Riga, Latvia – 2 Days on a boat!

As far as I can remember, I’ve never been on a cruise ship.  [Maybe when I was younger than 3? Don't think so, though…]  So I jumped at the chance to take a weekend cruise to Riga, Latvia – for $15 for two nights on the ship!

All aboard the Romantika!  I went with a group of girl friends, which made for an awesome weekend.

Day 1 snack (pb&j) and dinner (use-up-the-fridge salad beast) packed! Plus a loka sparkling water to settle my stomach on the boat.  I’m glad I packed that for sure.

Boarding the ship in Stockholm.

Goodbye, Stockholm. Riga – see you in 17 hours!

The ship was like an all-inclusive hotel/airport thing.  We spent some time in the sauna and whirlpool the first day, and hit up the duty-free shopping the second.  There were also 4+ restaurants and cafes – but they’re not cheap, so we brought our breakfasts and dinners.   The boat had a pub, a casino/lounge-type club, and a dance club, which were fun, but I wouldn’t call them superfantastic.

The cabins were rather cramped for 4 people (forgot to take a picture… oops), but with the price we paid, it was not a big deal.

There were a few of these involved (only the one with the glowstick is mine, I promise!).

Then, we arrived in Riga at about 11am, and set out wandering the city.

I really loved the place, but the weather was less than ideal.  Rainy and cold – which is too bad!

(Yes, that is a design on the thing covering the building.  Odd? Yes. Awesome? Also yes.)

The architecture was really neat there!  If I had the chance, I’d definitely spend more than a day there.

We stopped for coffees and warmth.

Mocha for me (that’s foam, not cream, I promise!) Delicious – not too sweet actually.  Wish I had asked for soy, though.

All the streets were cobblestone.  I love cities like this!

Those are old hangars – that now how one of the largest markets in the world!  Well, the indoor part of it.  Vendors sold everything from fresh produce, to meat and cheese, textiles, souvenirs, clothing, jewelry, hand made goods – basically everything you could possibly imagine.  And things were so cheap there, too.

Part of the outdoor section of the market – it winds around the entire back of the hangars.

Gorgeous pomegranates!

And fresh produce – you could smell dill everywhere.

Beautiful – they had a whole section with tables full of these (honestly can’t remember what they’re called…)

This made me laugh – candy bars and coffee behind glass. What.

Amazing soaps at that stand – two of my friends split a bar!

I was so tempted to stock up here!  But there was too much going on, and I was too indecisive.  So, of course, I decided on nothing.

Time was running low (we only had about 4 hours total), so we headed back towards the boat to grab some lunch first.

My friend and I shared the cheese plate to start – which was quite delicious.  The hard one (far right) was my favorite, although I don’t really know what any of these were.  As much as I enjoyed this, I really should not have eaten that much – I spent most of the rest of the afternoon with a pretty bad stomach ache, partly curled up in bed. Note to self!

Then I got a small plate of grilled veggies as well.  Love them!  Although that garlic sauce was a little too strong.

The three brothers!  This was one site we all made sure to visit.  And there it is – proof I was in Riga!

Since things weren’t so expensive, I bought a few souvenir things for myself.  Riga is known for wool and amber – so that is what I got!  Some really nice purple wool hand warmers, a mug, and amber earrings.

I love souvenir mugs – and the one is mini!  And really pretty.

the amber was fantastic – mostly the larger pieces.  But they were a bit out of my price rang, so I went for something small that I knew I would wear regularly.

Back in Sthlm about midday today – and I’d say my first cruise ship experience was a winner.  I was planning on getting in a run or workout when I got back, but I’m just really not feeling it.  Not the “I’m too lazy” not feeling it, I can’t really put my finger on it, but I’ve been low energy for the past couple days.  I also think I slept funny last night, there’s a knot/pain in my neck (when I turn my head to the right/back) that won’t go away.

Ah well – tomorrow is a new day!

Have you ever been on a boat cruise? What did you think?