Latvian Cowboys

After a stress free, shorter than anticipated flight we are in Riga.

The flight was split between a rather rowdy stag party (the groom in full wedding dress, complete with spray tan) and a lot of women and babies (we wondered if they were visiting spouses working in the UK?)

We had a bit of a security issue at Leeds Bradford airport, involving a tub of coffee mate in my bag! I'd read on TripAdvisor that our hotel has tea/coffee making facilities but no milk, so since I'm fussy with dairy, I decided to pack the coffee mate.

The lady on the X-ray screening was a little over cautious (IMHO), flagging up my coffee mate and also Mr A's wallet.
The bizarre thing, was that despite emptying my bag to check things, they never removed the lid from the coffee mate....it could have been anything !
They deemed us safe to continue to travel. Phew!

We had literally just stepped off the shuttle bus when we encountered Riga's resident nutter; we ventured into a shopping mall to try and shake him off.

We found the hotel no problem, it's lovely and not far from the centre and all the shopping malls.

Riga is 2 hours ahead of the UK, so by the time we'd checked in and freshened up, it was time to find a place to eat.

Just a couple of blocks from our hotel was this little steakhouse; they had a live band playing country and western favourites, and they were actually quite good (pictured).
The food was great too, washed down with the local beer.

We are currently in some 'trendy' Latvian bar, listening to fusion jazz, sitting in chairs that my grandma would like and the whole place smells of eggs! :-0

Am I happy? You betcha! Can't wait to explore more tomorrow :-)