Latvian Love.

Right now I am driving through the forest in the middle of nowhere Estonia looking out over the beautiful trees that have been consumed by fall. The sight of uninhabited land is healing me. Seriously the last four days have been a breath of fresh air. Metaphorically & literally.

It all started on Thursday night when we boarded a bus for Riga, Latvia. Sixteen hours baby. Seriously not that bad. They have wifi, free hot chocolate & big, soft seats on these buses. How can you complain about that? So we arrived in Riga hungry & stoked. We made our way to our hostel where we were warmly welcomed. We quickly fell in love with that cozy little place. Cinnamon Sally’s Backpacker Hostel for those who care. It’s located right on top of a McDonalds. Which is the most fortunate & unfortunate thing ever. (Refer to previous post for McDonald’s redeeming qualities).

We spent most of that afternoon wandering around Old Town. That place has it going on. I can count on my hands the number of places I've been that are simply magical. Riga is one of those places.

We went to the top of St. Peter’s cathedral & caught a nice view of the quaint city. This was easily my favorite part of the day.

We also did some shopping & I bought another ring. Central Market was the place for all your shopping needs. They had everything you could think of. 

That night we all met up for dinner & decided we were going to try out this authentic Latvian place. We were in that restaurant for about one minute before we smelt dill & decided to try a Mexican food place we had seen earlier. It wasn't very good but the people were ordering tequila shots by the hundreds & there was a little boy dancing in a window sill. So I still enjoyed it.

Later we walked around the city, bought some post cards, & I fell on my face in a dark alley way. Something special happened that night though. I was introduced to Lion Bar. Often referred to (by Bailey & I) as the Tiger, Bear or Oh My bar. I’m obsessed. I won’t tell you how many I ate in just one weekend. It’s like a kit kat laced with caramel (& maybe crack cocaine). Holy smokes it’s yummy. The awful news is they only sell it in the Baltic countries. Needless to say I may be coming home with a whole box. 

The other day we spent in Latvia was just as successful. We woke up & ate at the most delicious crepe/blini café. It was great & super cheap.We then wandered around the city & hoped on a bus to Sigulda. It was a beautiful area.We walked alllllll over the country side. Down sketchy roads,over bridges & just everywhere. It was so refreshing to be amongst the trees. We checked out some important cave, ate caramel in a giant cone & then walked around an old castle.

Later that day we went to McDonalds & Subway. Judge me & HOLY FREAK SUBWAY WAS SO GOOD. It was unlike any Subway I’ve ever been to in my life. I don’t even think it was the same food. It was a game changer. Obviously or I wouldn’t be writing about it. You know what else is a game changer? European chocolate. Just keep that in mind next time you’re in the area. Also who's excited to see the new Breds Pits movie!?  

Anyways the ride home went by much quicker than the ride there & they even let me through customs with my food (because heaven knows if they would have taken my lion bar I would have lost my mind).Bailey & I kept having giggle fits & I’m pretty sure everyone on the bus hated us. We were just too slap happy for our own good. Either way The Baltics rocked my world & would most likely rock yours as well. Do what you’ve got to do to get there!