Although I had originally decided to attend the Prieka Vests service on Sunday (at the invitation of Elina), fate it seemed had different plans for me. Saturday night I started feeling really rather ill, and my attempts at going to sleep early failed. Next thing I knew it was 9am and my alarm was wailing. I woke up but had a full blown cold! Immediately I decided that I was in no condition to attend the Prieka Vests service. Also I definitely didn't want to make anyone else sick!
I sent Elina an SMS through Skype telling her I wouldn't be able to make it. Later I found out that she never got my message! Nice job, unreliable Skype! Last week I also tried to message somebody using Skype, and I don't believe it worked then either! Sigh.. I later emailed Elina to apologize, and she sent a nice response. I'm sure she thought I was faking my illness, but I really did want to attend the church service to see what it was all about.
I went to the breakfast buffet at my hotel, but was feeling so sick by this point that even my coordination was off. I dropped a glass of water at the buffet and it shattered. The hotel staff was NOT happy with my clumsiness. Feeling even worse, I headed back to my room and slept most of the day, although I wanted to get some cold medicine. As luck would have it, Sunday ended up being very rainy in Riga, and hardly anyone was outside. I traveled to Old Town only to get something to eat and cold medicine at around 6pm.
For once the citizens of Riga knew where to find something! I was amazed. I headed to the convenience store and both cashiers gladly gave me directions to the nearest pharmacy! I was so surprised to find somebody in Old Town who was happy to give me directions! The pharmacy was right outside the mall in Old Town, and supposedly open 24-hours a day. Inside the pharmacy, I again had a streak of luck as a friendly security guard helped me to find the medicine I was looking for! A friendly security guard in Riga? Was I dreaming or dead??
I decided that a nasal decongestant would be good enough for now, since I had brought a few medicines to Riga. The friendly security guard and cashier helped me find Pseudoephedrine Hydrochloride, which is a good nasal decongestant. The cost was about 5 lats for 12 pills. I made my purchase and headed back to the convenience store. I had heard that the local favorite elixir, Riga Black Balsam could help with colds. I purchased a small bottle for around 3 lats. I put the Riga Black Balsam in some black tea with honey at a restaurant. It tasted pretty good with the tea! Later on I tried the Riga Black Balsam straight.. Of course it's a liqueur, so hard to swallow. However I actually liked the very strong "coffee" aftertaste.
I then headed back to my hotel via the tram. Perhaps I'm crazy, but the locals here seem happier during poor weather? I wonder if Latvians become even friendlier when it's snowing? Just a thought!
