Riga, Latvia
Known for: Having a currency stronger than the British pound ) GBP
This week see me in Riga, the capital of Latvia in eastern part of Europe. Sadly this city has been hotspot for Brits who visit this city for their Stag do’s / Bucks parties as alcohol is quite cheap and local women are drop dead gorgeous. I had also read that the Latvians aren’t as found of Brits, as the Brits are of their women and as a result some bars do not allow tourists in (Even if you are of the Asian persuasion in my case lol).Unfortunately for me, I was stuck in a plane with at least 3 different stag groups. One of the groups were extremely rowdy, trying to create what they called a “party atmosphere” with their slurred northern English accents, unfortunate looks and lack of respect of other people. One of them even had the nerve to tell a Latvian man to his face “we’re going to F*** up your town something stupid this weekend …”. There were also young children within earshot of this bell end. For those don’t know what a bell end is… check it out on urban dictionary 😛
I don’t normally speak negatively about places/people but this kind of behavior has to be publicly shamed and discouraged. I’m all for stag do’s but being a public nuisance is a different thing altogether.
Plane ride aside I quickly (along with my travel crew of 3 other people, Ann, Ada and Kev) navigated our hotel in the city of Riga. My initial perception of Eastern European cities was one of war torn cities in the rebuild stage…(damn that Eurotrip movie!) however to my surprise Riga City’s centre was very clean, modern and quite pretty with the mix of old and new architecture throughout the city. As we landed on a Friday night, the locals we passed were extremely well dressed and you could have easily been mistaken into thinking you were in Paris or Stockholm or some other cosmopolitan city.
Our Friday night landed us in McDonalds satisfying our hungry bellies (yes Big Mac’s tastes the same in Riga as it does in London and Melbourne!) and chatting about why the local kids we’re staring through the window at us. We deduced that it was either
a) They thought PSY and his crew were in the house and wanted us to “Gangnam style“ (so 2012)
b) A little curious – as not too many Asian peeps pass through the city.
c) Combination of both!
The Following day we took a bike tour around the city to see the sights both around the city centre and also the surrounding suburbs to see the “Real Riga”. The bike tour was more bike ride than tour so I cannot unleash too much trivia knowledge for you this time round! The one thing that was explained is that Art Noveau is very popular in Riga, so much so the city centre (Albert street) is a UNESCO heritage site celebrating the collection of Art Noveau buildings. I think the distinguishing feature of this art style is the decorative pieces on windows & balconies which differ from traditional architecture. Ok you got me… I got no idea on art… but at least I tried right?!
The other main site is the Freedom monument which pays tribute Latvia’s independence from Russia (Geez I hope I remembered that correctly!) Sitting atop the monument is ‘Milda’ holding three rings representing the three regions of the country. The Opera house is another landmark building in Riga. It is a majestic building which sits next to one of the city’s park and on a summers day it is a popular venue for newlyweds (wedding photos) and sunbathers/people watchers alike. We watch about 3 different newlyweds take photos in the same spot within an hour!
We also managed to eat some traditional Latvian grub which was described to us as pork and potatoes! Nonetheless we tried the local food at a traditional “pub” which had let’s just say a very unique atmosphere to it (smelt too much like tinkle for my liking!) but the locals there were HUMONGOUS! I guess the pork and potatoes must work after all.
The nightlife in Riga is surprising diverse and we didn’t come across any stag groups at all. I’m guessing they must have been busy exploring the seedier side of town! Riga has numerous hole the wall bars and some very plush clubs. We checked out “The Club” (original name right!?) I must add this place had THE BEST music I have heard in a club for awhile and it was good the ENTIRE night. It played commercial house/party anthems… the kind of songs where everyone has heard it on the radio and probably know the words too. We met a few locals, who were very friendly, but the music was kind of loud (and damn catchy!) so we figured it was more fun to speak a little less and dance & drink a little more!
After a serious zumba-type workout we slowly stumbled back to our hotel… but something was a little different with the night sky… it still looked like 9pm! Either way it was a good opportunity to take some panoramic photos (at 3am) and some selfies for good measure!
After almost missing breakfast the following morning what better way to recover from a slightly boozy night but to head to the local beach!
Jurmala is the town’s local beach with its own outdoor beach bar and some of the best beach shore I have seen in Europe. The water was a tad murky but it was too cold to swim anyway! To get there it’s a short 20 min train ride of the city’s central station (near the opera house). Ticket costs around £1 one way. Almost everyone who catches this train is a local so it’s fun mixing in and amongst the local crowd. Turns out the day we went it also coincided with big cycling event which gave the beach town an awesome buzz.
Riga has opened my eyes to how beautiful and underrated Eastern Europe is. Of course when people think Europe its more the western countries in the spotlight, but for those who have time and are a little curious definitely check out Riga! I hear the neighbouring country of Estonia is just as pretty and I one day hope to check it out for myself.
Paldies!
JD
San Sebastian, Spain
Known for: Tapas (pintxos), Real sociedad,
Ola from San Sebastian’s Spain situated in the north east of España which also extremely close to the French border (as many people fly to the nearby town of Biarritz and then catch a bus toward the township).
FOOD / PINXTOS
The main attraction of San Sebastian is the food, the town has several Michelin starred restaurants however budget constraints did not allow me to scope out those restaurants this time round. I instead checked out the numerous pintxos bars (tapas bar) and gorged myself on snack sized dishes of culinary perfection. One thing I can say about Spanish food is that it is very diverse. They have a vast variety of food options on their menus, including fresh seafood, chicken & beef kebabs and foie gras.
Some of the ‘signature pintxos’ from the area included mushroom risotto, beef steak (tender and juicy) and a simple yet sublime calamari dish.
It’s an uncomfortable feeling at the end of each meal after having stuffed your face with as much food as you can, but I’m sure my taste buds were loving it at the time! Even the solo traveler would love this concept as they would be able to sample numerous dishes without filling up too quickly.
Drink sizes follow suit and are ample amount to give you a flavour for the local drinks without overdoing it too. The pintxos staff work up quite a sweat serving loads of customers streaming constantly, but they manage to get to everyone in a speedy and efficient manner which is a spectacle in itself and they do it with a smile on their face the whole time.
MORE THAN JUST FOOD
By some stroke of luck, that weekend the town was holding a music and culture festival where various performances “popped up” throughout the town, ranging from reggae to big band to even a full on opera performance(which I checked out for the first act and left because I was falling asleep lol). It’s great to see that live music is well alive and was very grateful to have experienced it during my stay.
SUN AND SURF
Part of me was really looking forward to some sun, surf and sand. After booking this trip well in advance (6 months!) I was hopeful that I’d return to London looking like a bronzed Korean pop star.
I’ve realised that as an Australian I have never ever surfed. Don’t get me wrong I love the water (after all I’m an Aquarius) and a good beach, however back in oz the closest surf beach was over 2-3 hours away so it’s one of those things I put off till later…. Sadly it will have to wait a little longer. While the town has one of the most scenic bays and surf beach within a 5 minute walk of each other, the weather was not on our side this time round. San Sebastián is renowned for its surf scene and pro surfers pass through the town fairly regularly.
La Concha bay is one of the prettiest bays I’ve ever seen, I could only imagine a populated sand shore on a hot summers day, with the aqua waters crashing softly whilst sun bathers lay there trying to achieve their perfect tan. There are also other H2O related activities (when the sun is out) jet skis, kayaking etc.
If the weather is not so great whilst you are travelling to San Sebastian I HIGHLY recommend paying a visit to the only spa and relaxation centre in the town called La perla.
This unique spa centre offers the usual gym and spa facilities you would expect from a decent establishment, however they differentiate themselves but having salt water spa pools and a salt water ice bath as well. They have different pools which have spa jets targeting different areas of your body. It also backs on to the beach, so if you feel like taking a refreshing dive into the ocean that’s an option too!
A 5 hour pass will set you back about 35 euro…. But it’s worth every cent 🙂
If the weather is on your side I would also recommend hiring a bike to cycle around the town. The city centre (old town etc) can be explored by foot, but to cover the city fringe areas and the various lookout points its far quicker (and easier on your feet if you cycle) just remember . A day’s bike hire is around €15 but you will get to see a lot more this way.
IF YOU FEEL LIKE WALKING:
Mountain Igeldo is the mountain furthest away from the old town and has the better view of the bay and the city, you can take a cable car there or sweat it out like we did and walk up the hill lol.
There is also a dated theme park atop of the mountain. And by dated I mean 1990’s
Monte Urgull Closer to the old a 20 min hike a castle awaits at the top, a steep and scenic walk, although views are blocked by the treetops, but a good way to get away from the hustle and bustle of the ever so busy old town.
BLOOPERS
With every trip I encounter my fair share of bloopers, luckily this trip they were all concentrated in the first few hours of me being there!
Faulty GPS (again) this time the gps on my phone told me we were roughly three kilometres from our hotel. So why not take a cab…. Off we went, loaded our bags, “Hotel Silken please” I asked in my best Spanglish accent.
The driver gave me an confused/irritated look and pointed to the building 20 meters to the right of the taxi and began unloading our bag lol with this I sheepishly retrieved my bag and laughed all the way to the reception of the hotel. In the picture the hotel is the building just behind the buses!
- After successfully finding the hotel we grabbed a quick bite to eat from the pinxtos bar across the road from our hotel and the bus station. We finished our meals and paid for the delicious food. I strangely however thought it was okay to leaving the premises and take my drink and the glass with me lol… luckily my mate Kevin reminded me that I may have to return it to its rightful owner.
- Lastly somehow I managed to lose my camera charger somewhere along the way. I searched high and low but to no avail, but back in London I ordered a new one (original!) online conveniently, The only supplier of original canon chargers online hail from…. Spain how ironic!
Gracias San Sebastian for your delectable pintxos, picture perfect beach and musically talented citizens, this has been one of my most enjoyable and relaxing trips in a while and a destination I would most definitely visit again.
JD
The JD Chronicles 