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Seeing more of Riga... and experiencing local food.

Yesterday we went to a very authentic restaurant called “Lido”. It’s buffet style with tons of food and it’s absolutely delicious!! I had chicken breast with cheese and pineapple with roast potatoes and salad. Very good! For dessert I had an amazing rhubarb and strawberry with cream thing which was sweet but delicious, and very cheap.

In the afternoon we went to the cinema and watched “Water for Elephants”. A totally ok film. Good chewing gum movie (i.e. you watch it, it was fun and nice, but it doesn’t really impact your life in any way). It was fun to go to the cinema in Latvia though, and very cheap too. Afterwards we strolled home and had a chilled evening at home.

This morning we had brunch at a French cafe which had the most amazing croissants I’ve ever had. We sat outside in the sun (the nice weather continues, although it does get a bit nippy in the shade) and watched people shopping at the weekly organic marked which was there also. Then we strolled to the local market which is huge. There were tons of vegetable and fruit stands, meat market, fish market, and of course random things market. They also had a long area with flowers which smelt so lovely. It was a bit of a contrast entering the area of the market as there were random people standing around selling things. It really made me wonder what their lives are like as some were older ladies selling just a few items of clothes they were holding. I guess if you’re desperate, even selling a piece of clothing is better than nothing.

At the market we bought cherries and strawberries, and we also tasted kavass which is a traditional Latvian drink that tastes a bit like liquid Latvian bread (it’s clear and thin, but the spices are like the ones in the dark bread that is typical for the country). Not my favourite drink, but interesting.

After a walk around the shopping centre we had a snack at the Index cafe. I had cinnamon bun and hot chocolate. The cinnamon bun was almost like many tiny cinnamon rolls squished together. It was a tad dry, but ok.

Now we’re chilling in Lysette’s flat. We’ve bought ingredients for “coca cola chicken” for dinner and brownies. And later we’ll head down to the old part of town to watch the “Blonde Parade”. Today the Blonde Association of Latvia have a huge parade with blondes dressed in pink and the proceeds go to build play grounds for disabled children. It’ll be fun!! I don’t have anything pink to wear, but at least I have my blonde hair.

Tomorrow it’s church (which is translated into Latvian, Russian and English, and will be an experience for sure!), and then we might head to the open air museum to get a glimpse into Latvian culture and history.

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