The Shakespeare, as it turns out has rather thin walls. We could very easily hear the neighbors early 2000s pop music mix. While Nicole did not take issue with the song selections, she didn’t care for the clarity at which she could have sung along to their playlist. Our initial flight was supposed to have left Vilnius around 915am, but we had received an email from Air Baltic that it was delayed more than an hour and a half. The rental car company seemed to have no issue with us returning the car later, but I was a bit concerned about a passage in the email that said to still arrive at the original check-in time.
That seemed excessive since I could see that the plane was delayed due to the inbound flight which hadn’t even left yet. We reached the Air Baltic check-in counters around the original departure time. The guy didn’t seem to have any issue with that aspect, but our suitcases were over the low 8 kg limit and his paperwork told him that we would get charged up to 75 euro to check them. Luckily, this was not the case as our standby listings granted us some kind of hidden free checked bag perk. We had some time to kill, and I discovered that the Vilnius airport had a priority pass lounge. It wasn’t anything special, and at times a bit loud, but it was better than the chaos of the regular terminal. Air Baltic, according to its reviews is routinely delayed, so our situation was apparently not unique.
Eventually, however, an aircraft did materialize and we boarded the Air Baltic A220 in record time with a row to ourselves. Air Baltic is apparently so consistently delayed it would seem that all the connecting flight information that appeared on the inflight screens showed flights that were scheduled to have left an hour earlier. Despite its delays, our bags were coming out onto the belt in Riga by the time we arrived at baggage claim. We were promptly exiting the airport with a new rental car. Having ordered a compact manual car, I received an automatic crossover Citroen. Whatever works.
We checked into the Hilton Garden Inn, in Riga’s old town. Nicole’s Hilton Honors Diamond status may have helped us net this room with fantastic vista of the spires and rooftops of old town. After having some snacks, we set out to explore the cobblestoned streets. One thing that can be said is that we have enjoyed some very good weather thusfar. It has been much warmer and sunnier than anticipated which makes everything a bit more enjoyable.
We meandered around the streets of the old town, taking in the colorful and dynamic architectural styles. It is imperative that I mention on behalf of my Dad that Riga has some of the highest concentration of Art Nouveau style architecture in the world. Walking the streets reminded Nicole of Prague, but nicer. While touristy, it was not as overcrowded as Prague and it was generally a pleasant experience to explore the sometimes narrow streets without worry of being stampeded by a tour group.
Later in the afternoon, we went to the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia. The Baltic countries had a hard go of things for more than half of the 20th century. The worst of it began with the Nonaggression Pact signed between Hitler and Stalin. The Soviets wasted no time in exerting their muscle in Latvia and throughout the Baltics feeling they were given carte blanche to do so. Of course, nobody asked the Latvians what they wanted. It wasn’t long though before Hitler invaded the Soviet Union, and Red Army troops withdrew to defend Russia. Rather than try to win over the Latvians who had just seen a reign of terror under the Communists, the Nazis came not as liberators, but as a different flavor of the same hard to swallow beetroot soup. By the war’s end, and as the Soviets reclaimed the Baltics, more than 1/3 of the population of Latvia had been erased. For the next decade, thousands more would be deported to gulags before Stalin’s death ushered in a calmer albeit still oppressive series of regimes until the Soviet Union collapsed. Ok, history lesson done!
We bought our various tchotchkes as well with relative ease. For dinner, we had pizza and therefore avoided another evening of feeling lethargic from fatty potatoes and grease. We strolled the streets one last time enjoying the overall atmosphere of the city’s old town. It is a very quaint and pleasant city, which I would highly recommend, especially over some more popular cities like Prague.
Tomorrow we have a much more ambitious drive which will also involve a ferry. We must cross the border and then traverse most of Estonia before crossing over to Saaremaa island. It will take a lot to get there, but I think the effort will be worth it. We will be spending two nights there to hopefully relax for a spell.
passports & pepto bismol 