Packing, moving and being in Latvia

Dear readers,

I need to start by saying welcome back to this page. It took me a while to decide if I wanted to write stories about what I experience during my study in Latvia. But yes, I do. I think writing a story will magnify the experience and it won’t let you forget what you have experienced.
First I would like to start on the moment I decided to go on exchange which was somewhere in April. I doubted if I wanted to go. Why I decided to go? I think that I would have regret it otherwise. When I got accepted, I was very happy. However I needed to pass my propaedeutic year and get this certificate before going.

And… I passed.

Then I started working during my holiday period. Full time in amusement park Drievliet. The last weeks of working we (my mom and I) decided to go one week before I had to head back into college (kind of drop off). The last week of working I slowly started packing and on the 22th of August I flew out of the Netherlands.

Facebook status 21 august 2014: Last night in the Netherlands for the year 2014.

When we (my mom, my mom’s friend and I) arrived in Riga (pronounced Rika), the capital of Latvia, we took the bus towards our hotel. First we had an arrival dinner before heading into town. We saw the freedom monument, the sky tower (which gives a panorama view from the top – 26 stages) and many other buildings.

The next day (23-08), we decided to walk around some major sightseeing’s such as the Opera house, the St. Peter’s Church (we climbed up the tower and had an amazing view), the freedom monument, porcelain museum, the chocolate museum, the art district and many more. This day we had dinner at a sushi bar called Planeta. After our dinner we sat down at a place to relax and I had my first Latvian beer.

The following day (24-8), we decided to walk around the other major sighsteeing’s such as the synagogue, the cats house, Riga’s dome, Castle of Riga and many more. In the afternoon we saw the Dutch embassy as well as the Powder Tower. After this we went on a boat tour around the river and the canal through wards the city. In the end of the afternoon we crossed some warehouses. However these weren’t just warehouses, this was a place where Jewish people had died during WO2. Continuing the rest of day we went to Peter Balcums restaurant to have a classical Latvian dish. We enjoyed it very much.

The last and final day of Riga (25-8), we explored the last bit of the city before heading into the Riga Gallery since it was raining. At half past two we were back at the hotel before taking the bus to the airport. Arriving at the airport we (my mom and I) said goodbye to my mom’s friends who headed back to the Netherlands, while we called for our pick up.

Enjoy the moments at home, wherever you are.

Joëlle