At 4am, I checked in, obtained my boarding passes, and proceeded through the gate. It wasn't hard work at all. I was learning to travel independantly. I boarded the plane at 3:45am and enjoyed the flight to Prague, arriving at 6am local time.
Upon landing, I got off and proceeded through to the connecting flights. I was to be in transit for the next 6 hours. I needed to find a way to kill time. In this time, I explored Prague's airport; there wasn't that much to see, but it was something new. I loved the Czech language, hearing it over the loudspeakers. It was a beautiful language!
I spent some time on the internet while I was here. It was for free. This would be a good way to kill time without spending too much money. One thing I found out while I was here, was that I couldn't ring home. This made me think I was doomed. I was worried now. I was thinking about what I was going to do without anyone finding out. I was worried that Despo wouldn't be able to contact me. She was going to ring everyday, to make sure that I was fine, so this was going to be a problem.
Text messaging worked fine, though. I sent a message to Agnes, and received one from her. Afterwards, I did get a call from Despo, and it came through. Luckily! I told her that I was in Nafplio, a town in the Peloponnese, which was obviously a complete lie. But, I had to do it. I didn't like feeling guilty about it, but I had no choice.
Anyway, I waited out the next few hours for my plane to Riga. Now it was getting exciting. I boarded at 11:45am, and arrived in Riga at 2:15pm. I was happy when I caught my first glimpse of Latvia from on board. So, this is where Agnes lives. This is her country.
Upon landing, I was happy to hear the Latvian language being spoken for the first time. I made my way through the airport, expecting to come across immigration officials, but I was lead straight to the exit. Well, I guess they don't check your passports when travelling from one EU country to another.
I asked around for directions on how to get to Liepaja. I was directed to the airport bus terminal, and I was to take bus 22A. I hopped on board, and rode my way into the city of Riga. I was delighted to be here. I was in a foreign world, nothing of which was familiar to me. Except for the pictures of which I've seen on Google Earth; so in a way, it did look familiar.
I got into the city, and saw the Freedom Monument. That definitely looked familiar! And it was much bigger than I expected it to be. I tried to find myself the bus station, which took me a while. I was having trouble navigating. Luckily I had my Lonely Planet guidebook on the Baltic States with me.
By 5pm, I hopped on a bus at the main bus station, headed towards Liepaja. I organised my meeting with Agnes over the phone. Now, I just sat back, relaxed, and enjoyed the ride from Riga to Liepaja, which was a joyful ride in itself. I saw a few snow patches, but otherwise, it looked pretty dead. It was only the beginning of Spring, after all. I also hoped I'd be in Liepaja while there was still daylight. I was reminded that the days here last much longer; and by 8pm, the sun was still up.
And then, I arrived at Liepaja's main terminal. By this point, I was becoming extremely nervous. I was constantly thinking about what I was going to say. This was definitely going to be the most different internet meeting I was going to experience, and it was going to be wonderful, nevermind the feelings of anxiety.
I recognised the bus terminal instantly, thanks to the pictures I've seen from Google Earth. And I knew that Agnes was outside waiting for me. I stepped out, looked around, and in the near distance, I saw her, standing just outside the station office, with her friend, Eva.
We both instantly acknowledged that we saw eachother. There were shy smiles. I approached slowly. I could see her laughing and blushing, almost as if running away, while Eva was trying to keep her there to face me. It was awkward, yet exciting. No words can describe these feelings easily. And Agnes looked just like what I've seen from her pictures. It was good to see her for real.
Eva was the first to greet me. Agnes was blushing, avoiding direct eye contact with me. Of course it was hard to meet someone you've known online for so long, but I still enjoyed the experience. I knew that eventually, we would become used to eachother, and the awkwardness would go away. The entire time, it was fantastic, but at the same time, awkward. It could be the awkwardness that is making it such an amazing and different experience. I know for one thing, that I was happy.
When time decided, Agnes let out a short "Hi". Then she blushed and looked away. Her friend Eva, wasn't that shy though, for obvious reasons. She was the one running most of the conversation for the time being. As we talked, we walked along the road, to the centre of Liepaja. We were going to the mall. During this time, Agnes and Eva were speaking to eachother in Latvian. I couldn't exactly fit in; I was trying to make out what they were saying. It was a good chance to practise my Latvian. We were all laughing at the moment that we had, and things got better sooner.
We got to the mall, and Agnes went in to buy something. She would be back shortly. I was talking to Eva during this time, about how I met Agnes and how I feel about coming here. Then when Agnes came back, we went out to the bus stop and waited for the bus to Agnes' place.
Finally, we had the chance to talk amongst ourselves. We got on board the bus, and sat down next to eachother. Things were looking up. We chatted pretty nicely. Most of the awkwardness had faded.
We arrived at her home flat, and we entered. Here is yet another place looking familiar, thanks to photos Agnes has shown me of her apartment. It was a nice feeling being here. It was late at night, and there wasn't much else to do by this time. Agnes showed me some of her old school photos, and older pictures of herself and her family, while she rested her head on my shoulder. Things were definitely looking up, and I was growing happier with each passing moment. Then shortly afterwards, we were to go to sleep, and we felt confident enough to sleep in the same bed. It was all a cute and wonderful experience in itself. These memories, will stay for a lifetime.
Now I will share a video of all past events, from the Greek island of Evia, to Thessaloniki, and until the plane landing in Latvia.
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