Well this month Shane hit the big 30! So in order to celebrate this coming of age in style I organised a surprise trip to Riga, Latvia for the long weekend. Amazingly enough we managed to keep this a secret for months! I hauled Shane out of bed in the wee hours and we headed to Stansted. When we arrived the whole troop were waiting at the check in desk - Shane had no idea what was going on and spent until lunchtime in a small state of confusion.
We arrived in the morning, checked into our apartment and set out to explore the city. This involved a lot of walking, we checked out the Occupation Museum and then decided to have a bite for lunch. We rolled out of this pub at about midnight with a number of drinks under our belt and a night of hillarity behind us. It is a wonder that the bar people didnt kick us out but we figured that after spending about £1000 between us they were probably more than happy to keep taking our money no matter how much mischief we got up to.
The next day everyone went their seperate ways and discovered different parts of the city. The boys headed to a shooting range and tried out a whole heap of different weapons (M16's, AK47's, Klashnikovs, Hand guns... allsorts). We headed to the markets and wandered around the streets - it was soo freaking cold! Sarah had the unfortunate experience of being pickpocketed in the Market ... bugger (third time in the last year). We all regrouped that night and headed to Lido for dinner. This was a funny place where you pick your food off a buffet, weigh it and then pay for it! Really great feeds though and everyone ate way too much!
After dinner we headed back into the city and hit the Cuban Cafe - the Mojitos were rolling and they were fantastic! The night continued along the same vein as the friday night... Shane & I were home by 2am but Jon, Jase & Jo continued into the wee hours of the morning! The boys decided to hit a strip club (because that is what you do in Riga!) and had a very expensive experience... they paid their entry fee and ordered two drinks, the bill came straight away and came to about £250 for a beer and a rum. The boys disputed the bill and were quickly taken away by 'security', after having their wallets emptied and threatened with a visit from the Russian mafia they were let go... it was a long walk home as they had no dosh for a taxi! But they arrived home much poorer, with their knee caps in tact and pretty thirsty (they hadnt actually had a chance to have a sip of their incredibly expensive drinks). Good times!
The next day we headed out again and caught a train out to the coast so that the boys could go wading in the Baltic Sea. With frozen toes and a small amount of frost bite later we headed back to warm up and cruise to the airport. The flight home was late and felt like forever. We were all pretty shattered on the Monday but Shane saw his 30th in in style.
The next day we headed out again and caught a train out to the coast so that the boys could go wading in the Baltic Sea. With frozen toes and a small amount of frost bite later we headed back to warm up and cruise to the airport. The flight home was late and felt like forever. We were all pretty shattered on the Monday but Shane saw his 30th in in style.
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