Riga, Latvia

We decided at 9:00 on a Monday evening that we needed to go to Latvia. Don't ask me why, other than we had never been to eastern Europe (I don't count Croatia) and flights were pretty cheap. I didn't even know Latvia was a country. (But please keep in mind this is coming from the girl who had zero grasp of world geography until I started traveling.)

Riga was sort of like that weird place on Youtube you find yourself in from time to time. (Y'all know the videos I am talking about.) You're really not sure how you got there, you're not sure what is going on, you can't put your finger on it but you feel slightly uncomfortable, and all you really know for certain is that you want to get back to where you came from. For me, Latvia was that weird place on Youtube. 

The people looked...harsh. (If that's what living on the Baltic Sea does to you, no thanks.) They were also incredibly rude. So rude, I would rather take 12 elderly Germans and 10 snooty French and throw an intimate cocktail party than have a brief conversation with one Latvian. But they did wear those really sweet, round fur hats in all seriousness, so they get some props for that. It was so cold  frigid that I was a few wind gusts away from buying one, and I think about that hat at least once every three days so I know I should have purchased it.

The food was nothing to write home about, sadly. (Not sure if this is a shocker for anyone, but food is hands down my most favorite part of visiting a new place.) There was this really cheap, open 'til 4 AM, weird place that Zack & I ate at twice. Apparently a popular dish there is a ravioli type thing, which personally I find insulting to the Italians. It was basically like a pasta shell with unidentifiable, flavorless meat inside of it. I can't explain it, and really don't care to stir up my memory of it. We did find a really great pizza restaurant called Charlies, and their food was wonderful. But, it was pizza. If you screw up pizza you have issues beyond anything I can comprehend. We tried kvass there, which I didn't hate, but didn't love either. It's supposed to be fermented, but only like 1%. Anything less than 5% is a genuine waste of my time and I have no patience for it. Speaking of fermented, Latvia is famous for their "Black Balsam" drink. It was repulsive. Repulsive, made me want to peel my toenails off, would rather lay naked on Riga's frozen ponds repulsive.

If you are a Latvian, and reading this post, I apologize. 

communism ftw

But only for the ravioli dig. Y'all step up your game.