When at the airport, you have plenty of time to write or read something. Since that’s exactly where I am, let’s dive in. For now, the last one in Latvia! And sorry if it’s too long this time…

But first, our trip! The schoolkids had a week of springbreak, and since Lena and I were not that needed, we could go and have some fun. Together with Rasa’s family, but without Rasa herself for she had exam’s, we drove on Sunday to Tallinn, Estonia. It was a pretty long drive, but it was so much quicker and more comfortable in the mini van than on a big bus. The drive took us around 6/7 hours, and we arrived pretty late in the beautiful city.

Lena and I rented a small flat near the city center, and Ingūna dropped us off at the sketchy parking lot where we could pick up our key. Once we were settled in, it was straight to bed, for we had plans for the next day.

We decided to do our own touristic sightseeing walking tour, and with amazing weather, we were off. It took us through the whole city, or at least the things in the old town. It looked amazing, with its narrow streets, hilly cobblestone alleyways and city wall. We came across many churches, colourful buildings and high viewing points. After a couple hours, we were ready for some lunch, so back to the flat to get some food. To have some relaxing time as well, we went to the cinema to enjoy some Tom Holland on the big screen.

We were meeting the family in the evening for dinner, at this lovely taco place in a neighbourhood where old meets new, a kind of hipster-ish area, but with cool restaurants and shops. Our plan for the next day, as you know, was Helsinki!

We took the ferry in the morning, to go across the sea in two hours, and have another touristic experience. When we got off the boat, we took the tram to the center for some lunch. I had prepared myself for the high prices, as Lena warned me about since she had visited Helsinki before. But honestly, €10 for a sandwich, €2 for a bottle of water? Maybe I’m spoiled with the low prices in Latvia, where a small bottle of water is like what, €0,40 maybe? But okay, we need fuel for our adventure, so don’t look and just go. The walking was again very nice, but our time was limited, for we needed to go back to Tallinn again.

Arriving back at the port, we ordered pizza for dinner, but it seemed it would be faster at the flat than we would be, so half running we made it back just in time.

The next day was just spend with some chilling and while Lena went on a walk to the seaside, I sat in the sun, enjoying a good book. We had a scheduled flight in the evening to Stockholm, but my God, what an event this was. When we booked the tickets, basically our only option was to go there with Ryan Air and back with AirBaltic. AirBaltic is like the Dutch KLM, so now worries about that. But Ryan Air… Never. Again. The ticket didn’t allow us for any ‘big’ cabin bags on the way to Stockholm, so there was no other choice than to take a suitcase for both our stuff and check it in. Which meant 10kg to Stockholm, but back we could take 20kg. 10kg clearly was not enough, because when we wanted to check it in, it was slightly to heavy. But Ryan Air being something I won’t say, they wouldn’t allow us to check it in, unless it was 10kg or under. So we took about half our stuff out of the suitcase, and put it either in our backs or on our bodies. Finally able to get on the plane, it was just a short flight to Sweden. We got there early in the evening, and went straight to the hostel we were staying at. I forget how much fun those rooms can be. We had our own, but it was super small, but we just needed the beds.

Stockholm was quite a bit colder, but with the sun shining down on us, it was okay. We were up for another walking tour, and this city was amazing. It was just so pretty, worth of many pictures. When we arrived at the royal palace, we unknowingly were right on time for the change of the guard, so of course we stayed to watch.

After a few hours of walking, we needed to use a toilet, but of course they were nowhere to be found. We just happened to be in front of the opera, so we just took the bolt option to go and ask if we could use theirs. Surprisingly, they said yes! With a relieved feeling, we could now continue.

Friday morning was the day for nothing else but ABBA. We took those electric scooter thingies, since public transport was way too expensive, and walking was not an option. We visited the museum, which was a dream. If you’re not an ABBA fan, don’t go, but for us, it was amazing.

We went back to Tallinn, but of course there was a story again at the airport, like always. I experienced quite some stress again with checkin in and dropping off the bag, but this time with COVID certification and stuff. When it was fixed, I was tired, stressed out and hungry. When we went looking for some food, all that was open was a burger place, which was fine, but those dudes behind the counter… I was just confused about everything, and they made it worse by taking my order with the two of them, asking all random questions, where I was from, and more like that. Lena was laughing her ass off, because one of the guys was super flirty, not getting any back from me, not in the mood and not my kinda guy. Obviously he deliberately “forgot” to put one of our sauces on our tray, so he had an excuse to come to us to deliver it anyways. Sorry dude, but no thanks.

We drove back to Preiļi on Sunday, feeling satisfied with our trip but also in need of another week off to relax from it.

But being back, also meant it was going to be a time of ‘last ones’. It doesn’t mean it is the absolute final, but for now, I guess it is. I was needed with 3/4 grade in the forest, and I hadn’t been there in a while, so I was more than happy to go. A few weeks ago, Mārtiņš found an animal skull, probably from a fox. He’d remembered where he found it, so with two of the boys, we went on an expedition. It wasn’t far away, and when we got to the spot, the whole skeleton was still there. It must have died before or during the snow, because some small bones were half buried in the dirt. We just took some missing pieces from the skull, but it was pretty cool to see it like that, the boys even compared it to digging up a dinosaur. Typical.

I also said goodbye to the boxing club. There was another art competition, to gather art pieces for a unique art gallery. Obviously I wanted to make something, and when I finished my boxing chicken, I brought it to Raimonds at the outside training area. He was super excited to receive it, and I was happy to have finished it in time. The results of the competition will be announced after easter, so we need some more patience.

On my final weekend, Helēna invited me and Lena to come over to their countryside house, to spend some time with her family. It was close to the border area, so we had to make sure to bring our documents, but nothing luckily happened. We drove through Aglona, where the big church is standing, on the most holy spot in Latvia. Last time I was there was with my dad, he went inside and I randomly didn’t, so now I had the opportunity to see it as well. We also went to a WW2 museum, which was basically somebody’s private collection in a big shed. It was super impressive, but we didn’t get all the information, since my Latvian is not that great, and besides, he spoke in a dialect too.

Helēna’s house was super cute, still in renovation, but we had everything we needed. We went for a walk with Teodors and Vitolds, her two and seven years old sons, through the forest. They literally live at the edge, which was pretty amazing to just walk out of your house and into the woods. We left with lovely weather, but in a span of 5 minutes it all changed into a pretty painful snowstorm. We had to find shelter behind a big tree next to the road, and although we were close to the house, it was to far to walk in this weather, so we called Juris, her husband, to ask him to come and pick us up. Soaking wet and cold, we returned to their house, ready for some dinner.

On Sunday morning, we went with Vitolds for a morning walk, and as you can, we walked across the frozen lake behind the house. It was something I’d never imagined doing, so it was even more spectacular to experience. The wind hadn’t completely died down, but it was way less than the day before. After some lunch, the boys and us went on our way back. Juris stayed behind, since his job is located in Dagda, close to the countryside house. We took a small detour, for we wanted to go to the highest place in Latvia. It’s a viewing tower on a hill, not the highest hill they have, but the tower on top makes it the highest point. The walk to the top was an adventure on its own. Obviously being on a hill, we had to walk up. But the tower was surrounded by forest, which meant that there was still a lot of snow and ice on the ground. We made it safe and sound to the top of the hill, and on our way to the top of the tower, it became more and more windy. As soon as we reached the top of the trees, it became crazy. I thought it was good enough, we had a wonderful view, but Lena wasn’t happy yet. Helēna stayed at the bottom with the boys, but Lena convinced (forced) me to go all the way. We made a quick selfie as proof, mission accomplished. The way down was way worse though. Happy we had some solid ground beneath our feet, we had to make our way back to the car. It was so slippery though, I had some moments where I almost fell, but Helēna was a bit more unlucky and actually did fall a few times. Thankfully she was okay, and after a quick stop at the playground for the boys, we made it back. Back in the car, we drove over some not that great roads, heading towards a small castle with an art gallery in it, but when we arrived there, it was unfortunately already closed. Awesome way to have spend the weekend though!

And there it was, the last few days at school. I taught all the kids in school about the Dutch culture, tricking them into trying some liquorice. Maybe a little evil, but it’s always so funny to see non Dutch people eat it and being disgusted by it.

I tried to organise a small goodbye party at the flat on Tuesday, but due to teacher/parent meetings, we rescheduled for Wednesday at school. I had made another painting for them, for they gave me my passion back for painting and drawing, and since they celebrate everything with some flowers, it seemed like the best subject for it. I also tried, like made an attempt, to bake a vegan cake, with the first one not having the best result. Thankfully the second one was much better and good enough to take to school. When everyone was free for some time together, we shared our memories together. When it was my time to say a few words, I couldn’t, for my tears got the best of me. The only thing I got out was ‘thank you!’. I mean, isn’t that the most important thing to say anyways? I was glad I wasn’t the only one with tears in their eyes, so the awkwardness was there for all of us.

I am just really thankful, for the experience, for the people I’ve met, the things I have learned, about a different occupations, about myself.

It was such a weird feeling, the whole day in general. I’m really happy to go home, but I know I will miss everyone at school, although I have a feeling I will see them again!

So after giving everybody a big hug, kids included, it was time to go.

Not saying goodbye, but see you later.

So, while Carnival Youth is playing in my ears (check them out, they’re a really cool Latvian band!) I can see Rīga disappear through the clouds.

Paldies, cera, ka mēs kādreiz tiksimies!