A bit of Riga.
It all started with the fact that I wanted to go to Tallinn... While I was thinking and wondering where, how and when to go, the already expensive tickets of "Estonian Air" went up significantly in price. I had to look for an alternative, it turned out to be an "airBaltic" flight with a transfer in Riga. But here the hitherto indifferent husband joined in the "development of the route", who categorically stated that since it was fate to fly through Latvia, he did not intend to move further than Riga. I, pragmatically judging that Riga is better than nothing at all, easily agreed. Moreover, the Baltic States, without exception, are good, pleasing to the eye and heart. So, the tickets are bought, the hotel is booked, the visas are received. And so we wake up at 6 in the morning, hastily drinking coffee, immersing the still unawakened bodies in a taxi, along the way scolding ourselves for not purchasing tickets for a lunch flight. You know, when you go to bed at three and get up at six in the morning, you are not happy with the prospect of a long-awaited weekend, even if it takes place in "paradise". On this trip, we experienced the charm of modern progress by going through electronic check-in a day before departure. It was interesting how the employees of Boryspil would react to the boarding passes printed on the printer. It turned out - no problem. In general, everything at the Boryspil airport this time went quickly and smoothly. Luggage check-in at the check-in counter, customs and passport control took about 20 minutes. “Still, early departures have their own charm, ” we decided, lounging imposingly on chairs in front of the bar counter of the “Irish” pub in terminal B.
But now landing "on the long-awaited aircraft" is announced, passengers are unloading at the compact turboprop aircraft "Bombardier". The husband rolls his eyes theatrically: "Oh gods! Yes, he's as old as my grandmother! The last time I flew to Iran was... eleven years ago! " Gee-gee, my husband deigned to joke. "We stay? Health is more expensive! " - I play along. "Paid! " - with the look of an inveterate redneck, the husband proudly heads up the rickety stairs to the inside of the plane. Actually the plane is new, clean and quiet. It's just unusual for the eye to see rotating helical blades in the window. It's cramped, of course, as if you're traveling in a minibus, but the price / quality ratio is optimal. On board there is a "Sky Shop": you can buy drinks, snacks, souvenirs. We accept lats, euros and payment cards. After reading reviews on the Internet, we prudently ordered a "snack" when booking tickets. The order came in large beautiful boxes. The food was without any frills, but hearty, and there was so much of it that we could not master the yogurt offered for dessert. But here, under the wing of the plane, the "lambs" of the waves of the Baltic Sea turned white - Jurmala, and behind it one can see Riga. How beautiful! I still regret not having my camera handy. Soft landing, fir-trees, birches. . . Well, hello, Baltka! : )
Most of the passengers who flew with us turned out to be transit passengers. Five people came to Riga, taking into account our physiognomies. At passport control, they made a real "interrogation": where are you going, for how many days, when are you leaving, the address and name of the hotel... "The purpose of your visit to Latvia? " - the border guard with a Russian surname asked sternly. "Drink a cup of coffee on K. Baron Street" - I mentally answered, but knowing that the border guards are not to be trifled with, I said laconic aloud: "Tourism".
We arrived in Latvia on November 18, the Independence Day of Latvia. Across the street from the exit from the airport, people cheerfully "stormed" the municipal bus number 22, going to the center. In honor of the holiday, all public transport in Riga was free. I did not know that there would be such a "ball", so I played it safe, having previously paid for the "Airport Express" - a fixed-route taxi that runs along a certain route past Riga hotels. A ride on such a bus costs 3 lats or 5 euros, you can pay the driver at the entrance. But we had a prepaid, again when booking tickets, a voucher. If it were not for this very voucher, then we would have gladly joined the passengers of bus number 22, but since it was already "paid", we comfortably drove to the Tallink Hotel (the stop closest to our hotel), having made a small impromptu "bus tour". I liked the "Airport Express" service, it may be more expensive than public transport, but cheaper than a taxi, it runs on schedule - once every 30 minutes. We also returned to the airport on the light green Express bus. If you are going to use the "Airport Express", you need to remember that it goes around a lot of hotels and circles around the city for quite a long time, often getting into "toffees", so it's better to leave early when heading to the airport.
We got from Tallink to our hotel in exactly 11 minutes, as promised by the Google map. We decided to stay at the hotel "Gertrude", in the restaurant of which we had the pleasure of having dinner on New Year's Eve two years ago (although then the hotel was called "Ramada"). I really liked the hotel. Cozy rooms, delicious breakfasts, friendly reception - what else does a tourist need for happiness? didn't stress much.
I must say that the weather in Riga was pleasant, it was warm, +5 - 7 degrees, while in Kyiv the puddles were frozen. So we left our things in the room and went for a walk. Latvians, like other nations, celebrate their Independence Day with a parade, laying flowers at the Freedom Monument and festive fireworks. We did not have time for the parade, we watched its end from the window of the minibus. But they admired the Latvian navy to their heart's content - several warships moored in the Riga harbor. Out of the corner of our eye, we watched the laying of flowers at the monument by local "V. I. P. "s, but it was especially touching to watch ordinary citizens hurrying to "Freedom" with branches of white and burgundy chrysanthemums (in the colors of the Latvian flag). In general, the celebration of Independence Day in Riga is calmer than in our country, young people defile through the streets with glasses of coffee instead of beer, we also did not notice the performances of half-naked pop stars and folk choirs (maybe they were in the morning). And if anyone tried to shake the air with increased decibels, it was tourists slightly warmed up with a balm : ). Having trampled a little at the famous "Laima" clock, we "dive" into the Old Town. Ooooh! Riga, Riga! How good you are, although you are rather fussy (it is not surprising, because it is a holiday in the yard; )). Here you can endlessly circle on a small "patch", passing through the cobbled streets, looking into cozy courtyards and, despite the compact size of "Vertsriga", literally "get lost in three houses". With the onset of twilight, the streets of the city began to fill up with people more and more. In addition to Independence Day, the Staro Riga Light Festival was held in Riga. Citizens and guests of the Latvian capital hurried to see the houses and streets of the city transformed in a new light (in the literal sense of the word). We, having sat down at a table in one of the cozy coffee shops, remembered, and most importantly - FELT that we were in Kyiv at 6 in the morning... We decided to postpone further sightseeing of the city "until tomorrow" and headed to the hotel, with difficulty making our way through the crowd, hurrying to the festival and to the festive fireworks.
The next morning, my husband pushed me aside with an exclamation: "Get up, we'll be late for the station! " Oh, how I did not want to let go of the soft snow-white pillow! A vile nasty rain drizzled outside the window, but the husband was adamant: they were planning Jurmala - they had to go. Still, we were late for the train, but we were not too upset, because there were many minibuses at the bus station opposite the train station (under the Tallink Hotel). On one of them (No. 7020) we reached Jurmala. The fare is 1 lats 10 santims. Pay at the entrance, the driver issues a receipt. We asked to be dropped off at Majori (this is the middle of Jurmala). Immediately, at the Info Center at the bus stop, they took a map, and then on foot along the street. Jomas walked to Dzintari, looked at the famous concert hall, drank a cup of coffee with balm, bought souvenirs (which are two times cheaper here than in Riga), were upset when they saw the deplorable state of the house-museum of Janis Rainis, admired the views of the Baltic coast. . . All in all, we had a good time before lunch. And then the rain ended, and we decided it was time to return to Riga. We drove back for 1.05 LV, however, we had to go standing up.
The second half of the day was devoted to photography. We leisurely examined several installations of the "Staro Riga" festival. Some of them were "interactive". For example, at one installation it was possible to change the lighting by throwing a ball of the corresponding color into a special basket, or feel like an "airplane" running up a specially lit "take-off" (the run was accompanied by the sound of a jet engine). On one of the streets, the kids were actively pedaling bicycles, making an incredible noise (each bicycle corresponded to a musical instrument) and making the pictures on the wall move... In general, there was something to see, although I prefer "static compositions", like luminous boats on Livu laukums or "planet" balls in one of the lanes of the Old Town. There were about 80 objects at the festival in total; I had neither the desire nor the opportunity to see them all. It was especially upsetting that all objects of the festival were signed only in Latvian. And since many of the installations were avant-garde, their meaning remained unclear to foreign tourists.
The last day was spent in the same way, leisurely walking around Riga, buying up all sorts of "goodies" for souvenirs. To be honest, the festival spoiled our plans a bit, because the "uncrowded" weekend didn't work out. But, nevertheless, I now remember my trip to Riga as a wonderful dream. Sometimes you even think: "Was there a trip, or was it all just a dream? " But here again and again I review the "evidence" in the form of a photo and add a little tart balm from a ceramic bottle into a cup of coffee - no, all this was not in a dream, but in reality... : )
Well, now a little about the "eternal" - about money. The exchange rate is approximately $ 2 or 1.5 euros for 1 LV (lat). I deduced the proportion of 1 lats to 16 UAH, and all the calculations went "like clockwork". It turned out that the prices in Riga are almost no different from those in Kiev. By the way, in the center of Riga you can exchange for lats and Ukrainian hryvnias, although the exchange rate is rather low - for one lats they give about 15 hryvnias. Also very low exchange rate in Jurmala, 45 lats for 100 dollars. Two cups of coffee with balm and a cinnamon roll in the cafeteria "Vercriga" in the Old Town will cost you 2.80 LV (45 UAH), lunch or dinner for two in the popular bistro "Lido" (potatoes, fish, salad, tea) - 7 LV (112 UAH), dinner in one of the restaurants near St. Peter's Church - 18 lats (about 300 UAH) for two (with drinks). At Livu laukums, opposite the Russian Theatre, a "Christmas tent" was set up, here you can have an inexpensive and tasty meal with national Latvian dishes: soup - 1.60 LV, sausages - 1.50 LV, stewed cabbage - 1.35LV, hot currant juice with balm (mmm, yummy! )- LVL 2.80.
Magnets 1.5 - 2.5 lats, key rings are about the same price. The map of the city was bought in a bookstore for 99 centimes. They took sweets for themselves and as gifts (in the supermarket "Rimi"): chocolates "Laima" 100 gr ("Rigonda", "Krejuma", "Riga") - 0.73 lv, waffle cakes 350 gr. - 1.01 - 1.79 lv, marzipan sweets -0.21 lv piece, "Piparkukas" (Christmas pepper cookies) 250 gr - 0.99 lv, sea buckthorn marmalade in chocolate 185g - 2.57lv, just sea buckthorn marmalade - 1.66lv. This time the beer "passed by" us too, they tasted a bottle of "Rizhsky" for "forma" - 0.69lv. That's what is really expensive in Latvia - it's strong alcoholic drinks. The stores have a lot of Russian and Ukrainian vodka. The prices are fantastic, for 140 UAH. for a bottle of "Bread Gift"! Chilean wines - similar to the prices of our supermarkets. We bought Riga liquor "Benedektins" 0.35l - 4.25lv and local pepper tincture "Piparu" 0.25l - 1.79lv as a gift.
Contrary to custom, this trip was completely planned and organized by ourselves. The travel budget with air travel and transfer was 600 euros for two, against 800 offered by the agency.
I wish you all pleasant travels and vivid impressions!
