From Riga to Vilnius

After a wonderful evening in Riga, I was doubly motivated to get up early this morning. On the one hand, I finally slept well again, and on the other hand, I had a crowded schedule in mind, which drove me out of bed at 8 o'clock. After a satisfying breakfast, my first destination was Riga's Central Market. This encompasses a huge area inside and outside typical Eastern European-style concrete market halls. It's worth a visit. In contrast to my last 'foreign' market visit in Cartagena, there are no warnings in any travel guides for the 'Rigas coentralais tirgus' and that's exactly how it is. No rotting garbage heaps, no sewers. Only neatly and appetizingly (according to EU regulations, of course) presented meat and instead of carcasses, I got to know a fairly well-nourished market cat.

After a brief look at Riga Castle, I finally set off towards Lithuania with the aim of visiting the 'Hill of Crosses'. This is a unique place surrounded by legends, which I don't want to go into. Those who are interested can find all the details at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hill_of_Crosses.

Apart from the fact that the 'hill' now has a visitor center with several souvenir shops and a paid parking lot, it is truly one of the weirdest places I have ever visited. Apart from the Italian tour group that was on the bus with me - all between 80 and 82 years old - and who constantly took selfies with themselves and the crosses. I prefer not to speculate on their motivation...

This place has something truly unreal, it's bizarre and a bit creepy in a way. It would be the perfect setting for a top-notch horror movie - of course, in a moonlit night with swirling mists.

Afterwards, I immediately continued to Vilnius and the journey dragged on somewhat. There followed a quick city tour, as I was supposed to fly on to Tallinn at 7.45 pm (supposed to...). Vilnius is so different from Riga, it seems much smaller and somehow reminds me of wellness resorts in Austria or South Tyrol, mainly because the buildings are much smaller. All in all, it's beautiful, cozy, and spotlessly clean, just like Riga.

So I left early enough to avoid stress and headed to the airport, only to find out there (only there) that my 7.45 pm flight was now scheduled for 10.00 pm (supposed to). I used the time to - yes, exactly - type these lines and to plan for a meal when at 7.47 pm I received a text message saying that my flight was delayed by 2 1/4 hours. A bit late considering the fact that we should have been in the air at this time. And it's a shame that I couldn't make better use of the time I've been sitting here wasting in Vilnius by taking a more extensive stroll through the city. But it gets even better: at 8.23 pm, I receive a text message saying that the flight is now cancelled, so I cancelled my hotel in Tallinn, only to receive the next text message 12 minutes later stating that the flight is now scheduled for 11.15 pm... Until now, Air Vietnam was at the top of my list of hated airlines. But today, there has been some serious competition. At the gate, they couldn't say whether the flight would take place or not. Bingo! And all of this in the highly acclaimed EU! Well, I've experienced quite a few things, but this... in Europe? And so, I'm still sitting here at Vilnius Airport, while all the shops, restaurants, and bars are closing their shutters, waiting to see what will happen next. I'll keep you posted...