My trip to Riga (capital city of Latvia) has been a pretty good trip even though our first day was totally wasted due to delay by RyanAir. It was so weird that their First Officer is nowhere to be found when the plane is already about to depart from Stockholm Skavsta Airport. Urgh.... In the end, we arrived at Riga super late, and hence there goes our first day.
*snowing in Stockholm*
*the plane taking us to Riga*
*Lidosta Riga Airport*
We spent our first evening there searching for the tourist office followed by looking around town for our hostel. Both places were so well hidden haha. The people in Riga had really long faces, they don't smile, they don't say things like "excuse me" or "sorry". The place had a really unfriendly atmosphere, but I guess it is just natural for the Latvians to act this way?
*computer at our hostel.. notice the wallpaper? It's Singapore's national day parade 2007!!*
After we found our hostel, we treated ourselves to some nice food at a restaurant just below our hostel. Things in Latvia are not as cheap as we had expected earlier. The price tags are really just deceptions, you know? They display price tags indicating that items were, for example, 0.69 Lats, and it looked really cheap. But when you convert it to Singapore dollars (multiply by 3.14), you will just feel like putting your wallet back into your pocket and walk away.
After which, we spent the rest of the evening walking around the city to kind of orientate ourselves to the area. That was when we saw from far, the 26th floor of a building with really nice lightings. It turned out to be a pub which we would visit on the 2nd night. Along the way, we saw the Freedom Monument, as well as the Laima Clock.
*Freedom Monument*
*Laima Clock*
*city centre*
The word "Laima" seems funny. But I guess it is their national brand. Even chocolates were "Laima" chocolates. On the contrary, as we walked along the street, I saw a shop with the name "Laipa". That was really funny.
I bought a bottle of water from their supermarket as well because the tap water in Latvia is not drinkable (at least for us). And by mistake, I bought the wrong water and I got sparkling water instead.... and I had to open the bottle outside of the hostel because the gas was all rushing out!
*water splashed all over - feels like I was arming an explosive*
The buses in Riga operates in an interesting manner. You don't enter from the front door (it never opens for commuters). You enter from either one of the two back doors, and you pay the money to a bus conductor (not the driver) who sits on a designated seat in the bus! How boring it must be to have to be on the bus the whole day... But well, it's their livelihood, not everyone is fortunate enough to live in a more developed country with high technologies.
*The designated seat for the bus conductor*
*The bus conductor counting her tickets*
On the 2nd day in Riga, we visited the Central Market where all kinds of groceries and food were sold. We tried a few pastries here and there along the way, and the best one was this donut which tasted like our 油条 ! Very nice!
*Central Market*
*These buildings house various stalls inside*
*donut with sugar*
*shopping for cheap gloves*
We visited the Open Air Museum. It was really open air and it was freezing. The Open Air Museum exhibits the lifestyle of 3 different generations of Latvians in the past, the kind of buildings they live in, the kind of food they eat, the toys the children play etc... It was interesting to know how their forefathers lived in the past and the most important thing there was the food! Because we were always hungry (at least I am), so food was very important and the good thing is that the food was delicious!
*To the Open-air museum*
*Latvia's Open Air Museum*
*open air*
*typical houses*
*a threshing barn*
*design your own headgear or mask for free*
*the interior of a room*
*these ladies serve hot tea and fried apples - nice when weather is freezing*
*hot tea and fried apple*
*in front of a food stall*
*this porridge was very tasty and warm*
*us with the porridge*
*saw them playing with wooden fishing*
*and i decided to give it a go*
*and succeeded*
*there was a performance... in Latvian -_-"*
*porridge - latvian style*
*snowing in Stockholm*
*the plane taking us to Riga*
*Lidosta Riga Airport*We spent our first evening there searching for the tourist office followed by looking around town for our hostel. Both places were so well hidden haha. The people in Riga had really long faces, they don't smile, they don't say things like "excuse me" or "sorry". The place had a really unfriendly atmosphere, but I guess it is just natural for the Latvians to act this way?
*computer at our hostel.. notice the wallpaper? It's Singapore's national day parade 2007!!*After we found our hostel, we treated ourselves to some nice food at a restaurant just below our hostel. Things in Latvia are not as cheap as we had expected earlier. The price tags are really just deceptions, you know? They display price tags indicating that items were, for example, 0.69 Lats, and it looked really cheap. But when you convert it to Singapore dollars (multiply by 3.14), you will just feel like putting your wallet back into your pocket and walk away.
After which, we spent the rest of the evening walking around the city to kind of orientate ourselves to the area. That was when we saw from far, the 26th floor of a building with really nice lightings. It turned out to be a pub which we would visit on the 2nd night. Along the way, we saw the Freedom Monument, as well as the Laima Clock.
*Freedom Monument*
*Laima Clock*
*city centre*The word "Laima" seems funny. But I guess it is their national brand. Even chocolates were "Laima" chocolates. On the contrary, as we walked along the street, I saw a shop with the name "Laipa". That was really funny.
I bought a bottle of water from their supermarket as well because the tap water in Latvia is not drinkable (at least for us). And by mistake, I bought the wrong water and I got sparkling water instead.... and I had to open the bottle outside of the hostel because the gas was all rushing out!
*water splashed all over - feels like I was arming an explosive*The buses in Riga operates in an interesting manner. You don't enter from the front door (it never opens for commuters). You enter from either one of the two back doors, and you pay the money to a bus conductor (not the driver) who sits on a designated seat in the bus! How boring it must be to have to be on the bus the whole day... But well, it's their livelihood, not everyone is fortunate enough to live in a more developed country with high technologies.
*The designated seat for the bus conductor*
*The bus conductor counting her tickets*On the 2nd day in Riga, we visited the Central Market where all kinds of groceries and food were sold. We tried a few pastries here and there along the way, and the best one was this donut which tasted like our 油条 ! Very nice!
*Central Market*
*These buildings house various stalls inside*
*donut with sugar*
*shopping for cheap gloves*We visited the Open Air Museum. It was really open air and it was freezing. The Open Air Museum exhibits the lifestyle of 3 different generations of Latvians in the past, the kind of buildings they live in, the kind of food they eat, the toys the children play etc... It was interesting to know how their forefathers lived in the past and the most important thing there was the food! Because we were always hungry (at least I am), so food was very important and the good thing is that the food was delicious!
*To the Open-air museum*
*Latvia's Open Air Museum*
*open air*
*typical houses*
*a threshing barn*
*design your own headgear or mask for free*
*the interior of a room*
*these ladies serve hot tea and fried apples - nice when weather is freezing*
*hot tea and fried apple*
*in front of a food stall*
*this porridge was very tasty and warm*
*us with the porridge*
*saw them playing with wooden fishing*
*and i decided to give it a go*
*and succeeded*
*there was a performance... in Latvian -_-"*
*porridge - latvian style*After a long day at the Museum, we went back to the city centre where a surprise for me awaited.... While having dinner at Hesburger (a fast food chain), Shiping and Benedict suddenly appeared from somewhere with a cake! It turned out to be a birthday cake for both James and I. It was funny that James thought it was for me while I thought that it was for James. The girls are good at confusing us all the while. But thanks alot people... Appreciate it lots!
*Caramel Sundae from Hesburger - nice!*
*James and I*
*cake cutting*
After dinner, we walked around and noticed that there was an event going on and very patriotic songs were being played! Could be because Latvia's Independence Day was like within a couple more days, and so there was this event and people were lighting candles and placing them everywhere along the streets.
*candles everywhere*
*us at the event*
We then went to the pub on the 26th floor of this building which I have mentioned earlier. It had a nice overall view of the city from that height and the Latvian beer (Aldaris) that I had tasted quite good actually. And it was the cheapest drink I could find in the menu.
The next day, Benedict and I came back to Stockholm while the others stayed on in Riga to visit other attractions. But before our afternoon flight, both of us went around the city, to parts of town which we haven't really seen yet. It was snowing quite heavily that morning and it was beautiful, albeit freezing.
*outside the hostel*
*some shots with the buildings*
*what a weird object*
*heavy snow*
*Statue of Roland - don't know who he is lah*
*Caramel Sundae from Hesburger - nice!*
*James and I*
*cake cutting*After dinner, we walked around and noticed that there was an event going on and very patriotic songs were being played! Could be because Latvia's Independence Day was like within a couple more days, and so there was this event and people were lighting candles and placing them everywhere along the streets.
*candles everywhere*
*us at the event*We then went to the pub on the 26th floor of this building which I have mentioned earlier. It had a nice overall view of the city from that height and the Latvian beer (Aldaris) that I had tasted quite good actually. And it was the cheapest drink I could find in the menu.
The next day, Benedict and I came back to Stockholm while the others stayed on in Riga to visit other attractions. But before our afternoon flight, both of us went around the city, to parts of town which we haven't really seen yet. It was snowing quite heavily that morning and it was beautiful, albeit freezing.
*outside the hostel*
*some shots with the buildings*
*what a weird object*
*heavy snow*
*Statue of Roland - don't know who he is lah*And so we returned to Stockholm in Sweden. As expected, RyanAir delayed our flight time again... urgh...
Okay, back to the very first day when I first arrived in Stockholm, we visited the Vasa Museum, which exhibited the Vasa (the 17th century 64-gun warship that sunk on her maiden voyage and had been salvaged). The museum was very impressive, especially with the Vasa in it, it was really awe-inspiring. It was a pity that it had to sink just after beginning her voyage. It was believed that the King then had rushed for the works to be completed but nobody dared to voice their concerns that the ship may not be fully ready for sailing yet.
Now let's fast forward to when I arrive back in Stockholm from Riga. We visited a friend, sort of a family friend, Inger, at the EDB Singapore office. It was the first EDB office to be set up here in Europe according to her. She is actually a colleague of my aunt who works in EDB in Singapore. So Inger bought us dinner at a nearby Japanese restaurant which served really nice food even though the rice didn't really tasted like authentic Japanese rice. Thank you so much for the nice meal Inger!
*Little Japan*
*Tori Katsu*
*Banana Split*
*at the restaurant*
*EDB Singapore*
*Inger and I*
Okay, back to the very first day when I first arrived in Stockholm, we visited the Vasa Museum, which exhibited the Vasa (the 17th century 64-gun warship that sunk on her maiden voyage and had been salvaged). The museum was very impressive, especially with the Vasa in it, it was really awe-inspiring. It was a pity that it had to sink just after beginning her voyage. It was believed that the King then had rushed for the works to be completed but nobody dared to voice their concerns that the ship may not be fully ready for sailing yet.
Now let's fast forward to when I arrive back in Stockholm from Riga. We visited a friend, sort of a family friend, Inger, at the EDB Singapore office. It was the first EDB office to be set up here in Europe according to her. She is actually a colleague of my aunt who works in EDB in Singapore. So Inger bought us dinner at a nearby Japanese restaurant which served really nice food even though the rice didn't really tasted like authentic Japanese rice. Thank you so much for the nice meal Inger!
*Little Japan*
*Tori Katsu*
*Banana Split*
*at the restaurant*
*EDB Singapore*
*Inger and I*The next day was spent touring around Stockholm. It was snowing on this morning - must be Heaven's birthday gift to me haha. There were young children playing at the playground and the whole scene just looked very beautiful.
*I love this view*
*outside Stockholm University hostels*
We visited Stockholm City Hall (within it is a Blue Hall where the Nobel Dinner was served every year for the Nobel Laureates), a glassware shop, the Old Town, the Royal Palace, and the Nobel Museum. There wasn't much pictures taken because it was really very dark already at 4.30pm. Shucks, I have to visit Stockholm again if I get the chance to, especially in summer.
Anyway Benedict was so nice because he actually bought me a present!! It was Emihls Gustavs Chocolate from Riga! I found it like on my backpack the next morning when I woke up. Thanks Ben!
*Birthday Note*
*drools...*
*2 chocolate balls for me*
*Stockholm City Hall*
*I shall have my Nobel Dinner here someday*
*Alfred Nobel*
*the Council meeting room*
*one of the many beautiful chandeliers*
*Golden Hall*
*stairs leading to the Blue Hall*
*the Blue Hall*
*utensils fit for Nobel Laureates*
*it's chilly outside City Hall*
*at the Nobel Museum*
*I decided to ask some smart questions*
*Nobel medal*
*Ben and I outside Nobel Museum*
*the amount of food we had*
*i can't wait to eat*
*the goreng pisang-icecream dessert*
The hostel that I stayed in in Stockholm was very nice! I think it really is worth the stay because they provide free sauna, internet access, warm showers, and they organise trips for us on Wednesdays and Thursdays. A pity I was only there for that 1 night because I was returning to Lund via the 5.20am train the next day to go for lessons haha - carrying my barang barang to school -_-"
And so I went back to Lund alone, waking up at 3am in the morning to prepare. It's a miracle I didn't fall asleep in the class. And traveling alone means taking photos by myself again, urgh... A 4-hour train ride meant that I could either sleep, or prepare my work for class in 4 hours time. So I decided to do my work since I couldn't sleep at all... and after which, I decided to pamper myself a little, and went to the Bistro wagon and had a mini-breakfast there.
*Stockholm at 4am*
*station only opens at 5am, it was only 4.25am when I arrived*
*hmm, which track is my train going to be on?*
*track 10*
*me*
*Bistro wagon*
*kinda pathetic huh... but it's cheap*
*I decided to sit here and eat....*
*....and watch the view outside go past me*
*I love this view*
*outside Stockholm University hostels*We visited Stockholm City Hall (within it is a Blue Hall where the Nobel Dinner was served every year for the Nobel Laureates), a glassware shop, the Old Town, the Royal Palace, and the Nobel Museum. There wasn't much pictures taken because it was really very dark already at 4.30pm. Shucks, I have to visit Stockholm again if I get the chance to, especially in summer.
Anyway Benedict was so nice because he actually bought me a present!! It was Emihls Gustavs Chocolate from Riga! I found it like on my backpack the next morning when I woke up. Thanks Ben!
*Birthday Note*
*drools...*
*2 chocolate balls for me*Anyway, Stockholm City Hall is the Municipal Council for Stockholm and it is, as I've mentioned, famous for the Nobel Dinner for the year's Nobel Laureates in the Blue Hall.
*Stockholm City Hall*
*I shall have my Nobel Dinner here someday*
*Alfred Nobel*
*the Council meeting room*
*one of the many beautiful chandeliers*
*Golden Hall*
*stairs leading to the Blue Hall*
*the Blue Hall*
*utensils fit for Nobel Laureates*
*it's chilly outside City Hall*
*at the Nobel Museum*
*I decided to ask some smart questions*
*Nobel medal*
*Ben and I outside Nobel Museum*Since it was my birthday on this day too, Benedict has decided that we should eat a better meal and so we went to Mongolian BarbeQue where we paid slightly more than S$30 for a buffet meal! We ate until we almost puked, I guess it has been a really long time since our stomachs took in so much food at one go. And the dessert was like ice cream with goreng pisang (my 2nd banana-ice cream-combination dessert).
*tepanyaki style*
*tepanyaki style*
*the amount of food we had*
*i can't wait to eat*
*the goreng pisang-icecream dessert*And so I went back to Lund alone, waking up at 3am in the morning to prepare. It's a miracle I didn't fall asleep in the class. And traveling alone means taking photos by myself again, urgh... A 4-hour train ride meant that I could either sleep, or prepare my work for class in 4 hours time. So I decided to do my work since I couldn't sleep at all... and after which, I decided to pamper myself a little, and went to the Bistro wagon and had a mini-breakfast there.
*Stockholm at 4am*
*station only opens at 5am, it was only 4.25am when I arrived*
*hmm, which track is my train going to be on?*
*track 10*
*me*
*Bistro wagon*
*kinda pathetic huh... but it's cheap*
*I decided to sit here and eat....*
*....and watch the view outside go past me*Happy Birthday to me... Grattis på födelsedagen =)
1 comment:
Hi. Nice description about Latvia.
( Latvians are smiling people. ;DD)
Latvia is home to more Russian than Latvian. Thats sad. ;D
Description was good! ;]
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