Riga morning
Jul. 17th, 2007 07:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Using dodgy hostel intarnets right now. Afraid boys playing Scorpions videos I booted off will soon return to murder me.
After a hearty 2 hours sleep, left ExCel con center hotel promptly at 3:45 am London time. It was raining, and one of our party had gotten stuck in an elevator on the way over from his hotel. Two other members were at large, looking for him. They finally straggled in, dripping from the rain, that turns out to have soaked their clothes an attractive suitcase color.
Into taxis. The drivers heard we were going via Ryan air, and began to tell taxi guy horror stories. We laughed nervously, until we arrived Stanstead airport to see taxi guy was 100% correct in predicting a mass exodus of truly biblical proportions.
The Ryan Air kiosks were quite reasonable. Except for checking in to the flights for Riga. Which, we were. We waited half an hour, then towards an hour. Mr. Tiki tried using logic on some of the personnel, to no effect. Finally, a mere two minutes before checkin was scheduled to be closed, we got to the desk.
Then, through security, where tiki dinged the metal detector, and a few more of our party were pulled aside for Shoe Inspection. And then to the hideously crowded train, and a brisk run to the gate, 5 minutes before our plane was scheduled to depart. We fell behind, lugging the backpack with the laptop, and as we lumbered down the gangway, suddenly saw our party pop back in to view, running up the same stairs, waving and shouting, THAT WAY! We looked, down the bit that said "EMERGENCY EXIT?" Um. And, yes, that's how we got to our plane.
Uneventful flight for the most part, especially after the leadup. We woke up to a sudden unholy shaking, and began to flash our lifetime, only to be reassured by Mr. Tiki that it was simply a typical Ryan Air one-wheel landing. Never again.
We're in Riga. Cool architecture dude. Food 8,000% better than London--we had chicken crepes & a mocha for lunch at a glorious chain called DOUBLE COFFEE. (Latvia, we lurves you.) After touring some churches, the party ran out of steam and has crashed upstairs. We're waiting for enough people to revive to go get some dinner.
After a hearty 2 hours sleep, left ExCel con center hotel promptly at 3:45 am London time. It was raining, and one of our party had gotten stuck in an elevator on the way over from his hotel. Two other members were at large, looking for him. They finally straggled in, dripping from the rain, that turns out to have soaked their clothes an attractive suitcase color.
Into taxis. The drivers heard we were going via Ryan air, and began to tell taxi guy horror stories. We laughed nervously, until we arrived Stanstead airport to see taxi guy was 100% correct in predicting a mass exodus of truly biblical proportions.
The Ryan Air kiosks were quite reasonable. Except for checking in to the flights for Riga. Which, we were. We waited half an hour, then towards an hour. Mr. Tiki tried using logic on some of the personnel, to no effect. Finally, a mere two minutes before checkin was scheduled to be closed, we got to the desk.
Then, through security, where tiki dinged the metal detector, and a few more of our party were pulled aside for Shoe Inspection. And then to the hideously crowded train, and a brisk run to the gate, 5 minutes before our plane was scheduled to depart. We fell behind, lugging the backpack with the laptop, and as we lumbered down the gangway, suddenly saw our party pop back in to view, running up the same stairs, waving and shouting, THAT WAY! We looked, down the bit that said "EMERGENCY EXIT?" Um. And, yes, that's how we got to our plane.
Uneventful flight for the most part, especially after the leadup. We woke up to a sudden unholy shaking, and began to flash our lifetime, only to be reassured by Mr. Tiki that it was simply a typical Ryan Air one-wheel landing. Never again.
We're in Riga. Cool architecture dude. Food 8,000% better than London--we had chicken crepes & a mocha for lunch at a glorious chain called DOUBLE COFFEE. (Latvia, we lurves you.) After touring some churches, the party ran out of steam and has crashed upstairs. We're waiting for enough people to revive to go get some dinner.