Last days in Riga

It's a week ago that I got back in the Netherlands, so it seemed about time to write my last blogpost. At least for now, since I already decided to visit Latvia again next summer. Below you can read about my last days in Riga.

Because of my injury I was staying longer inside my dorm room than to my liking. Yet, it seemed like a good idea to start listening to other people their advice, including that of my doctor(s) who told me to rest.  Whilst I was planning to still visit a few clubs –those I hadn’t been before but heard good stories about- in the last two weeks, I decided that it would be better to postpone this activity for my return visit. After all, each time when I went out and told myself to come back at a certain time... I never did. In reality it was always a few or several hours later... Hence, 'just going out for a short while' (to save my knee) would be fooling myself. In Groningen I don’t have this problem so much, as I tend to get fed up by the music quite soon. But in Riga I liked the music. Furthermore, the company I had in the numerous bars was always good, making it more difficult to 'bail out' earlier than anybody else. Luckily I could still pursue passive activities, such as having dinner with my neighbours and first roommate from the REZNAS dorm. We had a joint dinner at the ''big LIDO'' (Krasta iela), followed by taking pictures of the decorations outside.




Monday
Another thing that I still wanted to do before leaving was making more pictures of Old Town. I was always waiting for sunny days, but those have been rare.  Since it was my last week and chance to make pictures, mediocre weather would be considered good enough. I planned to go out with my camera on Monday. I would wander alone through Old Town and city centre and pres the shutter button of my DSLR to make some shots. However, when I got an invitation from ESN to join the Old Town of Riga Tour I decided that I would join them. I already did such tours before but they would pass sights -I expected this tour to be similar to the one I took with ESN the first time- I wanted to take pictures of anyway. And any company is still always better than no company. Joining in allowed me to meet some of the new ERASMUS students and to see teammembers of ESN Riga again. In the end the latter is what I enjoyed the most. They always have been very friendly and open to talk, this time being no exception. I enjoyed the short last chats very much. :) 
 
After the tour ended I sticked around to make some more photo's in Old Town and subsequently City Centre. Photo's are shown below. 



Jekaba iela 11, the place where you can see members of Latvian Parliament crossing the street!

The other photo's (click to enlarge) will  give you an impression what Riga looks like during the winter. 







Tuesday
On Tuesday I met with my CLP (Couple Learning Programme) buddy, to see her one more time before leaving. We had a refreshing walk and talk in the city. Furthermore, she gave me a nice postcard and a photobook as a goodbye gift. She figured I could put photo's from Latvia in it, and that seems to be an excellent idea. Having it printed still has it's charm over digital only. I will save a spot for a bungee jump photo! That is, I still want to go bungee jumping in her hometown, Sigulda. Then, in the evening I went to my last Couchsurfing meeting. Here I received a bag with foods & drinks from another friend. I didn't expect to get all these gifts, it was a surprising day for me! It was also a bit of a sad day, as I will have to miss these and other Latvian friends for some time.

Wednesday 

On my before-last day in Riga I went with my first roommate to 'Go Planet' (http://www.goplanet.lv/eng/go_planet), a 15,000-sq-metre funhouse. If you want to go there by bus you can get off at 'Mēbeļu nams', from there it is a few minutes by foot. Since my Latvian friend told me it would rain that day playing games seemed a better option than the Zoo. It turned out that she was right, the weather being quite dreadful in the afternoon. Staying inside was definitely better than hanging out outside at the Zoo. At Go Planet they have games for young & old, including some weird 'Create your own horse' game.






We played one game where you stand on a jeep and start to shoot with your gun. After that we played airhockey and billiards. I was better at airhockey, but he was clearly better in billiards. It was nice to have some last fun with my ex-roommate.

Thursday

And on Thursday morning early it was time for me to leave the dormitory and to head to the airport. My first roommate got on the same bus and joined me to the airport. He mentioned the day before that he still wanted to give me a postcard.  A very nice one with a writing that will remind me of his great sense of humour! Furthermore, when I went to the toilet at the airport he snugged some presents in my suitcase! I found out at the airport itself, as I had to shift some weight between my bagpack and suitcase. This is when I decided to give him my thermos bottle. Eventhough I could still take it with me I considered it to be more useful for him. After all, he will stay a few years more in Latvia. In the Netherlands it is less cold so you don't actually need it as much. After having said goodbye (read: auf wiedersehen) I found two other ERASMUS at the gate for my departure. They would join me in the flight from Riga to Bremen. It was nice to chat with them and to reflect on our ERASMUS period. Then it was time to board, time to leave Riga.

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When we almost landed with the airplane (was sleeping almost the whole way) I found out that there was also a student-assistant from LU on the same flight, what a coincidence! When we arrived at the airport in Bremen she asked me if I enjoyed my ERASMUS and how I felt about going back home. I told her that I enjoyed my ERASMUS. Moreover, that I felt okay about going home but that I would have preferred to stay in Riga. Once I walked out of the airport my immediate thoughts were ''boring'' and ''looks like the Netherlands''. Then I walked to the bus stop, awaiting a last surprise! I was taking the Public Express Bus (http://www.publicexpress.nl/) from Bremen to Groningen. It was here where a girl approached me to ask if I was Latvian. It must have been the Dinamo Riga cap I was wearing and the Laima chocolate I was eating. She told me she was Latvian and we started to talk. Once our bus arrived I decided to sit next to her so that we could talk some more. Then we just chatted the whole away about my experience in Latvia and what she could possibly expect in Groningen. She told me she would do her ERASMUS in Groningen, just like other students in the bus. It was nice to take this ERASMUS vibe with me on my journey back. Finally, I have to say that I could never have imagined that I would return back home chatting with a Latvian girl, what are the odds! All in all, this was the best ending of my ERASMUS I could have wished for.

BEIGAS