Riga

This morning I was woken by a nice sharp kick to the shin by a security guard at about 4am.  Thanks SOOOO much for that, really! I needed to be up anyway.  So I was up and ready to roll and got on my early flight to Latvia to meet aunt Silvya!! 

Have I explained my Ryanair flight process already? Well... I'll explain again. Ryanair is an extremely cheap airline, as long as you follow all their rules. One toe out of line and it's fines out the wazoo. So they charge an extra 15€ to check a bag, but it's free to carry on... If you can fit it into the dreaded measuring box... And well... Mine doesnt. At least, not when it's full. So, I have developed a system. I wear my jeans and sweater... As well as my pajamas, and a few other shirts. Then I stick my toiletries in the pockets of my rain jacket and wear that too. That way, when my pack goes in it fits quite nicely! I may look a little funny... But hey! You don't know me :) And I always get a chuckle or two out of the staff. So anyway, once on board i strip all the extra layers and they go back into the bag. Take that, Ryanair!!

Alright, so I made it to Riga and had no trouble getting into the city. Man am I getting good at bus systems, I'll tell you what! ;) So I got there much earlier than I was expecting to, and had some time to explore the city after I found the hotel. (I just want to note the irony that I went directly from my worst sleeping place to the nicest overnight... You've got to love traveling!). I'm not entirely sure what I was expecting Riga to look like... But it certainly wasn't this! Riga is a beautiful old city that was obviously a real jewel at one point in time.  You can definitely still see some marks of the war and occupation in the city, but they are starting to rebuild and recover, and it's absolutely wonderful!!

A few hours later I met up with aunt Silvya and her sister Valerie at the hotel. Our hotel is the oldest in Riga called the metropoli hotel, and it's beautiful!  It's right in the old city, and a perfect location next to the opera house and the freedom statue.  It was so wonderful to see familiar faces!!! I honestly have loved traveling alone, you meet so many wonderful people, but it sure is nice and refreshing to meet up with people you love.  

Anyways, so first things first, went to an open air museum outside the city center. These three brave souls traveled WAY outside the city on very unfamiliar public transportation... Oh my... But we made it alright!! The museum itself was spectacular. The idea was to show different styles of housing and living in Latvia through history, and it's set in a picture perfect forested park. You can walk through the buildings which are all time period furnished, as well as watch people working and crafting things as they would have.  And of course, for those shopping inclined folks like my two companions, you can buy all of these hand made crafts. 

Aunt Silvya bought one item in particular that has a story I want to remember, which was a little wooden woven Easter egg.  In Latvia, these are given to children as "rabbit eggs" and they are told that if they sit very still and quietly with the egg, that it will hatch a real rabbit! :) I love learning about the little cultural details like that, maybe it's something I'll teach to the children in my life! :)