Lat via bus

In a box down by the river.

Latvia. My family tree used to reach back here. Well, it still might. We used to think parts of the family were from Latvia and Estonia. Then I signed up ...

Oh, just see the last post.

So I bus it into Riga and find my Airbnb abode. It's... wacky. It's basically a cave. Not even kidding. It's beneath apartment building, has rock walls, no windows, is chilly, etc. -- with all sorts of fun furnishings. And like seven beds. Good stuff.

So, Riga. Many of the reviews of restaurants and bars say how sketchy it is. But really, it seemed fine to me. Maybe it's my new hair gel -- creates imposing look.

I am writing this way after I was there -- hard to recall what the heck I was writing about. But I try to reconstruct.

I eat pizza. I go to an Irish pub. There's a Libya-Portugal indoor soccer game on, featuring one of the more awesome Libya-Portugal indoor soccer highlights you will ever see ... if you decide to look it up.

I think this was it:

In all, I'm still running out of steam. Starting to think of these visits as primers. Which places would I want to visit again for a longer stretch? Iceland ... Sure. Helsinki? Meh. If I'm nearby, perhaps, but otherwise ... Tallinn? Yep. Riga? Tbd.

Did I already write all that? Seriously, I'm gassed.

So I'm in a market and a coin falls to the ground. It almost certainly is mine, but a) being somewhat unsure, and b) wanting to play a little experiment, I hold it up to the woman in front of me and ask if it is hers. Speaking some language that isn't English, I still can tell she's going through the "hmmm... maybe? let me check ... it might ... i don't know ... i'm looking at the change i just put in my pocket ... yes, i might be missing some ... ok, it's mine, i'll take it" motions.

She took the money. Was clearly lying. Way to represent, Latvia! Bitch stole my monkey (old reference -- only MelJax would get it, but she probably ain't reading this. So be it).

Have I mentioned the "no comprendo" thing yet? Enough people here (with "here" meaning the immediately adjacent nations of Finland, Latvia, Estonia, Iceland and Germany) speak enough English that if they ask me something and I say "Sorry, I don't understand," they then can ask in English. This is a bummer if I don't want them to be asking me anything.

Where I stayed. Magic.

So I've started saying, "lo siento, no comprendo" -- easy Spanish for "I'm sorry, I don't understand." It has worked. Every single time. One person even apologized over and over -- in English, no less -- for daring to disturb me. Ja ja ja (Spanish for ha ha ha).

I just used it on some completely harmless-looking dude who probably just wanted directions or something. Oh well. Still fun.

The next night I went to a different Irish bar. Fun place, cool peeps. There was a KHL game on. But the bartender argued it wasn't the KHL. I said it was. I provided ample evidence, including the side of rink having significant KHL signage and website addresses, and the teams playing being in the KHL. She still disagreed. But I was right. Then, prompted by FB friends, asked her what league she thought it was, she said she didn't want to say any more, that she had better things to talk about.

After there was some equestrian event on TV. Kontinental Horse League, I asserted. Finally she and I agreed on something.

Also played impromptu music trivia. I think I was rocking that too -- making me feel slightly better about MG & Co. finding a better trivia night team w/o me. Sigh.

Anyway, locals were teaching me how to say ridiculous things in Latvian. I think I asked the bartender, "Where are the tacos?"

By this point she was (jokingly -- i think) completely sick of me. Tried to cut me off. I explained that I'm like this even without booze.

K-H-L.

In all, another good night of fun chat with locals and, once again, Brits. Those wacky Brits. Finding English/Irish pubs in these countries are good places for chill convo. And beer.

So, Riga. Pretty cool town. Somewhat like Tallinn -- at least as far as the Old Town goes -- but on a bigger scale. Therefore, perhaps more to do/see, but also a bit less charming. But certainly a similar feel.

I wander and see some fun buildings and statues and such. Roland. He has a statue. In an important square.

I try to go to the Museum of the Occupation. It's currently unoccupied. It's being renovated/moved. Bummer. Seemed like a good one to check out. There have been a lot of to-sees that have been closed on this trip. No more winter trips here.

After this, I go to cave. I sleep.

Shower tiny. Difficult to wash. Toilet angry. Bangs and yells when flushed. Cave dark. Oversleep first day because dark. Shrine to Jesus behind beads lit. Seriously.

My last day in Riga featured my first significant knee pain of the trip. Crap. But I saunter on.

I go see a statue of Great Christopher. If he's so great, how'd he get stuck in a box with a pole up his butt for everyone to gawk at? Huh?! He actually (according to legend) saved a baby from drowning in the river, but the baby kept getting bigger and bigger as he got closer to shore. He finally hit land and just passed out. When he awoke, there was no baby -- but there was a big sack of gold! He used this to do some good stuff, apparently. There's some sort of commentary on the value of life vs. money in there somewhere.

Russians dress funny. At least the ones I'm looking at right now do.

Buskers and trinket-selling folk set up shop by major tourist points. Clever bastards.

So I go to a cafe. I order food. And tap water. Very cute waitress gives me strange, WTF look, "tap water?"

"I mean... um ... still water!" Pretending to be a dumb American. Ah, the power of pretty girls. Getting me to pay for water. Clever bastards.

Managed not to drop iPhone off tower. #winning

Anyway, spent morning/early afternoon walking around the big sites. Cat house (actually a house with a couple of cat statues atop it), the Three Brothers (a few small houses adjacent to one another, representing something or other), a big tower in a church (climbed it, took pics of town), an Internet cafe using the IE logo on its signage (awesome!). Saw a guy with a boot on his car. Went to Jewish Latvia museum. "Today museum is open," says the person at the door. "I mean closed."

I mailed some stuff ("Go through door on left -- that's the info desk and post," a local tells me. "The other door is for the President."), cleaned out the cave (wow -- good spelunking euphemism there), hopped on a bus and headed out.

Oh, before bus -- there was a market outside the station. Picked up some gloves and gifts, the latter including some Estonian art. The woman said she was the only person in all the Baltics doing this art/working with this stone. It probably is impossible to verify this. I tell her this. She hits me. I buy something.

Then some guy says something to me. I go "lo siento" on him. He starts to make what seemed to be a tooth-brushing motion.

Wow, I truly don't comprendo.

There is a father-son combo in front of me on bus. Very cute kid -- maybe 4 or 5 -- and the dad is great with him. But kid won't shut up. The entire ride. Won't shut up.

This in comparison to the guy in front of me on previous bus who was video Skyping with some woman who wasn't quite appropriately dressed for a bus ride. He even held the laptop up and twirled it around so she could check out the bus -- and/or so the bus could check her out.

Did I mention I enjoyed "The Adjustment Bureau" more the second time? Maybe I'm back on the right path.