crazycrone

Returned to hideous (to Me) HEAT, and I was wearing four T shirts and a jacket. (Still quite chilly in Latvia, especially when overcast, which is most of the time.) Tense check-in  going home, including being proper frisked by a Rosa Klebb type who seemed to take great pride in her work. My tit and groin areas were thoroughly examined. Didn't have to remove shoes, at least.
RyanAir has a new treat in store; laying out 7 euros for 'security charge'. Receipt then has to be passed through the machine, after I'd  already lost mine, etc.  RyanAir always lands really bumpily, too, with ironic applause from the passengers.
Here's an Eisenstein sphynx with a nose like Rebecca Adlington's.


People in 'the still centre' all look very rich, and yes, it is very quiet, even for Riga. I went to the Art Nouveau Museum, which was nice, but I think I missed a lot of the famous facades, even after getting a taxi to Alberta street,..( Close as it was, I couldn't find it...) I also didn't realise there were two-hour tours specially to see the architecture. Nothing much is happening, as there are so few tourists around. I was on a City Tour coach with like, four other people.
The hotel gave us a free bottle of Black Balsam, only I didn't realise it was a giftie, and spent 3.50 on a miniature! Oh well...I didn't have room in my backpack to take it home, and probably wouldn't have been allowed to, anyway. Bah.
Must say, on  my first nip, I didn't think it was all  that bad. Then when I tried it again  later, I thought no, it really is rather disgusting, even with a mixer.
Riga is *CLEAN*  No litter at all. Even saw a teenager bend to pick up a dropped sweet wrapper. Incredible. People in general seem pleasant and polite. Only had one woman in a souvenir shop suspiciously follow me around to make sure I wasn't stealing, and suggest expensive things I should buy, which got on my nerves.
Couldn't fault the cosy, well-situated Gutenberg's Hotel, either, except for the fact that every other day, the breakfast food wasn't very good. When it was good, it was scrummy. Excellent porridge.
Eating (or not) in Riga:
My newish inner workings are weird. Sometimes I can eat just as I used to before the op. Other times (like in Riga-) I'm just not very interested in food, and can't 'hold' very much.
The LIDO chain of serve-yourself restaurants, as endorsed by motodraconis , have a huge variety of hearty-looking dishes and tempting sundae-type things, cheapish. It was dark, and I couldn't read the English translations, but most of the stuff was obviously meat, and heavier than I was in the mood for. I ended up with a slice of 'blackthorn pie', which was odd, but OK. Otherwise, apart from a couple of supermarket sarnies, all I ate in Riga, after a big breakfast daily, was cakes! One night, before I discovered LIDO, I blew 7 euros round the corner from the hotel, on walnut pancakes with pistachio ice cream, lots of fresh fruit, and syrupy stuff. Nice. On another coffee break, near the Sun Museum, I scoffed half a piece of 'curd pudding' which also came with lots of fruit and nice compotey stuff. Liked that, too, but just couldn't eat any more.
More travel trivia and sketchbook stuff to come. I didn't really draw much at all, but took a lot of photos...which I don't know how to upload. D'Oh!