Ciao Moss Cow and Viva La Riga

Woke up this morning late. It was my day to sleep in as I had no deadlines or tour guide to worry about. My train didn’t leave until 7pm and the driver was scheduled to pick me up at 5pm to take me to the station. I woke in time to get the breakfast downstairs but decided to roll over and sleep some more.

When I did wake up I figured I would head out to the Metro one last time. The reception guy said that there was a mall with restaurants and the last metro stop, which was only about three stops farther down the line. I figured I had the time, so why not enjoy a better quality meal.

Big mistake.

This stop was at the very farthest edges north of suburbia. Not bad in itself and there were plenty of restaurants to choose from, but why learn English out in the burbs? Can’t blame them. So none of the four restaurants I checked had English menus or anyone that spoke it. I eventually figured it would be better to be able to have the meh food in the hotel restaurant, than eating whatever I wildly guessed to be food.

I ended up getting a donner ham pita sandwich. The ones with the meat log turning vertically in front of a heater. And a Coke. It turned o0ut to be a pretty tasty meal, and it was cheap too. Unfortunately, it was not a full meal, so after sitting in my room for a couple hours, I hit the hotel restaurant again. Had the pasta carbonara,  some Russian pancakes with sour cream, and a Coke. Then back to the room to chill out until my ride came.

The ride was prompt and the traffic was fine on a (rare) sunny Sunday afternoon. The train station was one of many in the city, and since it only went to Latvia and such - English wasn’t really spoken. It took about ten minutes to figure out what the distinctly peasant Russian matron to sell me a key to the lockers so I could stash my things for an hour and a half until I could get to the train.

Apparently they don’t have an electrical grid setup to Latvia as the train was strictly a diesel engine train. There were also no first class sleeper bunks, so rather than have two bunks, I got a top bunk in a four bed. The other bunk mates wanted to swap me out for another room so that they could hang out with their buddy, but that didn’t work out as customs/borders keeps strict control of where you bunk and confusing them is not a good idea. But when it became apparent that five of them all hanging out in the bottom bunks eating and drinking would suck for me, the conductor offered to move my bunk to a less crowded cabin. That works out great for everyone involved. The guys could use my bunk for their buddy and stay up without disturbing me. I got a four bunk compartment with a completely silent guy in the bottom bunk (I think he can’t speak any language anyone knows), and a businessman with a tablet working on things.

The train itself has seen better days and it reminds me of the train I took from Prague to Amsterdam many years ago. A vague smell of stale smoke, and the smoking “rooms” were basically closet sized compartments between the train cars. So moving through the cars to hit the restaurant car for a beer was a smoky affair in itself. However, mission accomplished and now I’m relaxing in my top bunk writing away in my blog. Moscow looked to be a fun and amazing city, but god damn do they love their cigarettes.

Next day - ok, so I got very very little sleep. And when I finally did get to slumber I was awoke when we hit the Russian border checkpoint. Which lasted about 45 minutes and you had to up and ready with your passport and papers. Then about 30 minutes later, the same thing is repeated at the Latvian border.

Also the only thing they gave in terms of sustenance was strong black tea. They had nothing else. Plus some cheap chocolate covered wafer thingy. So no water and only black tea to drink since yesterday at 4pm. And almost no sleep.

So I get out of the train station and buy a cheap map just to find the hotel. I manage to hit it pretty much dead off, which was good because I seen warning that pickpockets target people with backpacks. Again, I need to stop listening to travel blogs. They must be written mainly by rich pasty white US kids as I felt completely safe once I was near the hotel.

So tired, beat down, dehydrated, and highly caffeinated - I drag myself into the hotel lobby. The gal already has my reservation on her desk and when I describe my status, she smiled and said “Do not worry, your room is ready for you - even though check in is at 2pm.” Sweet.

I had to actually book two berths in a more expensive room as they didn’t have a single occupancy room that would last my entire six nights - and I didn’t want to mess with pulling my stuff out of one room, storing it in the lobby, then moving it to another at 2pm. But mind you, I’m talking abut the difference between $30 a night and $65 a night.

So let’s go into what I got for $65 a night in Riga…

First off, the elevator is surrounded by a mini-coy pond with a water fountain on each side with a marble tile bridge leading to the elevator door…

But if that’s too much for you, you could always go up the marble staircase…

To a room with a 15 foot ceiling, a giant solid wood, four bed that fit’s a family of four. Four hanging lights, a bathroom with a tower warmer and bidet. A massive room divider with glass and mirror knick knack shelves. Two chairs, table, and solid wood flooring. In a room about the size of my living room, kitchen, and dining room put together…

Plus it was a balcony (the only room in the hotel that does), that overlooks the Old Town cobblestone streets.

And not only THAT, but let me describe the four corners that the hotel is part of.
My corner, where the balcony juts out from, is where the hotel is located.
One corner is a café with a Turkish coffee place next to it.
One corner has a pub on it.
The last corner is actually an opening to the high end, four story galleria - with a huge supermarket on the bottom floor.

So to recap:
Moscow - $130 a night - “This is best place for money. You not allowed in center. Carpets crinkles but be glad hotel staff not using anus as pleasure toy, like in cheaper hotels.”
Riga - $65 a night - “Does the supermodel bed warmer suit you sir, or would you like a different one?”

I chilled out for a bit, then decided to head out and wander a bit. So far the city is fucking stellar. Cobblestone streets, fashionable Western Euro gorgeous hotties. Everything is spotless and inexpensive, yet looks like a high end West European city.

I ended up at the Rockabilly Café (or something like that) where I had solvanka (the sandwich soup I had in Russia), a large Pilsner, and a large pepper steak with veggies and wedge cut taters. It was a higher end joint and ended up costing me 25 latvias (or $50), but it was just what I needed to fill the void in meh belly.

I then wandered around a bit and back to the mall beside the hotel. Picked up some milk (Russia and Latvia have unpasteurized milk, and it tastes SSSOOOO GOOODDDD), some pastries, a gallon of water (can’t drink the tap water here), and some tasty cookies fruit thingies.

Now I’m back in the giant hotel bed. If I get up some energy, I might walk the 20 feet into the café, bar, or mall tonight.

Did I mention that so far I’M LOVING RIGA!