at night, but what are the dark lanes for us after the route has been completed. The restaurant was like a corner of paradise, especially after the completed route. It was really big and themed, consisting of three parts - Lido Pub, Lido Buffet, Lido Restaurant.

We chose the second option and continued our feast, remembering how 5 years ago I completed my first task "Get acquainted with the website of Bank Aval and write test cases" I then had the best boss and project manager for all my current experience. Leaving the restaurant, we were already met by diamond dust flying from the clouds. There was also a lot of interesting things on the territory of the restaurant and a beautiful Christmas tree, which was many times more luxurious than the one in the center. By the way, there were a lot of Christmas trees in the center. After enjoying the beauty of the restaurant, we headed towards the hotel. The never-failing GPS showed that the distance through was relatively short and within walking distance, but the recommended route was much longer. But it seems like it would be more logical to go ahead, you just need to cross a large railway interchange. Having reached the junction, we found an excellent unlit long bridge, which just solved our problem.

Walking along the bridge of its other end, the conversations of some boys began to be heard. Quite a normal situation, some guys at 11 at night stand on the railway bridge and communicate. On the advice of my wife, I squared my shoulders and took a deep breath of air to seem even more immense, the tablet was hidden for every fireman. When they passed by them, one says to the other "250 thousand!!! " and somehow so ominously told him that he was already uncomfortable. We went down the bridge into the darkness, at least gouge out your eye. The guys stayed on top. Now, if you cut a little through the park, from which perennial firs towered, then it will be very close to the hotel. The entrance to the park was surrounded by a fence, and candles and graves could be seen behind the fence from time to time....We decided not to cut through the park. And just 10 minutes to walk along this quiet place. And once someone else wandered towards, and the gait and stagger was like that of a zombie. I expressed my theory, but somehow unsuccessfully loudly, it’s good that I didn’t catch it from a zombie) It’s clear why the guys didn’t touch us, they decided that we were crazy. Having gone beyond the cemetery zone, we were already walking along brighter streets, and some peasant was trudging behind us. But fortunately, after 20 minutes of walking, our paths parted with him. When we got to our room, we closed everything with two locks and moved to a relaxation area. Oddly enough, but this time the GPS was really right in suggesting a different route. But as for me, it will be more interesting with adventures. And again that feeling when you go to bed in one country, and in the morning you will already be at work. At the airport, the examiner decided to dig through and received a tough rebuff, and what do I do, I'm flying away, not flying in. The debate was whether a solid antiperspirant counts as a liquid. At the end of a heated argument, I asked, so what, even if it is considered, it also passes according to the norm. "Well, yes it does, it just needs to be laid out separately. " In general, the peasant just wanted to argue. If we flew to Latvia on a small Boeing, then back we generally flew on a propeller-driven aircraft, much longer than the stated time. At first we were fast asleep. Then, during the flight, I managed to catch the GPS and saw that we had passed Borispol and were flying further... Mom also watched our flight through flightradar24, it turns out we missed the Istanbul flight and went to the ring.

In conclusion, I want to say that I liked Latvia less than Lithuania, not so cozy, but nevertheless it was cool in Jurmala.

Trip Information

Date of travel: 12/11/2015 – 12/14/2015

Duration: 2 full days

Flight tickets: Airbaltic

Hotel: Booked on Booking

Excursions: All by yourself, on foot

Visas: Independently obtained for Spain.

Trip difficulty: 2/10 (easy)

Expenses for two

Air: 227 euro Kyiv-Riga-Kyiv

Accommodation: €54 for three nights with breakfast

Train: Riga-Dzintari-Riga (Jurmala) 8 euro

Total, including all costs described costs: EUR 381

Translated automatically from Russian. View original