Ok, so I must admit, when a friend wrote "Viva Lat Viegas" to me, I had no idea what it meant. I'm a bit slow, and this -20 degree temperate has frozen my brain. But then I sounded it out loud, and I got it! Do you have it yet? It's oh so cleverly blending "Latvia" into"Viva Las Vegas". Get it? Another version of this embarrassing chant is "Riga, Las Vegas", which Mark kept yelling on the streets of Riga. But since the Riga police are probably looking for anyone saying this for disturbing the peace, we'll go with the more undercover option...Viva Lat Viegas!
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There's no Vegas in Europe, but there are many cities known to be good for weekend shenanigans. Everyone has a different definition of fun; it could be a city with cheap beer (Prague), countries known for being "bachelor party friendly" (aka they have pretty girls, like Ukraine or Poland), places with lots of great nightlife (Berlin), and also places with interesting culture and sightseeing (most places around here).
Riga has all 4. Well, actually it's not cheap, so it has 3. We'll get to that later.
A view of Riga
At first, the plan was to go for a guy's weekend, just a few of us to Riga, to check out the "scenery" (use your imagination on what that means) and just enjoy a weekend away. But after we talked about it in front of a few friends, some of our female friends wanted to come too. And before you knew it, a trip for 3 or 4 guys turned into a party 11 (6 guys and 5 girls). And I do mean PARTY. It was a great international group, representing 6 countries. We stuck together for many things, but knew that we could break off and do our own things as well (so we didn't drive each other too crazy, and because some of us didn't want to visit all of the Double Coffees in Riga - a place we frequented).
On Friday afternoon, 7 of us flew together from Warsaw (Ken, Juan, Mark, Julia, Dominika, Basia and myself), while the other 4 met us there (Igors, Lizzy, Maria and Ben). At the airport it was like going to Summer camp (or Vegas!). We were all really excited, and it's just more fun to travel with friends. I usually fly by myself on my trips, so having a friend or 6 to sit next to on the plane is a great change.
On Friday afternoon, 7 of us flew together from Warsaw (Ken, Juan, Mark, Julia, Dominika, Basia and myself), while the other 4 met us there (Igors, Lizzy, Maria and Ben). At the airport it was like going to Summer camp (or Vegas!). We were all really excited, and it's just more fun to travel with friends. I usually fly by myself on my trips, so having a friend or 6 to sit next to on the plane is a great change.
Some of the crew
After we landed, we tried to figure out the best way to the city center. Irina was not there to pick us up (as she was last time I visited Riga - Christmas 2010). When was asked an airport employee, she tried to explain the costs of a taxi. She gave us an estimate, then said "but it will be more expensive if you get into an accident". We all looked at each other, scratching our heads...we should expect our taxi to get into an accident? Should we be worried??? We decided to assume she meant "if you get into traffic". But, to be safe, we took the bus.
Ok so back to the costs. The currency is one of the most valuable (if that's the word for it) that I have ever seen. 1 Lat is worth more than even a British pound. Every time we'd buy something, the numbers were small (3 for a drink, 10 for a meal, etc), but then when you translated it, it was quite pricey. It's almost 2 USD for 1 LVL. For an Eastern European country, this was a surprise to everyone.
We stayed at the Vecriga hotel where Julia knew the family owners. It was right in the Old Town, and was a very good price. The guy that worked there was really great. He let us make ourselves at home (often one of us was sitting behind his desk at his computer), and he even had some drinks with us in the lobby.
In the hotel lobby with our friend
One of the guys in the group, who will remain unnamed (but I promise, it's not me!), ended up buying the wrong return flight for the Sunday one week after were were supposed to go back. So he ended up having to buy another ticket for the flight we were all on. His pants also ripped in half one of the nights we were out, so it wasn't exactly a great weekend for him, tragedy-wise. Although, he hada great time, and has a lot of pictures dancing on stage and with girls on his shoulders to prove it (maybe there's some correlation to the ripped pants?).
The weather was typical Eastern Europe Winter weather (around and less than 0 degrees F) and in order to stay warm while walking around the city, we needed to do something drastic. And I mean drastic for US standards, but fairly normal for this part of the world. When anyone tells you what they do to stay warm when walking around in the Winter, they say "drink vodka". When in Rome, right? So we carried around bottles with us everywhere we went...having a few sips in the hotel before going out, at the tram station, on the tram, in the elevator, at the dinner table, in front of the church, in the coffee shop, and even at the counter in the liquor store where we bought it (with the employee)...you get the idea. This trip was officially sponsored by Vanilla Stoli. But before you judge us, try walking around in 0 degrees for several hours and see how you feel!
It was cold, but blue skies make it better
In front of our corner "supply" store
The main thing I wanted to see this time was the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia 1940-1991, which is, in fact, about the Occupation of Latvia from 1940-1991. It's a very interesting museum about when the Nazis and Soviets parked there during and after WWII. As you know, this part of history is very interesting to me, and I have seen and read a lot about it. But it's always nice to hear different perspectives. The museum showed what it was like in the GULAG prison camps, and talked about all of the turmoil in the Baltic countries during this time. Like most countries in the area, after the war the population was much smaller than before the war, especially with all the Jews fleeing or being killed. Still, about half of the population there now are Russians because they came during the occupation and didn't leave. Because of this, all Latvians can interchange between English, Russian and Latvian without even blinking. It's impressive. But because everyone can do it, for some reason it doesn't seem all that impressive. But really, it is!
We ate at Lido one night (it's huge, cafeteria style, but really good), a medieval place Rozengrals that was really good, and an arrange your own noodle place called Dada that we really liked. And the food at Double Coffee is actually pretty good! I won't say much about the night-life, because you can probably imagine. We had a great time, everyone stayed safe, and there were many pictures that can not be posted on Facebook (or required editing). So that's how you know it was a good time. It was such a fun trip that we've already started talking about our next weekend getaway...Belgrade, Vilnius, Lviv, and Bratislava are all options! What would you vote for? And maybe this time, no girls allowed. 
The museum has such beautiful architecture!!!
Ok, so this is much better
Domi at Lido. I don't know why she is sideways
