Live the Rhythm of Riga. How we didn't go to Lidl.

I was excited about my breakfast since yesterday morning, because all I could think of was how good the oatmeal was. And the breakfast buffes rarely have something that I like and what wouldn't be croissant, pancake or something else good, but unhealthy. So I grabbed my coffee, a bowl and beelined straight to the hot meal area. The cehfs had decided to greet us on this lovely Monday morning with runny semolina porridge. I put the bowl back and very dispiritedly took some pancakes, a bit of potato salad and something that looked like savory carrot cake.

I googled some more and we went out once again to give another shot o finding the House of the Blackheads. And the Town Musicians of Bremen. And then the gallery, where Scott bought me the earrings yesterday, because he had decided that he might want the painting of a mosquito they had there. Didn't find the musicians. Once again when the Google Maps told me that here they are, all I could see was the church wall and a cat house. It didn't seem likely that the musicians would be hiding out there. But what we found was the House of the Blackheads. And the main square. We also found the gallery, which huge wooden doors were securely closed and locked. Scott called their number and apparently got someone out of the bed at 10am. But he did find out that the gallery will be opened 1pm today. I googled some more and found out that the town musicians are placed near the other wall of the church we were walking by earlier. We took some pictures of them, went back to the hote, packed out bags to stop by in Lidl and start our way to Sigulda after that.

I had previously looked at the map and found that Riga is nicely covered with Lidls and several of them on our way home. I had planned to stock up on grocieries big time. Where the first Lidl was supposed to be, there was a construction site. We kept on driving. Also next one turned out to be still work in progress. And once again I googled. Turned out that currently they are working on building 10 Lidls and in 2020 they are planned to be opened. At the moment we can go and shop in Rimi should we wish so. We drove to Sigulda. For two euros we could walk around in the ruins and enjoy the views of bare trees. The cable car doesn't run in the winter.

We decided to live on edge and be adventurous with the food. Instead of driving back to the town of Sigulda, we will see, what are the options on the road. For a while it seemed that there will only be a Circle K and a kebab joint. So... I googled. Turned out that if we would be ready to starve for 10 more minutes, in Ainaži there will be one of the noblest restaurants of the country outside of Riga. We parked and stepped in. There were two more tables occupied. And one of those, 6 Estonians just leaving. The waiter tried, very unsuccessfully to direct us to the darkest and furthest corner in the dining area and didn't seem pleased at all when we asked, if we could take the table at the window. We ordered oven baked baguettes with cheese and prosciutto, prawns with mango salsa, tomato soup (for me) and gulash soup (for Scott). Totally unplanned we got a great lunch instead of the hot dogs.

Live the Rhythm of Riga. How we were looking for the House of the Blackheads.

We started the morning with the breakfast. The hopes were high, but turned out they didn't have much else but oat meal for my taste. But at least the oat meal was delicious :D

Since we didn't manage to get in to the Buržuja yesterday, I started to call them first thing in the morning to make sure to get a table for dinner. Nobody picked up the phone. Neither did they later and more later. I looked at their Facebook page and it appeared that they are using Sunday for the purpose that it was created for by the Almighty. Which is not serving food.

For the sightseeing we had a plan in place - the most breathtaking and unforgettable views open up from the Skyline Bar (the ones we enjoyed yesterday through the rainy window while breaking through the dry sponge cake), tower of the St. Peter's church, from the 15th floor of the Latvian Academy of the Science and library. Library had the most pitiful view of the four and was located on the other side of the river also known as very far, so we decided to skip that. We also planned to walk in old town, take a look at the Three Brothers and House of the Blackheads and go to the Central Market on the other side of the tram line. We started with the church tower as it was conveniently right next to our hotel. There were views for more than 9 euros. Also couldn't complain about the lack of the wind. We just in case used both hands to hold our cameras.

The upside of winter and out of season trips is the lack of other tourists. The slightly chillier temperature can be seen as downside, but it's still better to walk on empty, although cold streets rather than make your way in the summer heat through the sweaty bodies of other tourists and look later at your vacation pictures where the contour is lined with heads of fellow tourists. Anyway within an hour or two we had walked through all the streets in old town, paid a quick visit to the bastion, I had gotten lovely blue glass earrings from my husband and we made our way to the Academy of Science to enjoy the views from there as well. Sun had started to peek out and we thought that now Riga might look even more gorgeous. It did. Also our clothes, smelling from the smoke in the car, got well aired. We had to hold on to the railing every now and then, but other than that the trip was safe.

The market is right in front of the academy and we spent the next hour admiring huge pomegranates, at the counters covered with pierogi and pastries and in the food court. Since we still had high hopes on gourmet dinner and total overeating, we compromised in the food court and took some elk dumplings right next to the pizza joint (that Scott eyed very longingly and shot some clearly disapproving looks to my direction every now and then).

While walking back to the hotel I remembered that during our morning sightseeing walk we hadn't come across the House of the Blackheads yet. So, I put it on the map, saw that once again it was a building that was basically next to our hotel and when the map informed me that "Here you are, step in!", the backside of a more modern building and Rimi Express was all I could see. No baroque or renaissance. We returned to the hotel, booked a table in a seafood restaurant and went for a nap.

As planned we arrived in Zivju Lete at 7:30pm, sat down and placed our order. We chose octopus carpaccio, salmon-tuna-langoustine tartar with avocado and fish and chips. For complimentary bite from the house we got some delicious crunchy baguette with tuna spread. Tartar was served with raw quial egg, capers, onion and chives. It was exquisite. As was the fish - extraordinary tender with thin breading and crispy chips. The octopus carpaccio was the only thing that was just average. After finishing all that we were sure that there's some space for more food and ordered some grilled Atlantic tiger prawns, which turned out to be just heavenly, so juicy and soft. Definitely best ones we've had in a while. For the dessert we decided to share a cannoli, because I was certain that no matter how good it is, it can't be as delightful as the ones Rebecca makes or we've gotten from Mike's in Boston. I was right despite the fact that the cannoli was very rich and tasty.

Live the Rhythm of Riga. How I showed Scott the beach in Pärnu.

As always we had a plan - we knew, where there are the best views over Riga and where we'll eat. Everything else will be work in progress.

At 11am on Saturday morning we packed the bags in car and took off direction Pärnu. There we had the first stop planned - walk on the main street, eat few of the famous donuts and have a short stroll on the best beach in the country. Around 1pm we parked car, put our hoods on and started our way through the rain and wind towards the old town. Probably thanks to the weather we got to see the rare sight of completely empty Pärnu. Not one soul on the main street. And only three customers in the donuts bar. We got two donuts for 55 cents, paid a visit to the restroom that was covered with century old spider webs and began then our search for a decent lunch place. On a small side street the Vehverments Bar & Tostadas seemed totally suitable and Scott, who didn't suspect that a place would create the name for the restaurant including a food that they don't serve (there was nothing even remotely close to tostadas on the menu and it was by far not a Mexican place), was ready to sit down and feast on some hot tostadas. As already mentioned, the menu was everything but Mexican and we ordered lamb sausages, goat cheese, carrot and sesame salad and pulled beef. We left the place totally satisfied.

We let the wind carry us to the car and drove to the beach. I had planned to show Scott the best beach in the country and assumed that just like the main street the beach would be empty and just ours. But guess again. First there was no beach anymore. The water had reached the trees lining the beach and since the storm was clearly local event of the year, most of the inhabitants had gathered on the balcony of the beach club to take pictures of the waves. We moved forward before the water would reach the street.

Since some approaching kamikazes were taking over on Pärnu-Riga road like we weren't there, I started to suspect that our lights might not be working and they just can't see us. I created some drama and Scott pulled over. The lights, although weak, were on.

By 6pm we arrived in front of the hotel, parked and went to our room. As already mentioned, being ever the prepared tourists we had a list of restaurants and tonight we had planned to dine in Buržuja. As it was still raining we got a cab. After reaching the restaurant entrance, it turned out that they had a private event there and we were not invited. Oh well. We didn't want to eat there anyway. We went to Skyline in Radisson on floor 26 instead. Scott bee-lined to the almost available table and as soon as the previous guests lifted their butts from the seats we were already sitting there. Namely it was the only available table at the window, where the view went all the way to the other side of the river. We ordered tuna bowl and duck spring rolls. Scott had some red cocktail and we also asked for tap water. A water from the menu would have been 6.60 and since in that fancy bar they add 10% for the marvelous service to the bill, that bottle of water would have cost us 7.30. And the tap water is totally drinkable in this neighbourhood. The guy serving us seemed fairly displeased with our decision and brought us two glasses of warm water... The best part of the menu was Japanese cheesecake. Or so I thought. The same cheesecake that I've eaten in Singapore and Bangkok and am willing to travel to the other side of town to get a slice of that melting in your mouth cheesecake. Anyway, they had it on the menu in Skyline and that's what I ordered for dessert. Turned out that the only thing that the stuffy sponge cake on my plate had in common with Japanese cheesecake, was the name. Scott had more luck with his 6 flavours chocolate cake.

They must have run out of the material for curtains in our room