Sophie's travels 2011-2012: 24/01/2012 Vilnius, Lithuania to Riga, Latvia

We got up early, packed and set off for the train to the airport. We got to the train station just as the train was pulling away… so had a slight panic then found the bus station (lugging all our gear) and managed to get a bus to the airport and check in just in time. We sat on the plane for a while before taking off waiting for all the snow to be cleaned off the plane. It was a really quick flight (only about 30 mins) and we flew over another beautiful sea of white snowy winter wonderland – very pretty! We caught the bus from the airport into Riga and tried to pay the driver as we got on who told us to just sit down so we did thinking someone must come around and collect the money during the trip which of course didn’t happen and the ticket inspectors got on 2 mins before our stop (after a half hour journey) and we got stung – very frustrating but thankfully not a large fine, just another of those things you have to notch up to experience… We found the hostel, dropped our bags off and got some lunch. We went for a wander and got a bit lost but eventually found our way to the old town where we spent the afternoon exploring all the churches, the castle, the markets, the peace statue, the last remaining part of the original old wall and lots of little shops. It was very cold and snowing but bearable. We went to the supermarket and stocked up then cooked up another feast in the hostel and had a few drinks while planning the following day. We stayed at the Naughty Squirrel backpackers which was great – run by a couple of Aussies and the staff were all very helpful!