4:30am
Arrived at central train station (yes, I know we caught the bus, its where we got dropped off) …. And we decided to head to the Old City ….. No one around….Amazed that in the Polish capital, there are just no Hostels (nor Hotels) to be found around the Old city, or maybe its our lack of planning that put us in this position.
6:00am
After making some enquiries with locals (town drunks), found a house that looked like it had rooms (called “House near the square” … WTF is that …if you are going to run a “Hostel” … call it something obvious … like a “HOSTEL”, not some ambiguous name, that at 6am can mean anything)… but neither one of us wanted to wake the residents…. We walked to the door, but a dog started barking inside, so we quickly/quietly made our retreat …. I know, sad and gutless, but we just weren’t desperate enough to wake some old lady up that early…So we decided to wait few more hours for a more friendly time to ask for bed for the night.
6:30 am
As were sitting in an outdoor setting (bar/café not open of course) …. I look at Damian and say “Could be worse … could be raining”
6:34am - Starts raining
6:36am
Damian is looking at the open church(s) on the street (yes, there are multiple … this is Poland after all), contemplating going in for shelter … what have we got to ….I offer to cuddle up for body heat … Joke of course!
6:38am
We move to a more covered location, at this stage Im not expecting to hit bed for another 3-4 hours … this is why you dont not take a night bus that takes you into a city at 4am … TRAP FOR YOUNG PLAYERS.
6:45am
Damian falls asleep in the chair (too pathetic to even take a photo....we are now looking more like local bums, than seasoned international travellers)
7:00am
Start getting cold (don’t forget, we only packed for summer, not a chilly stormy/wet conditions). Damian still asleep, I go around the few blocks again ….. figured I’d be warmer walking around (and getting wet), than sitting around the café (not open, off course)
7:15am
Still found nothing around, and I make a stand …. "Right, at 7:30am I’m knocking at the door of that house …. Don’t care if I get abused … just need to know if there are rooms available.....otherwise need to make alternate arrangements”
7:30am
Ring the door bell of the “House near the square” … no answer …. But we look at each other .. and say “Dog not barking either”. Now it doesn’t take a genius to work out that at that hour, someone is taking the dog for a walk…. Decide to wait out front (remember … still raining … harder!!)
7:40am
Old bloke arrives with dog, informes me that rooms don’t open fro arrivals till 4pm – WTF!!!!! What sort of show you running here. I explained to him our journey, and unplanned arrival, and he took one look at us (must have been pitiful), and let us in, offered us a room …. No arguments from us.
8:00am
Go to sleep in a not so warm room….. all works out ok (and the room was a Bargain) ..... later we worked out that the "Hostel" was run by the church, for pilgrims ... which explains their lack of business acument (ie. not calling it a "Hostel" out front, nor lack of the 24hr reception for weary travellers)
Summary:
Off course, we could go straight to a 4-star hotel like "Intercontinental" which we saw around, which we can afford, but it will break our budget of US$50 per day.
On a side note, we broke that budget on most (ALL!!!) days we travelled, main reason, our preference to alcohol, especially good Scotch).... but thats not the point!!!! ..... We are just a couple of stubborn fools, that enjoy doing things our way (the hard way).
We are few days ahead of schedule, and trying to workout what to do next.
So, I had to visit my dad’s buddy (drinking mate from 40 years ago, the one that organized my car 3 years ago … see earlier posts) .. and of course bought with me bottle of Vodka as present for him .. and flowers fro the auntie …. Needless to say, by the end of the night, we got fed, and only the flowers remained. 
Riga has such a more exciting feel … the streets are abuzz with music, and people sitting around drinking cheap beer, great vibe.. and a beautiful city…..What made all the difference was that the sun came out, and the weather was perfect for sitting around, drinking beer, and doing nothing else but relaxing. 
We caught a ferry to Tallinn … WOW (Tallink) …. More like a luxury cruise than a ferry ….. highly recommended. 
An absolutely beautiful old town … one of the most impressive I have seen in Europe, and I suspect that mainly because it had not been destroyed in WW2…. But still lacks atmosphere.
