Arrive Riga, Latvia • Accommodations: Metropole Hotel by Semarah
Our flights were very nice. We were on a double decker Lufthansa plane which was very roomy and we were on the top level. We did get a little sleep on the plane after we had dinner, but the bed wasn’t the most comfortable.

We were late taking off in Newark, so we were hoping we wouldn’t have a repeat of our last trip where we missed our connecting flight. Fortunately the captain made up for lost time, which was a good thing since we landed in Frankfurt at Gate 62 Z and had to get to Gate 62 A to catch the plane to Riga.

Getting on the plane in Frankfurt was an experience. The plane was booked solid and they were asking people to give up their seats for 250 euros remuneration. That was a pretty good deal, but we of course couldn’t take them up on it since we had to get to Riga to meet our guide.

They started to call groups to board the plane and we thought things were going really great until we had to walk down flights of stairs out of the terminal with our carryons and then board a bus that went for what must have been miles to our lonely plane sitting out on the tarmac. We had to climb the stairs to enter the plane, and then we sat on the tarmac and waited, and waited, and waited till the next bus with passengers arrived. We were so glad we didn’t have a connecting flight because again, the flight was delayed.

We arrived in Riga and met our driver. Only three of us flew in today…the rest of the group came in a day early. We usually do that but since we are spending a few days in Riga, we didn’t think it was necessary.

Our hotel is centrally located and very near to the many sites we are looking forward to seeing. The city is very clean and our driver pointed out sites along the way.

Our guide Eero met us when we pulled up to the hotel. We were able to check into our rooms and then Eero sat down with us and gave us many maps and pamphlets of things to see and do in our free time.

He took Allan, myself and Sue, (the other lady that came on the plane with us) on an orientation walk. Everything is very close by and easy to get to by walking.

There is an opera house down the block from our hotel and tonight my favorite opera, Madama Butterfly is being performed. I would have loved to have gone (and now sorry we didn’t come a day early to get time acclimated), but I knew we were very tired from our travels and would probably be asleep by the time Butterfly sings Un bel dì, vedremo in Act 2.

Weekends are apparently meant for rowdy celebrations here in Riga and there were kids out in the streets enjoying the sunshine, drinking, eating, and cheering the hockey game between Sweden and the USA. The town puts port-a potties around so that people don’t wind up peeing in the streets during the weekend nights of revelry. Eero said on Monday morning, the town won’t look as clean as it does now.

During our walk we saw some interesting statues of animals. Apparently the statues are depictions of the animals from the movie Flow, a 2024 Latvian, French, and Belgian co-production. The film has no dialog and is about a cat who is trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world. The film broke several Latvian box-office records, becoming the most-viewed film in Latvian theaters in history. At the 97th Academy Awards, the film won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature film and was also nominated for Best International Feature film. It was the first film from Latvia to ever win an Oscar as well as receive a nomination. It also won a Golden Globe award for Best Animated Feature film. As you can imagine, Latvians are so proud of this recognition, they have erected large statues of some of the animals portrayed in the movie.

After our walk, Sue joined us for dinner at a local restaurant and then it was back to the hotel. Our hotel is in the style of art nouveau, built in 1871 and has obviously been renovated a few times. It is quite cozy with a beautiful bathroom.

We straightened out our luggage, brushed teeth, and went to sleep.

We asked our driver what the yellow patches were that we saw as we flew into Riga, and she said that they are canola fields and they are harvested for the oil.

College kids having fun drinking, singing, and pedaling through the streets. Everyone sits on bar stools and they pedal furiously to make the truck move.

The dog from the movie Flow

The cat from the movie Flow

TV screen in the middle of the square with the hockey game being broadcast live

Allan insisted on taking the obligatory pic in front of McDonalds. No…we didn’t have dinner there.