Jim and Ardith in Russia, Finland and the Baltics: In Maryland writing about Latvia and Lithuania

Wednesday, June 19

After breakfast, Jim went out into town to change our remaining Latvian money for some Lithuanian money. He passed 6 money changers before he found one that was open. Changing money was mainly an excuse for him to take another walk in Riga, especially to capture some more sounds. Our first evening in town, we walked by an audible traffic light, designed for visually impaired to know when to cross the street. He had recorded a similar one in Helsinki, but this was more musical. Ardith was quite hungry then, so he didn’t take the time to record it. Yesterday we passed what Jim thought was the same intersection on our way back from the Art Deco district. He went a few blocks in either direction while Ardith sat on a park bench. No success. This morning, he found it at the same place he first tried and captured its sound.

He went back to the spot near the train and bus stations where several tram tracks come together, just because he enjoys transportation stuff.

While there he heard interesting sounds coming from the pedestrian underpass and went down to record the sax player. He liked the blurry image he captured from the video used to capture audio – did you catch that?

The wheel chair ramp here is just a slight improvement over the ones he’s seen in other countries. Still quite a challenge.

When he came back, we checked the map in our tour book to find out how far our hotel in Vilnius is from its bus terminal. It looks like it will be an easy walk so we won't need a taxi.

After packing up and checking out of our Riga hotel, we walked to the bus terminal. It was a very quick walk, and we certainly did not need a taxi for this 5-10 minute walk. The weather is beautiful and we are looking forward to a pleasant bus ride.

The bus process is very easy. We went onto the Internet several days ago and made reservations on the Lux Express line. We also got a 10% discount because we are "pensioners". The company sends an email confirming your ticket, assigning a seat number, and identifying the platform number where the bus will be loading.

The bus loads about 15 minutes before departure. The driver loads the luggage in the lower compartment and another employee checks your passport and reminds you of your seat assignment. A very efficient process and everything has gone smoothly on both of our long distance bus rides on this trip.

Leaving Riga, we saw a variety of buildings, both splendid and ordinary.

The trip through Latvia and into Lithuania went through beautiful countryside.

As we approached Vilnius we saw lots of high rise apartments and offices, and many buildings under construction.

We arrived at the bus terminal and Ardith stayed with the luggage while Jim went looking for the way to our hotel. The first picture Jim took after exiting the bus was of a recycling center. We have seen no evidence of recycling in our previous 4 countries. When Ardith talked to Sergey’s daughter, Anastasia, about this she seemed almost confused by the concept. Recycling here is about where things were in our area 25 years ago, but it is a start. We have enjoyed curbside pickup for many years.

Most of the trek to the hotel was downhill. We had a few “map stops” to verify direction, but finally found our hotel. The Grybas Family Hotel is a lovely building tucked into a quiet courtyard, where the street noises hardly enter. Ardith zeroed in on this choice because her maiden name is Zybas and thus felt a connection. There were actually 3 different names on the place. The entrance to the courtyard had prominent signs for the Unicef office tucked in the entrance. We had to look hard to make sure it was the right hotel. It is surrounded by trees, a garden and a fountain.

We were warmly greeted and sent to our lovely room, which is more like an apartment than just a room. It has a sitting area with couch, chairs and coffee table; a large bedroom with huge windows overlooking the courtyard; and a bathroom that is as large as our entire hotel room in Riga, with deep soaking tub.

The only disadvantage to the hotel is that you need to climb stairs with narrow risers - no elevators.

After a few minutes to relax and change into short sleeves because it is hot, we wandered out to find an eating place. Jim had found a writeup about an interesting restaurant called Rene, named after the surrealist artist René Magritte, one of his favorites. We changed our plans when we realized how lovely it was outside, and decided to eat outdoors.

There are many outdoor eating places that are out on the sidewalks or tucked into courtyards throughout the old town. We spotted one that had a lovely garden and 4 of its 6 tables open. Shortly after we sat down, the rest of the tables filled up. People were regularly coming in from the street hoping for an open table, then leaving. Many of the locals seem to just stop in the have a beer and an appetizer, sitting for a long time with no one seeming to be concerned about taking a table for an extended period of time. Our dinner time on this trip often turned into as much as 2 hours. It was quite fun to enjoy such leisurely meals.

Jim had spicy Cornish game hen, roasted potatoes and salad. He also had mead, which is a honey drink, a big deal in medieval times, and still locally brewed. This restaurant had 4 varieties in its menu. It was delicious. Ardith had grilled lamb chops in a dark sauce, roasted potatoes and roasted vegetables. Ardith had an unknown pie for dessert, that had a crumbly topping and whipped cream on it. The waiter said it was “court” pie. We realized after seeing a menu item a different night, that he probably said “curd”. Jim had a mixture of crumbled cookies, berries and whipped cream. Most days we have been eating only two meals – breakfast and dinner. That seems to be enough food to keep us going.

Most European and Canadian credit cards have chips in them with associated PINs. If you have one of these, you are required to enter your PIN, so machines are brought to your table in restaurants. US credit cards are not as safe.

When we exited the courtyard, Ardith looked up and saw lots of hot air balloons passing above. There are scheduled flights twice a day.

We took a leisurely walk back to the hotel, passing some lovely old buildings, a playground still filled with children at 9pm, and lots of very stylish people enjoying the wonderful evening weather.

We have been in the capitals of 4 countries, so it has been quite common to see embassies on our walks. The French embassy here fits quite well with the neighborhood, with muted versions of their Red, White and Blue.