Tag Archives: Riga

Jul6

A respite at the Hotel Justus – My personal palace

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Monday, 10-June-2024, through Saturday, 15-June-2024


When I was first sketching out my trip, I had a feeling that the Baltic States would be a bit cheaper than the Nordics – I figured it’d be a chance to save a bit of money, and maybe stay at some more traditional hotels, as a change of pace. Mix up the accommodations, you know?

Well, when I looked at Riga I realized just how right I was. My targeted budget for accommodations was $150/night, and I was finding options in Riga for around $30/night. Saving money is good, but that wasn’t the goal of this trip… so I looked into what experiences I could get, while still saving money (or at least staying within budget), and I quickly found the Hotel Justus.

An exceptionally nice hotel, right in the center of Riga, with rooms still quite cheap… starting around $50.

So I looked at what fancier rooms there were. Their fancy rooms were $100.

I looked at what fancier rooms they had. Only one – the Premier, presidential suite. Complete with a conference table, two-person tub, and a monstrous double-king bed. For $151/night.


…


I splurged on exceeding my budget by a dollar. I even added in an extra – a wine and cheese plate to greet me, with local cheeses and a bottle of nice champagne. I think it was $20.



The hotel Justus was amazing. End statement. It came with a lovely breakfast buffet, the staff was absolutely lovely, and when I had to unexpectedly extend my stay by a day (more on that later…) they even offered to help me move my baggage when my Suite wasn’t available. The craziest part, though? The mini-bar was actually legitimately reasonably priced! Like… I ended up using it, since they were just the same price as going out!

Simple, kind, and efficient. 100% recommend.

Jul5

The Bus from Tallinn to Riga

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Monday, 10-June-2024


Leaving Tallinn was a bit melancholy – I absolutely loved the city, and was definitely sad to see it go… but at the same time, I’d had such an amazing introduction to the Baltics that I couldn’t help but be excited for my next stop on my South-bound journey. I was torn, and I’m completely okay with that. Mean’s things are going well!

I’d scouted out the bus station earlier in the week, of course, because I’m me and I like being prepared… and it had given me a good excuse to go on a longer scooter ride. Looking back on the other posts, that ride was actually why I’d found the farmer’s market! All that said, I had a pretty good idea of what I was looking for when I arrived at the bus station, so was thankfully able to move through the process pretty simply… no security or ticket check ahead of time, but knowing the layout was still helpful.

The folks at the bus station had recommended that I arrive about 15min early – so, being me, I was there about an hour ahead of time. My bags next to me, my book out, it went well and time went quickly.



Soon enough, my bus pulled up and people started heading in. One driver checked our bags, and the other checked our tickets, and I’d say within 10min we’d fully loaded up and were on our way to Latvia!

The road was pretty and the route seemed simple enough, though there were definitely quite a bit more turns than I’d have expected for something in the States…

The United States highway system is a wonder of the world – that’s my takeaway from this bus ride. The number of times we switched highways, going from one capital to another, and the size of those roads that we took… I’m not disparaging them at all, but I am saying that they’re quite a bit smaller than those in the United States going between cities. Which makes lots of sense, since they’re not going between cities or states; they’re going between countries.



An interesting observation, appreciating the United States for what good parts it has… and just making me that much more sad about all the negative sides that seem to be cropping up more and more frequently.

My introspection lasted a while, but was nicely interspersed with reading and going through photos – with many thanks to the dramamine that I’d taken before leaving!

Soon enough, though, I found myself carrying my bags out from the station, and settling myself into a palatial hotel room in the heart of Riga…