Tallinn to Riga. Bad day. Started ok as I woke up in plenty of time, had a nice breakfast and walked out of the old city of Tallinn to the tram stop to catch the tram to the bus station. At the tram stop I realized i forgot my phone - which I am using as an e-reader while I travel. I had to run back to the hostel to get it. Well whatever you call it when you kind of rumble along as fast as you can with your backpack. Anyway, I managed to get to the bus as it was finishing boarding, hot and sweaty and stressed instead of relaxed and fresh. Oh well. The bus ride to Riga was pleasant and relaxing.
Arrived in Riga, Hate it almost from the start. Something in the air. Then I change money at the bus station and they have a good rate and no commission. Maybe Riga is looking up. Get to the hOstel to find that I've lost the money I've just changed. My fault. I put it in the pocket with the directions to the place I was staying instead of where I usually put money where it will be safe. I'm sure the money just came out and dropped one of the many times I checked the directions. Not a giant tragedy, it was only about $40/€32. Still I manage to blame the loss on Riga so I hate it even more. Check into my hostel, settle in and walk out to explore. Like Tallinn, the tourist industry is centered about an "Old Town" which is partially a neat cobblestoned are full of old buildings and interesting architecture and partially a crazy bar party area. I sat down at one place where a nice sounding band was playing and actually ordered a beer. The beer was bitter and the band stopped playing 2 sips in. I walked towards the river and I saw this graffiti on the wall in a side street I was passing:
Arrived in Riga, Hate it almost from the start. Something in the air. Then I change money at the bus station and they have a good rate and no commission. Maybe Riga is looking up. Get to the hOstel to find that I've lost the money I've just changed. My fault. I put it in the pocket with the directions to the place I was staying instead of where I usually put money where it will be safe. I'm sure the money just came out and dropped one of the many times I checked the directions. Not a giant tragedy, it was only about $40/€32. Still I manage to blame the loss on Riga so I hate it even more. Check into my hostel, settle in and walk out to explore. Like Tallinn, the tourist industry is centered about an "Old Town" which is partially a neat cobblestoned are full of old buildings and interesting architecture and partially a crazy bar party area. I sat down at one place where a nice sounding band was playing and actually ordered a beer. The beer was bitter and the band stopped playing 2 sips in. I walked towards the river and I saw this graffiti on the wall in a side street I was passing:
And it got me to thinking. I mean the basic sentiment can be found almost anywhere. It's a byproduct of the fact the people with any kind of power typically abuse that power in such a way as to cause serious resentment at the very least. While I have never heard the sentiment expressed with the leading adjective "curb" before it could just be local or something new or I could just be out of touch; and besides, it clearly was just there for emphasis. Then I got to thinking about the etymology and history of the word "fuck". I was taught that it was an ancient word for intercourse at use at one point in the british isles and then when one conqueror or another was waltzing through england they outlawed the language and so the word became a swear word. The internet does not support that exact story but it also does not know the exact origins except that it pretty much agrees that sexual intercourse is among the main meanings. Then it struck me what a weird social/psychological phenomenon it is that we use a word meaning sexual intercourse as a swear word. I'll skip over all the problems it probably causes as far as people's confusing motives and feelings around sex in general. Just think how silly it sounds to substitute the meanings (even given that fuck is often used as a verb and intercourse is not): "Go have sexual intercourse with yourself", "Sexual intercourse you", "there's no sexual intercoursing way" etc.
Anyway, the graffiti didn't help me like Riga any more. I got to the river and watched the sun go down over a pretty bridge and that helped a little.
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