09/25/2026
Day 12 - Holland America - Rotterdam - Riga, Latvia
Some seven miles or so down a river, the Rotterdam finally docked in Riga, Latvia.
Riga.
Another city we had never heard of before booking this cruise.
Fortunately, we had booked a ship bus tour today because Riga greeted us with rain.
Not drizzle.
Rain.
The kind where you look out the bus window and the entire city appears to have been painted by an impressionist having a nervous breakdown.
We were dry inside the bus, but seeing Riga through rivers of water running down the windows was a little challenging.
Luckily, when we reached our first stop, the rain somehow stopped long enough for us to get off the bus.
And there she was.
A naked sea nymph fountain.
TATAS!
The Tata Tour continues!
Some inconsiderate city planner put the gigantic Latvian National Opera behind her, completely ruining my photograph of the important historical attraction in front.
But I persevered.
I’m dedicated like that.
You’re welcome.
From there, we moved into the old section of Riga, where we had a whopping 45 minutes to see the entire town. Rain or not.
We stopped at the House of the Blackheads.
Apparently, it was once home to young unmarried merchants.
My thoughts: A house full of young men with blackheads.
I had hundreds of those when I was thirteen.
Nobody built me a house.
Next came the required tourist photograph with the giant white RIGA sign.
Apparently somebody spent a lot of money putting this enormous sign in the middle of the square.
Judy couldn’t find it at first.
It was only six feet tall and spelled RIGA.
I guess it wasn’t at eye level.
Eventually she found it, stood in the rain, and we got a pretty good wet photograph proving that we had, indeed, located Riga while standing in a sign saying RIGA.
We also passed St. Something Something Church.
I’m sure it has a real name.
Probably somebody very saintly.
But after all our trips to Europe, I have reached maximum church capacity.
We’re just not that churchy.
There wasn’t enough time to go inside anyway, so we photographed the outside and called it confession.
Forgive me, Father... The bus is waiting.
We did manage to get a terrific panoramic view across the river toward Riga.
The original photos were gray, rainy and foggy, but we cleaned them up and stitched them together afterward.
It turned out great.
You can see the city, the church towers and the big river we had traveled down that morning.
Not bad for a day when Mother Nature apparently looked at our itinerary and said...
“F_ck Riga.”
Eventually we made it back aboard the Rotterdam mostly dry and declared Riga a wet win.
At six, it was back to the Crow’s Nest, followed by dinner with friends.
Prime rib again!
Apparently Holland America has decided that if I’m going to die on this cruise, cholesterol should at least be questioned by the authorities.
I have definitely gotten my fill of red meat on this trip.
Our Rolling Stone Lounge band had the night off, so we tried the main-stage show.
Tonight’s entertainment was a juggler.
He could juggle.
He could also talk.
A lot.
Actually, I think the talking portion may have been longer than the juggling portion.
He had some good skills, but we’ve watched enough talent shows over the years to see people juggling chainsaws while riding a unicycle through a flaming hoop with their mother-in-law balanced on their head.
Not really, but you get the idea.
For us, he was average.
Perfectly competent.
Just very, very convinced that he was considerably more amazing than we were.
Afterward, we headed to the “Dueling Pianos.”
I put that in quotation marks because the pianos aren’t dueling.
The PEOPLE are.
The guy doesn’t seem particularly happy that the woman is better than he is.
And apparently he has decided the audience should be included in their relationship problems.
The songs are good.
The tension is… well there.
You don’t know whether to request “Piano Man” or hand them the number of a marriage counselor.
By the end of the cruise, I expect there to be a movie of the week on the TV. NOW that would be entertainment!
We finally headed back to the cabin.
Tomorrow is a sea day.
Which on a cruise is basically an EAT DAY with water underneath you.
But we do have some cardio planned.
There’s a naked cabin party.
You have your exercise program.
We have ours.
Not a bad way to spend a day at sea.
Until tomorrow...
As we always say...
Have fun.
Have s*x often...
No, being alone doesn’t count.
And travel farther than the grocery store.
You deserve it.
www.foreverisntboring.com
