Bumming around the Baltics
After nearly four months of working 6-7 days a week, Matt and I decided it was high time for a vacation. We decided to check out the nearby Baltic countries--Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania--especially after we caught wind of a some amazing airfares from airBaltic. So after some extensive planning, we packed up Sunday night and caught a flight out of St. Petersburg on Monday early afternoon.
That's when the fun began. We got through passport control when we had to go through our third metal detector/frisking station, just to sit at the waiting area by our gate. Lo and behold, there was a man three people ahead of us who looked really familiar. After seeing that he was carrying a cello case, my hunch was confirmed: We were standing 3 feet away from Yo Yo Ma!! After we all successfully got through the security check-point, I gathered all of my courage and approached him. Turns out he is one of the nicest people I've ever met -- he was genuinely interested in learning about us and the work we're doing in St. Petersburg. Unfortunately, he wasn't on our flight (he was going to Oslo), so we had to part ways, but fortunately, we got an awesome photo to show our 2 loyal blog readers! (We'll post it when we get home next week, we promise!)
Our flight was delayed a bit, but without too much of a hassle, we arrived in Riga, the capital of Latvia late yesterday afternoon. It was cold, dark and rainy, but we ventured out anyway, in search of a memorable dinner in Old Town. WOW -- this place is really, really cute and quaint. I barely walked two blocks into Old Town before I had nearly a dozen photos of picture-perfect little streets, replete with gas burning lamps and cobblestone streets. We had dinner in a medieval themed restaurant, which we were half-expecting to cheesy; quite to the contrary, it was quaint, romantic and very unique! After dinner, we grabbed dessert and coffee at a place that reminded us of the Cosi before we went to the movies. Yes, it was so decadent to be able to watch Borat (which is banned in Russia) and in English, no less. And it only cost us $12 for two tickets!
This morning we walked around the residential neighborhood where our B&B is located. Even though it's not in Old Town, it's still really interesting. The architecture is mostly Art Nouveau, which is a welcome change for us from the style we're used to seeing in St. Petersburg -- we casually refer to it as "decaying Soviet" style. The beauty of the architecture is actually in the variety; next door to an elegant Old World building, you may find a gorgeous brand new, high-design building. We've found that it's very easy to get around here and people are very comfortable speaking to us in Russia, Latvian or English, whichever one we use first! And it's great to be able to use credit cards widely (unlike in Russia, where they are often not accepted). Riga defintely has a European and Scandinavian feel, with many of the conveniences of the West.
We spent most of the afternoon strolling through Old Town again, purposely getting lost in the tiny alleyways and discovering new nooks and cranies. We saw churches, museums, old houses, guilds, shops, bakeries, bookstores, the old synagogue and more. Each street was more beautiful than the last and as the sun sank in the sky, the town took on a beautiful wintery holiday feel. Needless to say, this is one place we'll definitely recommend! Tomorrow we're off to Vilnius, where we hope to unearth some of the city's rich Jewish heritage. (Photos to come; check back in a week or so!)
That's when the fun began. We got through passport control when we had to go through our third metal detector/frisking station, just to sit at the waiting area by our gate. Lo and behold, there was a man three people ahead of us who looked really familiar. After seeing that he was carrying a cello case, my hunch was confirmed: We were standing 3 feet away from Yo Yo Ma!! After we all successfully got through the security check-point, I gathered all of my courage and approached him. Turns out he is one of the nicest people I've ever met -- he was genuinely interested in learning about us and the work we're doing in St. Petersburg. Unfortunately, he wasn't on our flight (he was going to Oslo), so we had to part ways, but fortunately, we got an awesome photo to show our 2 loyal blog readers! (We'll post it when we get home next week, we promise!)
Our flight was delayed a bit, but without too much of a hassle, we arrived in Riga, the capital of Latvia late yesterday afternoon. It was cold, dark and rainy, but we ventured out anyway, in search of a memorable dinner in Old Town. WOW -- this place is really, really cute and quaint. I barely walked two blocks into Old Town before I had nearly a dozen photos of picture-perfect little streets, replete with gas burning lamps and cobblestone streets. We had dinner in a medieval themed restaurant, which we were half-expecting to cheesy; quite to the contrary, it was quaint, romantic and very unique! After dinner, we grabbed dessert and coffee at a place that reminded us of the Cosi before we went to the movies. Yes, it was so decadent to be able to watch Borat (which is banned in Russia) and in English, no less. And it only cost us $12 for two tickets!
This morning we walked around the residential neighborhood where our B&B is located. Even though it's not in Old Town, it's still really interesting. The architecture is mostly Art Nouveau, which is a welcome change for us from the style we're used to seeing in St. Petersburg -- we casually refer to it as "decaying Soviet" style. The beauty of the architecture is actually in the variety; next door to an elegant Old World building, you may find a gorgeous brand new, high-design building. We've found that it's very easy to get around here and people are very comfortable speaking to us in Russia, Latvian or English, whichever one we use first! And it's great to be able to use credit cards widely (unlike in Russia, where they are often not accepted). Riga defintely has a European and Scandinavian feel, with many of the conveniences of the West.
We spent most of the afternoon strolling through Old Town again, purposely getting lost in the tiny alleyways and discovering new nooks and cranies. We saw churches, museums, old houses, guilds, shops, bakeries, bookstores, the old synagogue and more. Each street was more beautiful than the last and as the sun sank in the sky, the town took on a beautiful wintery holiday feel. Needless to say, this is one place we'll definitely recommend! Tomorrow we're off to Vilnius, where we hope to unearth some of the city's rich Jewish heritage. (Photos to come; check back in a week or so!)
posted by Alyson Fieldman at 10:12 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home