Monday, July 13, 2015
Clay went to the gym this morning and I slept right through
it. He started making noise about 7:30am and I got up. We weren’t to breakfast
again until after 8am. We went ahead afterwards and went and got seats in the
front of the front window in Horizons to watch the sail in to Riga. It was a
narrow and winding channel through a very industrialized area. I guess we
stopped about 15km shy of the passenger terminal adjacent to Old Town. I don’t
know why exactly. So, we were originally expected to arrive at 9am, then they
announced it would be 10am, but I guess since there were 2 cruise ships and one
ferry docked next to old town that maybe there was no room for us. In any
event, last night’s newsletter said we would dock at KS Cargo/Container
Terminal and we did at about 9:15am. We could see vans like Alla Tours uses
parked outside the port gate and a small crowd of people with signs out there
so to be safe we did not wait until 11am which was the new time Alla Tours had
posted for meeting at this port. We went out and it was SPB and some other
private tour operators waiting out there. Somehow all the other providers
stayed close to their original schedules and found out the port had changed and
were here. By 10:45am they had all left. Shortly after that the rest of the 17
people who were booked on today’s Alla Tour started trickling out to the gate.
Right at 11am, Jennifer and the van/minibus showed up. She acted like they had
been down at the other port waiting and had raced out here. I know at least one
person in the group claimed they had called someone with Alla Tours and told
them about the change in port. I don’t really have a good explanation for what
happened here. Jennifer was otherwise well prepared. She had marked up a map of
Riga for each couple with the Cruise Passenger Terminal and our route for today
marked (not our port which was too far away to appear on her map!). She did the
best she could with us I think. There was never a lunch scheduled in this
5-hour tour program, but it running from 11am to 4pm without one caused
problems. People should read what they are booking. If it had been 10am to 3pm
without lunch it would have been the same problem. The only thing we actually
sacrificed due to the changes was free time. We had about a 30 minute drive
into and out of town to add to the equation due to the port change. We started
with a panoramic photo stop from across the Daugava River. From noon to 12:30pm,
we had a short walking tour through Riga’s Art Nouveau district centered on
Alberta Street. As we drove away, we went past the former Riga KGB building. From
12:45pm to 1:10pm, we walked Freedom Square to the Opera House. After that we
went over to Riga’s Central Market which was moved from Old Town into some nice
large open buildings to create the largest market/bazaar in Europe. Jennifer
and we and a couple of others bought food and with samples shared by vendors
and amongst us, we put together a light lunch on the go. That was from 1:10pm
to 2pm. Finally we drove to Old Town, we got there around 2:15pm. Jennifer told
us in the van to take 15 minutes there to spread out amongst the 3 coffee shops
there and get some coffee/drinks and snacks to go on a walk. To take only 15
minutes. She told us again we got there and pointed out the 3 cafes/kiosks.
Clay and I went straight to the closest one and got a Coke and pastries. When
we finished our transaction, the whole group was standing around Jennifer
having some kind of complaint fest. I think maybe they were looking for
restrooms because one of our party had an upset stomach and they finally all
went across the street again into a museum for restrooms. Then Jennifer had to
recall the driver to get a guy who didn’t want to walk. I’m not sure how that
worked because he sat in the van all afternoon when our tour supposedly only
paid for 3 hours of a van with driver. Reading the itinerary, I understood that
the driver would leave us and come back for us later to drive us back to the ship,
but since he had a passenger, I don’t know. He was sitting next to me and said
he sat on the van reading the entire time. Anyway, later they were all hungry
and thirsty and asking for their free time/snack break. Jennifer kindly did not
point out to them that they didn’t use the time for that and it was over now,
but she set them free to meet up later at the van and skip the last 45 minutes
of the Old Town walking tour. We probably should have cut out too as I don’t
think we really gained anything in the final walk around but we stuck it out. So
we walked through Old Town and saw probably all of the important highlights
from 2:20pm to 3:45pm. We also took a detour through a still standing medieval
restaurant called Rosengrals. We went downstairs and inside on one side of the
narrowest street and through a dark and winding candlelit tunnel to exit on the
other side of the street! We were back to the ship before 4:30pm and all aboard
is 5:30pm
It was supposed to be in the mid-60sF and raining all day
today according to all the forecasts. I think it was probably around 65F all
day, but it was mostly sunny all day with a nice breeze. So, it was too cool in
the shade but just right in the sun. So, it was a pleasant day and we enjoyed
it. It was an interesting former Soviet bloc city, like Tallinn, but larger in
area it seemed to me. Our Charming Riga tour today cost us $75pp. Oceania had a
similarly named tour that only lasted 3.5 hours and cost $119. It definitely
did not do the market or Rosengrals and they were the coolest.
We are ready to sail away now, a half hour early so everyone
must be aboard. We have 6:30pm dinner reservations at Polo Grill tonight, so it
was a good day to skip lunch. We’ll skip the show tonight. It is Hayden Smith.
No idea. We don’t get to Klaipeda, Lithuania before 11am tomorrow and we plan
to get up early and do a last load of laundry before we arrive. Fingers crossed
on that!
