Day 7

Up. Say bye to Tim and spend the last of my Lithuania money on snacks. Get on bus to Riga. The woman sitting opposite me is removed at the border, apparently because she was carrying too many cigarettes. In Riga the hostel is laughably easy to find and has a pub downstairs. Win. Dump my stuff and go wandering. I try to find a cheap cafe or something for lunch. I find an expensive one, but I'd feel embarrassed leaving and I'm hungry enough not to care, so I eat a very nice salmon sandwich.

I like Riga. You're wandering along the street where all the dignitaries live, vaguely planning how you'd break into the Danish embassy when suddenly a huge church appears. It is the Cathedral - they charge me 2 Lats to go in, which is about £2:50. This seems excessive but I'm a glutton for culture. The cathedral contains a pipe organ which, when it was built, was the largest in the world.

Insert your own ''large organ'' joke here.

I go to St Peter's Church which has a really good sculpture exhibition and a huge tower. You can only access the tower by lift and there is someone to operate this lift for you. Briefly feel like the Communists are still in charge. Riga looks like a lot of cities at height - ugly. It's misty and not picturesque. I've had my fill of view and cold after 5 minutes, but I have to wait another 5 for the lift to return. Apparently pushing the ''call lift'' button is too much responsibility for a tourist.

I follow the rest of the walking tour of Riga and feel I have seen a fair portion of the Old Town's cool buildings. Back to the hostel, throw on a shirt and hit the pub downstairs to make friends. It is full of girls - about ten of them. Four are playing cards at the table next to me. I start a conversation but it doesn't go anywhere so I leave for dinner.

On my way I see a sign for a live swing band in the bar I'm passing. I now have a plan for the evening. At the restaurant, the menu offers bulls' balls. I ask the waitress if it's just a joke for idiot tourists like me, but I believe her when she tells me they are a genuine dish.

Today, of my own accord and under no duress, I eat bulls' balls and mashed potato in a cream sauce. I can recommend it.

I go back to the swing bar, but they're still warming up and I'd be the only one there. I decide to get a quick drink in next door and end up talking to a diplomat - he is the Latvian environmental attache to the European parliament, out celebrating his friend's 49th birthday. Some of us make it to a new bar but I'm flagging fast - I walk one of us to the taxi rank which is about 30m away, and get to the hostel which is 20m away. Very convenient.

I'm pretty drunk, so I have a coke and watch the pub sing along with two live guitarists. I should stay but I'm really not in the mood. To bed. As I'm falling asleep I feel a pain in my side, which I self-diagnose as my liver complaining. Resolve to take it easier tomorrow.


Estimated number of units today: 8
Estimated number of units total: 34

Estimated number of girls taken to bed today: 0
Estimated number of girls taken to bed total: 0