BootsnAll Travel Network


Europe on an Alphabet
 

Europe On An Alphabet

Single and savvy 30-something backpacks through 26 European cities/places, each beginning with a different letter of the alphabet. Each city is in a different country…

LATVIA

Wednesday, August 9th, 2006

Riga to Warsaw (the first “W”)

Posted in General, LATVIA, POLAND, Travel | 1 Comment »

Bus trip started off well. Someone sat in my reserved seat.

“The people at the back took our seats,” they said when I showed them my ticket. Well, that’s all bloody fine and dandy but what about my seat?

“There’s a seat behind us,” an American said from across the aisle.

“But the bus is full, so what happens when the person who has that seat reserved gets on?” I said. Why can’t people just stick to their designated places? It makes life so much easier.

“Well, I guess, ” the American said, “Your pretty little self will just have to deal with it then, won’t you?” Oh, that wasn’t patronizing, was it? I felt like punching the little shit but instead awkwardly squeezed into the available spot.

“I guess your pretty little self will just have to deal with it then…”

As the bus pulled away from the city over the bridge, a full moon rested low in the sky. The obnoxious little twat sitting in front of me joined the moon and pushed back his seat, right into my lap. I was a prisoner in a confined space and had little to look forward to for the next twelve hours except to plan my fantasy attack on the little fucker.

Perhaps a cheese wire cutter over the headrest and pulled tight around his scrawny ass neck would do the trick….. Dream on, Vic. You’ve not got any wire and the cheese and crackers in your bag just won’t cut it.

The guy was lucky. This time. Next time I’ll show him exactly what’s what…

Tuesday, August 8th, 2006

Jaunt tol Jurmala

Posted in LATVIA, Things to do, Travel | 1 Comment »

Jurmala030.jpg   

I walked into my room at Riga Old Town Hostel the other morning to find a very bright, perky and talkative Bostonian schoolteacher.

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Tuesday, August 8th, 2006

Ventspils is a little closer to Victory

Posted in LATVIA, Places to Stay, Travel, V | Add Comments »

Ventspils0031.jpg 

I caught yet another bus (3 hours) to Ventspils, home to 50,000 Latvians, and arrived right in the middle of the Ventspils Annual City Festival, which takes place during the first weekend of August, and celebrates the city’s founding date of 1290.

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Monday, August 7th, 2006

Flower Carpets (for the florists amongst you)

Posted in General, LATVIA, Travel, V | Add Comments »

Each year during the Ventspils Festival, a competition is held to find the best flower “carpet.” To vote for their favorite, people drop stones into plastic buckets placed next to each work of art.

Hhhmmmm….. sounds like that would be easy enough to fix…

Anyway, this year’s winner is the last one shown here.

Ventspils010.jpg  Ventspils008.jpg 
Ventspils007.jpg Ventspils005.jpg Ventspils006.jpg

 

Saturday, August 5th, 2006

Lithuania to Latvia

Posted in LATVIA, Places to Eat, Places to Stay, Things to do, Travel | Add Comments »

Riga028.jpg Riga018.jpg

After nearly six hours on two buses (changing in Panevyzys), sitting once again next to a cheesy-footed man (although this one had exceptionally hairy arms that kept reaching out and tickling me), I arrived in Riga, the capital of Latvia. Had originally planned to do “V” in Belarus and didn’t think I needed a visa. Turns out I do, hence my reason for traveling a little further north to Latvia.

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