infinite in latvia

we started off our trip with a 15-hour train ride to riga, latvia.
and let me tell you what. riga far exceeded my expectations.
here are some highlights of the trip:

wandering the cobblestone streets and perusing the shops.

the beautiful riga cathedral.

and the view from the top of the cathedral was like something out of a movie.

locking our love and throwing the key in the river.

to symbolize our eternal and undying love and devotion of course.

exploring the latvian ethnographic open air museum.

imagine a viking village slash how to train your dragon village and voila! 

making new friends at our hostel.

if you ever go to riga promise me that you'll stay at friendly fun franks.

best hostel ever.

it was so fun to meet people from germany, poland, france, australia... pretty much everywhere.

it just makes me want to rob a bank and go visit all of them.

 only half joking. i won't actually rob a bank. i don't have adequate weapons.

riga had such a fun atmosphere and vibe.
and because of the fun friends we made and the experiences that we had it was one of my favorite places we visited.

on the last night that we were there courtney, marci, our new friend szymon, and i ended up wandering the streets at 2 in the morning.
there was seriously nobody else around;
it felt like we were the only people on the planet.

and i just had this moment where i thought
 i am in riga, latvia. i am surrounded by really awesome people, i'm traveling the world just like i've always dreamed. life does not get better than this.

and when i try to describe that night and those moments,
i can only think of the line from perks of being a wallflower
"and in that moment, i swear we were infinite."

life is a beautiful thing.


holla.

under the big top

somehow, in my twenty-one years of life, i had never been to the circus until a few weeks ago.

i daresay that i have never been as entertained as i was on that night.

there were acrobats, eerie dancing poodles, juggling ladies with the underside of their bum cheeks slightly exposed, bad-a guys riding a treacherous hamster wheel in nice silky shirts, roaring lions, a long-haired ringmaster, a lion tamer with spiffy diamond studs, flying russian men on stilts, lots of too-tight leotards, and delicious cotton candy.

and a partridge in a pear tree.

 

and because we are in russia, where everyone and everything is behind on the times

i felt a little bit like we had stepped back in time when we walked into the circus tent.

i'm pretty sure the show, the set, and probably a couple of the jugglers are the exact same as they were in the 1930's.

holla.

swaaans, swimming down a lake at night

a couple of weekends ago courtney, marci, and i went to swan lake.

we felt real legit seeing an actual russian ballet in actual russia. 

i just felt like penelope from the amanda show: "amanda please".

just a quick 90's flashback for you.

it was a great time to be had by all. plus it inspired us to watch black swan.

there were a lot of tutu's and spinning and a little too much tightness on the junk region.

we may or may not have snuck out just a little bit early.

don't judge us. 

we all lean a little to the ADD side. 

that coupled with our hunger led to us sneaking out the back door.

the workers kept trying to tell us that it wasn't over so i gestured that i had to throw up.

pretty sure that they didn't buy it for one second seeing as how i was laughing as i pointed to my mouth and then back to my stomach repeatedly.

all in all we felt pretty cultured,

even if we did use the "i have to puke" card to ditch out early.

holla.