Riga, capital of Latvia

Due to the long hike on the day before, we planned only a slower Riga sightseeing. We arrived from our campsite in Jurmala to the city in less than an hour and we found our accommodation also quickly. But here we did not have luck. We hastily booked the room and did not read the comments about the accommodation, so we have choosen poorly. The room, the kitchen and the bath were dirty. The receptionist was rude and what was written on the internet, almost nothing was true. They offered free parking, but it turned out that it was only possible on the street in the evening from 8pm so we paid for the afternoon parking place as much as the accommodation itself (That „funny” receptionist guy told us there is free parking a couple of blocks away, but that district is not safe so he does not recommend it). The only thing what was true is that the accommodation was very close to the downtown. There was a continental breakfast included in the price, but only contained two packages of snacks. I have never had a bad booking on Booking.com, but this time the reservation went really wrong.

We started the sightseeing in Riga in a bed temper. It even started to rain, but fortunately it did not take long. Until it went away we got into a cakeshop and after a delicious cake and foamy coffee we almost immediately got into a better mood.

 

 

 

Among the baltic capitals, Riga is the largest. It lies at the mouth of the Daugava River, which is so deep that the great ocean liners can swim in the 15 km long Riga Bay. The old town, where most of the attractions are located, lies in a quite small area on the right bank of the river. One afternoon you can get around.

 

Daugava River

 

Next to St. Peter's Church is the statue of Bremen musicians, who were placed here because the city's founder was a Bremen bishop in the 12th century. Tourists have the habit of rubbing the nose of animals, because they say it is good luck. We've rubbed it all up, twice!

 

Bremen musicians

 

The Cats House is a compulsory sight. Both towers of the house have a cat with a raised tail. According to the story, the wealthy Latvian owner of the house wanted to be a member of the German guild, but they did not let him in. Then, in response, the Latvian merchant put the kittens with their backs toward the building of the Guild, which the Germans did not like and instead welcomed the Latvian dealer in the club, with the condition of reversing the kittens.

 

Riga was interesting. As well as our night. Next morning, we just realized the room has bedbugs! We both had several rushes and some of the bloodsuckers were still in the bed.

Enough is enough, we went to complain to the reception. All of these, the parking, the lack of breakfast and the bugbeds were too much. We wanted our money back. Actually we told the guy behind the table not to charge our Booking.com registered credit card. He said he is sorry, but nothing is his fault, of course.

After we just found out we have nothing to do with the situation now, we left. From the door, I just asked the guy whether he knows what chargeback is? He did not know. A couple of weeks later, we got back both the price of the accomodation and the parking fee. How? I will share the useful details with you in the next post.