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It’s so good to have two nights in a row at the same place! It hadn’t happened since København(!), 14 d ago. Now that’s a strike.

In this hostel, checkout is at noon, and my train leaves at 15:28, so I lazily stayed in bed this morning. Finally I left around 11:30, went for lunch on the edge of the old town, did a bit of grocery (and found both an Estonian and Latvian coin in the process, totally worth it!)

While flags were more difficult to find in Germany and the Nordics than Leprechauns in the Republic of Ireland, in Latvia they are ubiquitous. Walk five minutes and there are good chances you will find a new one. And for each two Latvian flags, there is a Ukrainian one. Of course, I’ve seen Ukrainian flags everywhere on the trip so far (less in the Nordics though), but the Baltics take that very seriously. Everywhere flags and support messages to Ukraine. I expect to see this pattern repeat in other former Soviet republics…

I still had three hours to kill, so I opted for a tram visit. Line 11, with the modern trams, goes all the way North to Mežapark, but I stopped a bit earlier to see the Mother Latvia monument, erected to honour the deaths of Latvian soldiers in World War I.

After walking along a vast cemetary, I passed a beautifully sculpted arch, and was soon crossing a long esplanade, at the end of which was a flame, and a view over a garden. At the opposite end of the garden was standing, flanked by four kneeling knights carved in the rock, Mother Latvia herself: a tall statue of a women, a laurel crown in her hand, a clear sign of defiance to the nation’s enemies, a warning from Mother Latvia: don’t tread on me. There was no one around, the silence absolute. The atmosphere was heavy with a feel of humbleness and respect.

Back in the tram, which got the distinction to be the 90th « train » of the Great European Train Tour(!), I can’t stop admiring the Art Nouveau streets of Rīga [Riga]. Apparently, Rīga has one of the largest collection in the World. A really beautiful city, I might miss it. Actually I liked Latvia quite a bit, I hope I can come back some day for a proper Baltic holiday.

After a disgusting chocolate break, it’s finally time to embark for Vilnius. The nice Lithuanian guy I met yesterday told me that this direct service is brand new. Indeed it opened in the last days of 2023! That’s lucky. I’ve read all about every possible border crossings by train in Europe over the last couple years, and I remembered there were some tricky situations with the Baltics, but I couldn’t quite remember what was the Latvia-Lithuania situation. Maybe you had to change train around the border or something. Can’t remember.

Anyway, not indicated on the Interrail app was that this train requires a five euros reservation. It is a modern train, very comfortable, with large seats and plenty of leg room. An hour later, we reached the border, and I even managed to film the small border mark.

Sveika Lietuva!

Northern Lithuania is pretty flat and agriculture-heavy, so it reminded me a lot of my childhood Loir-et-Cher, which tbh is not very flattering. I fell half asleep during the last hours of sunlight, thus missing most of the Lithuanian scenery. Oops!

We arrived by night in Vilnius, were the splendid train station is located light-years away from the center or my hostel, so I took the bus.

At the Downtown Forest Hostel, where HostelWorlds sayed that check-in was until 11 PM, the reception had actually closed at 8 PM, 15 min before I arrived. I called them and apparently I was supposed to finish the payment online instead of the usual payment at check-in or automatic debit. A bit of a hassle, but in the end, I got my bed, so all good.