Day 14 - Riga and home!

We woke up and had a rather tasty breakfast in the hotel, then packed our rucksacks for the last time. Leaving our luggage at the hotel we went to catch a bus into the city center but this turned out to be quite difficult as it was a public holiday in Riga, meaning transport was free and therefore incredibly busy. The first bus that came definitely would not fit 10 people on but we managed to squish into the second bus. We got off at the new town and headed towards a department store called Stockmann's. Emily had been setting security alarms off in shops for the past few days but the security guard at Stockmann's was the only person who searched her. After 5 minutes of walking back and forth through the scanners and removing various items of clothing he finally let us in. However as we left, despite it being the same security guard we had to go through the whole palava again! We then split up to do some shopping. Cath, Sara and Rachel unsuccessfully searched high and low for a badge shop but we found badges in the first shop we went in! For lunch we went to Cili Pica, a restaurant we'd passed lots of times in various countries but never been in. We gave the leaders small thank you presents and they gave each of us an award - best captain (Helena), best sense of direction (Becky), best bank (Rachel T), best dancer (Imogen), best postcard writer (Emily), reigning champion of Cluedo (Linda) and best globe trotter (Rachel S). They also got us a little sheep as a reminder of the hilarious game of Sheep Pong we had with the Lithuanian guides. After lunch we went into the old town. We did last minute present buying and shopping at a lovely market then went back to the hotel to wait for our taxis to the airport. Linda, Helena, Rachel T, Rachel S and Becky had a great taxi driver who turned up the music for them to sing along to and then gave them a round of applause afterwards! We checked in (a stressful experience!) then got dinner in the airport. Our flight left at about 10.50pm but most of us didn't sleep as we didn't want to waste our last hours together. Instead we played all the card games we've taught Helena to make sure she doesn't forget them. On arrival at Manchester we nipped in the loo for.... a FREE WEE! This is not something you get in Eastern Europe! We were soon reunited with our families and had farewell pictures and hugs before going our separate ways. Although we will be back together soon as we have been promised a debrief weekend :)
It has been such a good two weeks and we all say a big thank you to everyone who has made it possible!

Team Lithuania x