Wednesday meant began with another early start, as I had a train to catch. Despite having to get up far earlier than I normally would, these early departures meant less time wasted in the mornings and a solid block of hours to check out the next city when I arrived. On Wednesday, that meant a four-hour train ride to Riga in Latvia.

The journey was easy, comfortable and cheap, and also gave me a chance to get some work done. I arrived just before noon, dropped my luggage at the hotel and headed out to explore. The skies were grey and it sprinkled every now and then, but it was still decent weather for walking around.

I set a course for the Freedom Monument. Each of the Baltic countries has its own freedom monument and museums dedicated to the Soviet occupation, and in today’s context you get a very strong sense that there is absolutely no desire to ever go back under Russia’s thumb. 

The threat doesn’t feel entirely historical either. It feels very much alive.

There were no guards at the monument when I first arrived, although on another visit they were there, with other soldiers dotted around in camouflage. 

From the monument, I headed further into the Old Town and ticked off, in very rapid succession because the place is small, the Swedish Gate, the Three Brothers – three differently coloured buildings next to each other that were owned by…three brothers – the House of the Blackheads and Town Hall Square.

I then bought some postcards, followed by stamps to send them to Australia. I paid €13 for the stamps. That’s more than €4 each, which in Australian money is around $8.

What the hell?

I think I got ripped off.

Next I went to St Peter’s Church and took the rickety elevator to the top of the tower for a view over the city and river. Excellent view. Lots to see.

Then it was off to Central Market, picking an apple from a tree along the way and eating it – it was good – before having a fairly crappy food-court lunch at the market. I browsed some stalls, then headed back to the hotel to check in.

I walk fast. It was only 2pm.

That gave me time for a nap, though, and also the chance to go to the gym across the road. I’m so glad I did. It had been about a week, maybe longer, since I’d done a workout and I was really missing it.

Dinner was next.

I hate finding food, but even more than that, I hate looking up food on Google. Too much choice. Maybe that’s why I like flying so much. There are only two options in economy and usually one of them I can’t eat.

Anyway, I found a few places nearby, but none of them seemed particularly appealing when I got there. Instead, I ended up at a place called Mada, which was quiet but cute. I ordered a soft-shell chicken taco, duck pappardelle and a Negroni.

Everything was delicious. I was in heaven.

I’d almost finished my meal when a guy walked in carrying a guitar and asked the waitress what kind of soup they had. I got involved for some reason and told him the food was really good, if that helped.

He heard my accent and asked where I was from. Then I heard his.

Turned out we were both from Perth and had grown up only a few suburbs away from each other.

Connection made, I invited Kenji to join me and we spent a lovely hour chatting about home, travel, what we did and all that stuff. It was such a wonderful encounter – completely random, but somehow almost meant to be. Great vibes, great food.

He eventually had to head off to meet some friends, so we went our separate ways at the tram stop.

I killed a couple of hours back at the hotel before summoning up the courage to go to TOP, a gay bar around the corner. I have a habit of getting to places either right when they open or ridiculously early, but this time I forced myself not to.

Instead, I arrived an hour and a half after opening.

It was still empty.

Even for a Wednesday night.

I ordered a drink, sat off to the side and read my book while waiting for the karaoke to start, which had been my main reason for going. In the meantime, I met Kert from Estonia, who’d travelled down from Tallinn to see a rapper I’d never heard of: A$AP Rocky.

The karaoke eventually started and I was one of the first singers up, biting the bullet to get the night rolling. Not that there were many people there yet.

Over the next few hours, though, it got busier. I sang four songs in all and met even more new friends: David and Paolo, who are from Spain but work for an airline in Riga, and Connor from Ireland, who was also doing a big trip through Europe.

We stayed until they kicked us out at 2am.

It had been a great day and, once again, having some lovely human contact made it all the better.

Unsurprisingly, I was a little tired the next day, so I didn’t push myself to do much. 

I eventually went to the National Library, which was in a really cool building on the banks of the river on the other side of the bridge. As well as a great view from the 11^th/ 12^th floor, there were some interesting exhibitions to check out. 

Sadly, though, they were extremely text-heavy and my capacity for reading exhibition panels was even lower than usual. Though I did learn that the idea of transferring books from one location to another via a human chain came from Latvia when this library was built.

I had lunch there, then took my time heading back to the hotel, enjoying the architecture, the Old Town and the greenery along the way.

Later, I went to the gym, then managed to catch the sunset from the top of the Latvian Academy of Sciences. Great views, pretty much all to myself too. Afterwards, I had a quick dinner, resisted Connor’s offer to go out again and went to sleep.

Riga: done.

Next stop: Tallinn.