Author: rphbaker

We took the tram to the area where we stayed in on our last trip which is close to a marina and the water.

We are really hoping a restaurant speaks to us as we walk past. Unfortunately most all of the tables available are in the direct sun which doesn’t seem appealing. It’s close to 75 today and we have no sunscreen currently. The one restaurant with lots of tables open in the shade is TGIF. I swear the only time we eat at Friday’s is when we are traveling abroad. The last time I’m pretty sure we were in Edinburgh and couldn’t find a restaurant that allowed kids.

We tried really hard not to eat at Fridays.

Since Greg got the hot chicken I decided on a quesadilla and it was actually really good. Logan got buffalo wings which he was so excited about. He said they were good but was shocked that they came cold. Like chilled cold.

After lunch Logan was debating going for a swim. The only issue is that he hadn’t taken swim trunks with him. There was an H&M close so we could have grabbed him trunks but he wanted to feel the water first. Jake and Maddie opted to stay behind and wait for us to walk down towards the beach area for him to feel the water.

The beach was so busy he decided it wasn’t even worth trying to swim. He would just be dodging people and also had no towel to dry off with.

Guess we are done here and are headed to the fortress.

On our way to the fortress Greg somehow remembered he had a work call (or actually two) in 20 mins. Ultimately he decided he needed to be at his computer so he left me and the kids our exploring while he went back to the apartment.

We are on the move again headed out to the ski museum with the main purpose to be to zip line our way down from the top.

Thankfully no issues on the train. We are off and headed uphill to the museum.

Maddie and I went first so I could video Jake. Jake and Brooks were next so Logan could take pics of Jake. There are obviously no pics of really anyone. But Jake. 🙂

Some kids ran past us and I was like oh look, it’s a cross country team. That is until they started putting on skies on rollers that you actually can’t see at all in this pic. I feel like they were training for something I should know about. Words aren’t coming to me.

Next up is a stave Church. These Church’s are almost only found here.

And now it’s time to head back toward town to find lunch. Back down the hill we go to the train.

Back on Norwegian soil after 5 years feels so good!

First stop Starbucks. It’s been a minute since we have had Starbucks and it was an early morning so caffeine is definitely needed.

I got the cutest little reusable stopper that I definitely needed.

We headed through the duty free store and Jake seemed super tempted to buy this small thing of mentos. (Not really…I made him pose.)

We received word from our Airbnb host that we can check into our apartment early which is awesome. We weren’t planning on hanging out there but definitely want to offload these bags before we explore all day.

Our first stop is the Flytoget which is the train that takes you from the airport to central station. It’s Brooks’ favorite train ever solely based on location. It is a 20 min or so ride.

And…of course we literally just missed the train so we will have a ten minute wait until the next one.

From the station we jumped on tram 12 to take us 9 stops or so to our Airbnb. It’s a historic house that sits right at the tram station. I will have to get better pics of the outside later but will share some of the inside now.

After dropping our bags it’s time to head back out. Our plan is to jump back on the tram and head out to the ski jump. We did this five years ago and want Jake to be able to experience it. He says he’s not afraid of heights. Let’s hope not!

Departure time from the apartment was 6:30am. Brooks was the first one awake, followed by me and Greg. Obviously we needed coffee first, then to finish last minute packing and to take trash etc out from the apartment. Since it was so early, there were doors and gates closed and locked that aren’t normally. Greg and Brooks had headed downstairs to take the trash out but Brooks had to come upstairs to get codes from me.

After he got the code and had left Greg texted he was locked outside. After rescuing Greg, he and Brooks walked to the parking lot to get the van to drive to the apartment so we didn’t have to walk as far. Thankfully the entire city seems to still be sleeping after last night’s Ligo festivals.

If I’d been keeping better score I’d say the final tally was Greg: 2 Renault: 1. The van got him real good this morning as a back panel thing that covers up the luggage area closed and hit the bridge of his nose while we were loading up. He immediately started gushing blood and asked for something absorbent.

So see, the thing is, I thought I was so smart last night using the last two Krispy Kreme napkins for dinner by tearing them apart for at least the kids. Greg and I had no napkins and thankfully didn’t need them. The only thing I had available was a receipt. Which didn’t so the job. Maddie found a wipe which somewhat helped until it didn’t. She somehow found a bandaid that she could access which stopped the emergency…until it bled through but it’s fine.

While Greg had two points against the Renault neither left lasting damage. The entrance to the Hilton parking garage in Vilnius was so narrow the side mirrors were knocked in twice.

Unfortunately I never got a better pic of the cool bridge but here we are driving over it.

Next up, topping off the van with gas. This time I’m the one who had the responsibility of double checking that Greg didn’t get the wrong gas. We nailed it!

We finally stopped at a Shell. Although I’m told that Greg and Brooks might have gotten gas at a Shell station in Vilnius when Maddie, Logan and I were getting drinks at McDonald’s. Since I have no proof of such I shall document it here.

Not wanting a repeat of Luton and not being able to find “car hire” I had searched where to return the rental car in Riga. Most things said to follow the signs and other things said P4. It’s all fine and good until the airport is under construction and there are literally no signs. Since Greg had figured out how to easily loop around when we picked up Jake he decided to let us out and he and Brooks would go return the car. He gave Logan his computer bag to lighten his load.

Security was stressful. The agent that Logan and I had made us take out all electronics including power banks but not phones, liquids including toothpaste but not deodorant that had to be in two ziploc bags max. Since Logan had Greg’s computer bag he had no idea what was in it or what pocket the computer was in. It’s a good thing the airport was dead because we would have been those people holding up the line as we pulled things out and tried to put them in bags.

Maddie and Jake only had to remove electronics but not liquids.

Logan got nailed for I guess a random screening and they had to swab all his bags. He did not claims Greg’s computer bag just to lessen the time.

This was so much different than Luton where I was told I didn’t need to have liquids in bags anymore and we didn’t have to remove electronics. I guess it’s the difference between the UK and the EU but why does it have to be so complicated? I made sure to text Greg to advise him and Brooks to go through the line that Maddie and Jake had selected.

We grabbed some seats near our gate while Maddie and Jake went to get some food and water. I’m told Jake got an omelette but you’d never know it by looking at it.

Logan wanted a Coke from a vending machine and it took a minute for he and Greg to figure out it how to pay for it via card. Once they did it spit it out the bottom of the machine. As Logan opened it it exploded all over his hands. Great design that machine was.

Time to board! And by board I mean the bus that takes you to the plane wayyyyy out.

I was excited for another opportunity to shop in the air! This time I was all ready to make a purchase and spend these Euros that I can’t use in Norway. But I got robbed because our flight was too short.

Oslo here we come!

Jake, Maddie and Logan had gone to the store earlier but Greg wanted to make one more stop since there was a grocery store in the mall. He felt like we needed to grab some more lettuce for salad.

I couldn’t pass getting some teeth. Never know when you might need some!

Wish I had room in my luggage to do some shopping at this store. It looked super cute.

Time to head back to the apartment.

Now back to the apartment to work/blog/rest/laundry before it’s dinner time. As per usual, Logan and I made one more trip to the store for dinner things. Greg had decided he wanted a green pepper to put in the sauce and Logan had looked earlier for Italian sausage but the other store didn’t have it. We decided to look at this one.

That trip was kind of a bust. I’m not sure green peppers exist in Latvia and neither does Italian sausage. Unless google translate failed me but nothing looked right.

Logan also wanted to check out the pasta sauce to see if anything looked better than the two jars they got earlier. One looked like vodka sauce but translated to rocket and mascapone. He was going to put it back until I reminded him the other two jars might also suck so we grabbed it.

Before dinner we played at a game of Uno No Mercy before dinner. This time Maddie and Jake joined and I failed to take a pic because I’m a loser.

Greg and Logan prepared dinner. The menu was penne pasta with red sauce (some with meat and some without), Caesar salad, and garlic bread.

It was early to bed for us as we are leaving the apartment at 6:30 for our flight to Oslo. Overall we had a great stay in the Baltics. We have really lucked out with the weather with very little rain despite the forecast (except the boys day one in Tallinn.) Riga ended up being our least favorite. Hard to choose a favorite between Tallinn and Vilnius.

Now, if only I could get some sleep. That’s hard to find with the band literally rocking Blue Suede Shoes, Big Wheels Keep on Turning, and other oldies.

We are looking forward to being back in Norway tomorrow and are hoping to hit the ground running to make the most out of our day in Oslo. It’s been way too long since we have been in Norway!

After the concert we took a leisurely stroll back through town. We got near the “cool” bridge but not close enough for me to get a good pic. But this might be as good as it gets.

As we were walking back Logan decided to see if he could jump up and touch a sign which turned into a competition. Jake had to show the Baker Family up with his vertical.

All the walking, jumping and organ listening wore out most of the kids so all but Brooks went back to the apartment. We stayed out to explore since it’s our last day here.

Logan saw this bar earlier. Maybe we will hit it up later. I mean who doesn’t want 50 shots? It is Ligo after all!

Unfortunately we missed our chance to visit the apothecary museum! It’s closed today and tomorrow and I’m so sad. It did have the prettiest door of all the doors though.

On our way back to the apartment we stopped at a mall. There was a grocery inside so we grabbed a few more grocery items and I found a fun dessert for Ligo tonight!

After a short break at the apartment, we rallied all kids for an organ concert at the Riga Cathedral. Yep, an organ concert. The Riga Cathedral has one of the biggest organs in the world so it seemed as though a 20 minute concert wasn’t the worst idea in the world.

I thought I could insert video but it will not upload so unfortunately I cannot share our Organ Era with anyone else.

The organist is well renowned in this part of the world which I guess is impressive? He sounded good to me! After the concert we missed the exit and explored some ancient artifacts around the church yard before finally finding our way out.

After lunch we split up, Maddie, Logan and Jake headed back to the apartment to chill for a bit before they made a trip to the store to get food for dinner as we had decided to cook tonight rather than going out.

Brooks, Greg and I took the long way home to see a little more of the city.

The preparations are still happening around us for Ligo. New flowers have been placed and restaurants are getting seating ready.

This mall area was a building area built over an old cobblestone street.

We weren’t sure exactly where we were headed other than somewhere for lunch. We figured we would know it when we see it. We headed back through Old Town.

We ended up at a place I think called Masters of Beer. I’m honestly not exactly sure how or who picked this place. Admittedly I didn’t offer an opinion because it felt too difficult in the moment to decide and I figured I could find something to eat anywhere.

I wasn’t expecting moose meat, venison or duck leg confit so onion rings and chicken nuggets for the win. Jake went more upscale with salmon and almost everyone else did salads. I was the only one with the child like menu.

The Central Market was one thing that I definitely wanted to check out, mainly because of the location in old zeppelin hangers. The market had received really good reviews and it seemed as though it might be a good place for us to grab lunch. The market was a 20 min or so walk from the apartment (if we had taken a direct route.)

We probably chose the absolute worst door to go into as every vendor had meat for sale. The smell was a little overpowering and Maddie was NOT into it at all.

We quickly exited that hanger and walked through the open air markets that were full of lots of fruit and flowers. Vendors were selling small wreath type things that were cute. It took me a little while to figure out that these were for the Ligo celebration today. In retrospect I wish i had gotten one but I didn’t think about it until it was so late.

The next hanger had all types of shops including souvenirs, amber jewelry, liquor, spices and more. There was a food area with a few food vendors but nothing looked super appealing and really none of us were hungry yet. There was an interesting beer vendor selling local brewed beers in bottles that you could take away. Greg hesitated a bit too long trying to decide whether to get some. By the time he made a decision the line was super long. No beer for him.

I did enjoy seeing all the locals with the Ligo headwear. The women wore flower crowns and the men wore these giant hats made of leaves.

Next up was what we thought was the vegetable hangar but we must have blinked and missed it because what greeted us was the stench from the seafood vendors. We quickly exited and headed for our next stop….whatever that might be.

Somehow despite the smell we are ready to walk to find some lunch. We decided to walk back towards the apartment to find a place to eat.