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Showing posts from September, 2009

Country #81: Riga...A brilliant choice

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Way back in August, I found myself with some unexpected days off, the last few I would have for this year's Amsterdam stay. I was wandering around, unsure of what to do with this time, when I came across an ad for Baltic Airlines touting cheap airfare to Riga. That afternoon, I did a quick search for hostels in Riga, found there were some highly recommended ones, saw some pretty pictures and decided that Latvia was to be my 81st country. I proudly went around proclaiming that I was heading to Latvia. Not surprisingly, this was usually followed by blank stares or questions as to why, exactly, I was going to what was it again? I had no good answer at the time (other than the obvious best answer: Because it's there). I did not even have any idea as to what I would find once I got there. I did know that there was a possibility to bungee jump from a cable car, but oddly, that was about the extent of my research. Arriving at the fun to say Naughty Squirrel Hostel on a Monday after

Oslo: The Wet Day aka Day 3

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One last day in Oslo (technically just an afternoon, really, since I had a 5pm flight back to Amsterdam) but I had saved the best, or at least the most scenic, for last. On this, my final hours, I had made a reservation for a lunch cruise around the fjords. For the past two days, I had watched families cruise by, enjoying the gorgeous summer weather and the majestic panorama offered up by the fjords. Now it was my turn. So why was I waking up to the sound of rain on the windowpanes accompanied by loud claps of thunder. I convinced myself for a brief moment that it was noise coming from the air conditioner. A noise that I just had never noticed before. I even shared this fleeting fantasy with my hot roommate, the one who had just finished hiking through Pakistan and is currently working on a guide to outdoor adventures. Curiously, he did not share my delusion. With the reservation already made and the $65 cruise included for free with my $68 Oslo Card, I decided I could brave the elemen

Oslo: Day 2

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My second day in Oslo was devoted to two things: art and exploring the city itself; or one could say artfully exploring the city. I started off with a self-guided walking tour around the comfortably compact downtown area. The city was as clean and tidy as one would expect, but what I found a bit disconcerting was the number of junkies I encountered throughout my walk. I had noticed them the previous day at the train station, but I had chalked it up to the sad fact that oftentimes, that is where those living on the fringes of society tend to congregate. I should quickly point out that at no point did I feel threatened or in any kind of danger, it just struck me as such an odd dichotomy between the stereo-type of the hale and hearty Viking and those sunken-eyed lost souls that seemed to be simply everywhere. My walking tour lead me to The National Gallery, where I had my first chance to see Edvard Munch's iconic painting, The Scream. I say it was my first chance, because Munch, being