Sometimes the Last Day is the Best Day

I took upon myself a quest for Mother Nature in the form of a foray to the Riga Zoo. As with most zoos, it is far on the edges of the city. I decided to walk there...6 1/2 miles from my hotel. This would take me through the everyday neighborhoods of Riga, not the tourist-sweet Old Town (which is very sweet in a good-sweet way, not hollow-sweet like Tallin's Old Town).

Something is wrong with my brain, direction-wise. Given the least opportunity, I will always, always head in the wrong direction, even if I have a map in hand & a human being has just one minute before said right to my face "turn left, then the second right, etc. etc.). The moment I turn away, the words that person said dissolve from my brain like so much sugar in a cup of tea. Off I head, happily, in the wrong direction. Even if I write down exactly what the person said, off I head in the wrong direction. Even if I try a trick by saying to myself "ok, you believe you should turn right, so let's turn left & that will be correct"...somehow it's still the wrong direction. Geo-spacial dyslexia, that's what I'm calling it.

                           I had notes

                                                      And maps

So, though I had three maps, Google directions on my iPad, & handwritten directions in my notebook, there was many a slip 'twixt me & the zoo. But I got there & even took the tram back thanks to 11 Latvians who gave me directions along the way. Mums pushing baby carriages, old ladies wearing fur coats, working men in hard hats -- they all took time & thought & with great kindness guided me to & from my destination. The tram trip itself involved consultation with 5 people -- the quick stop lady who sold me a tram ticket & a chocolate bar & walked me outside to point my body in the direction of the tram (maybe she knows someone with geo-spacial dyslexia...), two tough guys, an old lady with a blonde mustache, & a young woman in a fine pair of thigh high leather boots. They all studied my map & had long discussions about the correct stop for my desired destination. 

                                               Riga tram card

Once, years ago, Alexi & I met up in Shanghai. One day as we strolled the streets near the Peace Hotel, he realized that he needed new shoelaces. We soon came upon a street vendor with a large collection of them. Once Lex told the vendor what he needed (in Chinese), a crowd gathered...maybe 15 people... & thus ensued a long & ernest Shoelace Convention. Everyone had an opinion about color, thickness, length, & type of plastic tip. It was a bit of performance art...the collective consciousness of China showing an American what it's like when everyone cares about your shoelaces. 

  A street vendor with a dazzling collection of shoelaces*

Today reminded me of that. Latvia is now a democracy. But it had its Soviet Times & German Times, so there must be some leftover collective-totalitarianism in the air. If so, it was to my benefit today & so I say paldies (thank you) to the people of Riga.

    A surprising tiny chapel & cemetery right on a busy street

                                This is how people live in the 'burbs of Riga

                              A path in the zoo...pretty much empty on a winter's day

                                                         Kind of run down 

                                       Is this two zebras or an optical illusion?

                                    Owls always look like Grand Inquisitors

                                         This large cat inside the bars..........

                 ......& this small cat outside the bars were having a serious stare-down

    Every time a city siren wailed, this bird wailed back

   Living in an unnatural part of the world, these giraffes have to stay inside all winter

                       Wild boars just snuffle & snuffle & snuffle the ground

                  Behind the zoo is this lovely lake...pure peace & beauty

Once I made my way back to the city, I went to the 26th floor of the Radisson Hotel, the highest vantage point in Riga, to watch the sun set (at 3:30 in the afternoon) from their Sky Blu Bar. 

     This is what Riga looks like at sunset from the 26th floor when the indoor light reflections are battling with the outdoor lights & you've had a large Manhattan & a bowl of goulash soup.

                             A Manhattan cocktail & a bowl of goulash soup

This, to me, is the joy of traveling...intersecting with local people, carrying on perfectly clear conversations, though neither party speaks a word of the other's language. Sound effects alone brought a lot of laughter today...the lady in the quick stop demonstrated the tram's onward direction by saying "poodle poodle poodle poodle," & the two tough guys lost their toughness & laughed like 12 year old boys when I pantomimed the animals I had seen at the zoo...the long-stretch-necked giraffes, the fat & stinky wild boar. 

*I did not take this pic...found it on the web