I have restrained myself from writing for a week or so. However, so much has happened that It'd not be fair for me to leeve you all out of the loop!!

After a fantastic time in Tallinn, we headed down to Parnu (Estonias beach resort) which was possibly the worst place I have ever visited as it was totally devoid of any culture or of people for that matter as we were the only 2 in an 8 bed dorm!! So, we quickly packed our bags, hopped on a bus and ended up in Riga, Latvias capital and what the "Lonley Plannet" describes as "the thumping heart of the Baltic".

However, on a rather overcast and rainy arrival, we were to say the least dubious about this claim. That is, untill we (eventually) found "Friendly Fun Franks", the cheapest and I'd wager the most lively and friendly hostel in the city. Infact, it must have had a reputation as 250 people had tried to book into the 150 beds!! As a result, we found ourselves being given free beers and told that for our first night we could stay in a near by hostel but that we could go out with Franks "Party", a proposition which was too good to turn down. So, allong came midnight and the group left for the clubs. All I will say is that we ended up with 2 very drunk Australian guys and returned to the hostel at 06.30 as people were heading in to work!!

After this introduction to Europes stag night capital, we spent the next day booking in to Franks and going on a walking tour of the town which, despite the thumping rain and tired eyes, was very informative and gave us a good excuse to relax in the Hostel that afternoon!! It was here, we met leads of realy cool people, including 2 guys from Finland, 2 guys from Switzerland (who were hillarious) and 6 girls from Belguim.

Anyway, enough boring stuff about my daly routine. Riga is a brillient city. Despite many of the buildings being bombed in WWII, most of them have been re-built and painted bright colours - a factor we only really appreciated on days 3 and 4 when the sun came out and we went up a church spire to see a Stunning view of the city.

There are also loads of activities to do, including shooting which we arranged from the Hostel and resulted in us going on a tram to a soviet bunker, where we were handed an AK47, a pump action shotgun and a Glock pistol and told to empty the magazines into the targets!!

All in all, a fantastic city with lots to do. however, the hostel and the people we met was the hilight....just goes to prove, it's all about who you meet!!

Best wishes

Christopher

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