Day 20 (26 June): Beautiful Beaches?

I took a train (about 45 minutes) from Riga today to check out the Latvian coast-line in Jurmala which is where the Soviet leaders used to head when they wanted to go to the beach. They were really interesting looking beaches because the sand was very, very white, but the water in the Baltic is very, very black which provides an interesting contrast. Even more strange for me was that there were pine trees that came right up to the edge. Nonetheless, I do not think that any time soon, I will be buying a flight from Los Angeles to come to Latvian beaches.

Once I got back to Riga, I took a river cruise out to the Baltic. There was some great industrial scenery to look at: piles of coal, oil tanks, lifts to get containers off of ships, train tracks, etc.

Economic observations:
1) People will do anything to go to the beach and enjoy the sun. It was quite chilly, but there were still a good number of people stripped down laying out in the sun despite the cold weather. It was cold enough that I keep on my light windbreaker.
2) People will buy beer sold in plastic bottles. Some Germans staying in the same place as me were very upset that Latvians would buy beer sold in 2L bottles at local convenience stores.
3) People travel and work illegally. I talked to a guy today, originally from Portugal, who had been traveling for 12 years, staying in a city for 3 months at a time and working as a cook in restaurants or doing similar work. I have a hard time imagining what that life would be like: making only cash and overstaying visas everywhere you go. I guess you can get by that way though.